The Electronic Frontier Foundation in cooperation with Carpathia Hosting has started the Mega Retrieval project. The main purpose of the project is to connect affected end-users from the United States with the EFF to assess options.

It is not clear at this point in time if the EFF and its attorneys can aid Megaupload users in the retrieval of files that they have uploaded to the service. Affected users are asked to contact the EFF (an email address is provided on the Mega Retrieval website).

f you believe you are one of these users, are based in the United States, and are looking for legal help to retrieve your data, please email the best contact information for you to the EFF at:

Megauploadmissing@eff.org

The page notes that users shall not send any details of materials they have uploaded. It is likely that this initial step is needed to assess the number of users who are affected by the Megaupload take down.

Affected users should not get their hopes up to high though, as it is not clear at this point in time if anything can be done to prevent the deletion of all server data.

It may also be difficulty for users to come up with additional information if requested. While they may be able to look up their account name, they may have troubles listing the files that they have uploaded to the service.

What’s your take on the development?

Connections to those websites will automatically be switched to the encrypted https channel for extra security.

https everywhere

All available sites are enabled by default with the option to disable them individually. That’s great as some sites might not be offering all of their services if encryption is used. Google Search is an example where some functions are not available if encryption is used.

Why would anyone want to use encryption for these sites? Encryption makes sure that third parties, for instance users in the same computer network or the Internet Service Provider, are not able to “see” what the user is doing on a site. They do not see which pages are requested nor other forms of interaction.

But there are other benefits as well. HTTPS connections might sometimes work where http connections do not. This depends on the rule set of the computer network or individual computer system. It can sometimes also be used to bypass some web filters.

Websites that are offering encryption but are not already included in the add-on can be added by editing the XML file that is created during installation. Configuration examples are provided on the EFF website. A basic understanding of JavaSript regular expressions is needed to configure new web services to always use HTTPS.

HTTPS Everywhere is available from the Electronic Frontier Foundation website. Firefox will display a small notification window on top with an option to allow the host to offer add-ons for installation. The installation will only commence if the user clicks the allow button in the notification.

Privacy advocates have already expressed great concern as proxy servers are not only in use by individuals who want to protect their privacy but also by companies and even Internet Service Providers, sometimes without the knowledge of the end user. VPN (Virtual Private Network) would for example be classified as proxy servers under the new legislation. As is the popular Tor client that has been created specifically to counter censorship in the world. Several web browsers like Opera Mini or Opera 10 are also making use of proxy servers to compress data to decrease the time it takes to load websites.

The United States Sentencing Commission will vote on the new legislation on April 15. It is set to take effect on November 1 if is is passing the voting process. You can read up on the EFFs stance here

It’s interesting that they state that the cannot be sure that the printers that did not create the tracking dots are not using another way to add a tracking code to the printed documents. The printer manufacturers apparently gave in to the demands of the US Government in a “purported effort to identify counterfeiters”.

Currently there is not enough information to validate a tracking dot with a 100% certainty unless the manufacturer himself stated that the printer would indeed make use of it. The EFF has been using three sources of information to compile the list:

We looked at printer output under a blue light and/or a computer microscope; we consulted press reports about printers (e.g. at Druckerchannel); we relied on printer manuals and other manufacturer statements.

The two companies that have a completely green – meaning no yellow dots to be seen – listing are Okidata and Samsung. As the EFF states this does not necessarily mean that they do not use another method to add the information to the printouts but as of know nothing of this kind could be spotted.