EFF is a big tech lobbying interest group

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation. 501(c)(3)s are largely prohibited from lobbying for candidates or legislation, even though a small portion of a 501(c)(3)’s resources can be used to lobby for legislation. The EFF lobbies a lot on many issues.

Among those issues, for many years, the EFF has lobbied heavily on legislation gutting patent law. This is not surprising because the EFF receives funding from Google, Facebook, and other Big Tech multinational monopolies that have no allegiance to the United States. The EFF is really just a Big Tech shill used to destroy free market competition that could damage their paymasters’ monopolies.

The EFF primes its lobbying efforts with the Stupid Patent of the Month peddling false and misleading information about patent lawsuits and cartoon characters they call patent trolls. According to the EFF, patent trolls are any patent holder that sues a predatory infringer for stealing its patented technology.

EFF Misleads On Current Legislation

Recently, the EFF published its opposition to PREVAIL and PERA; Both are patent-related legislation introduced in the Senate, and PREVAIL has also been introduced in the House. The EFF predictably trots out their cartoon characters explaining that the “two bills that would enrich patent trolls.”

It is highly debatable if these bills will accomplish what the authors claim it will, but the EFF’s position is not debatable. It is nothing short of a blatant political attack devoid of facts or logic that nefariously distorts the legitimate reasons driving the legislative effort. Nothing concrete from the legislation is cited supporting their wildly inaccurate and disingenuous conclusions. They simply attack the legitimate reasons driving the legislation.

On the other hand, inventors and startups have proffered well-reasoned and fact-based analyses of PREVAIL (see here, here, and here) and PERA (see here, here, here, here, and here). Like the EFF, they oppose the legislation, but not for the cartoonish reasons of the EFF. Instead, the opposition is based on the facts – the legislation will not do what the authors claim. However, inventors and startups have offered amendments to correct the flaws of both bills. The EFF provides nothing but cartoons.