Internet Pioneer Gives Over $1.2 Million to EFF to Defend Online Freedom

San Francisco – The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the leading civil liberties organization working to protect rights in the digital world, is honored to receive a $1.2 million bequest from the estate of Leonard Zubkoff, an EFF supporter and technology pioneer. EFF will use $1 million of this money to establish the EFF Endowment Fund for Digital Civil Liberties.”This generous legacy enables us to establish a permanent source of support for EFF,” explained EFF Development Director Terri Forman. “It also leverages a $1 million pledge challenge from one of our co-founders and board members. We are now two-thirds of the way towards our Phase I goal of $3 million.”

“This gift is important to us for several reasons,” said EFF Executive Director Shari Steele. “Not only does it help us establish our endowment fund, Leonard’s legacy makes it possible for us to bring aboard a Chief Technology Officer (CTO) to create and implement a technology strategy for EFF. With our combined expertise in both the law and technology, EFF is perfectly situated to help create and foster new technologies designed to enhance freedom.”

Leonard Zubkoff was an internationally known software developer and entrepreneur, respected for his expertise in computer architecture and operating systems. He loved to fly and was learning to pilot a helicopter when he died in a crash in Misty Fjords National Monument Wilderness in Alaska on August 29, 2002.