Cindy Cohn is an American civil liberties attorney specializing in

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

law. She represented Daniel J. Bernstein and the Electronic Frontier Foundation in '' Bernstein v. United States''.

Education

She received her undergraduate degree at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 col ...

and the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

and her Doctor of Jurisprudence from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

Law Career

In 1997 Cohn was recognized by '' California Lawyer Magazine'' as one of the "Lawyers of the Year" for her work. After serving for 15 years as legal director and

general counsel A general counsel, also known as chief counsel or chief legal officer (CLO), is the chief in-house lawyer for a company or a governmental department. In a company, the person holding the position typically reports directly to the CEO, and their ...

for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, she became its executive director in 2015. In addition to Bernstein, some of Cohn's significant cases include '' Hepting v. AT&T'' (class action against AT&T for collaborating with the

National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collect ...

program to wiretap and data-mine Americans' communications), In re Sony BMG Tech. litigation (class action against Sony BMG for placing dangerous digital rights management (DRM) on customers' computers), '' OPG v. Diebold'' (

Diebold Diebold Nixdorf is an American multinational financial and retail technology company that specializes in the sale, manufacture, installation and service of self-service transaction systems (such as ATMs and currency processing systems), point ...

was held liable for sending out unfounded cease and desist notices to

internet service provider An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise privat ...

s (ISPs) in an effort to stop public discussion of the flaws in its

electronic voting machines An electronic voting machine is a voting machine based on electronics. Two main technologies exist: '' optical scanning'' and '' direct recording'' (DRE). Optical scanning In an optical scan voting system, or marksense, each voter's choices ...

), and '' DVD CCA v. Bunner'' (representing Andrew Bunner against the

DVD Copy Control Association The DVD Copy Control Association (DVD CCA) is an organization primarily responsible for the copy protection of DVDs. The Content Scramble System (CSS) was devised for this purpose to make copyright infringement difficult, but also presents obstacles ...

defending his right to republish a computer program that he found republished elsewhere on the Internet).

Awards and honors

In 2006 Cohn was named one of the 100 most influential lawyers in America by the '' National Law Journal''. In November 2018, she was featured among "America's Top 50 Women In Tech" by ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

''. Cohn also serves on the board of directors of the nonprofits Human Rights Advocates and the

Verified Voting Foundation The Verified Voting Foundation is a non-governmental, nonpartisan organization founded in 2004 by David L. Dill, a computer scientist from Stanford University, focused on how technology impacts the administration of US elections. The organization ...

References

External links

Cindy Cohn's Bio on EFF Site

Human Rights Advocates Home Page
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cohn, Cindy 21st-century American lawyers American Jews Copyright activists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) University of Michigan Law School alumni University of Iowa alumni Alumni of the London School of Economics Electronic Frontier Foundation people 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American women lawyers 21st-century American women lawyers