Scott Moss, a law professor at Marquette University Law School, dissects the bomb scare case against the two men arrested for putting up neon light signs promoting a cartoon.
"The criminal law the prosecutors cite declares it a felony to "place any hoax device ... with the intent to cause anxiety, unrest, fear or personal discomfort to any person." It defines "hoax device" as one "that would cause a person reasonably to believe … [it] is an infernal machine[,] ... [a] device for endangering life or doing unusual damage to property, or both, by fire or explosion...."
In other words, the prosecutors have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendants -- two guys hired by marketers for a cartoon show -- actually intended to create a bomb scare by putting up those light boards. The prosecutors also have to prove that reasonable people would've thought the light boards were bombs...
Here's one thing the two men are guilty of doing: They ticked off a lot of important public officials who now are deeply embarrassed that they virtually shut down a major city after mistaking lit-up cartoons for the Second Coming of Osama. Those officials' upset is understandable, but fortunately, in this day and age, embarrassing even the most well-intentioned mayor doesn't justify felony charges -- at least not in America...
My bet is that we will see a quick guilty plea to some exceedingly minor charge -- perhaps the underwhelming charge of "disorderly conduct," which the Attorney General already has thrown in along with the felony bomb scare charges. Procuring a plea to a minor offense is a common tactic of bad-egg prosecutors who bring legally dubious but politically necessary felony charges.
That sort of prosecutorial overreaching is exactly what happened to wrongly prosecuted Chinese-American physicist Wen Ho Lee.
In 1999, Lee was arrested and locked in pretrial solitary confinement for almost a year on serious national security charges -- leaking nuclear secrets to China. When the charges proved baseless, the government, rather than just admit error and free Lee, instead negotiated a plea of "guilty" on a trivial charge of not following proper procedures for handling sensitive information.
Wen Ho Lee and the Boston Two are victims of one of the darkest possibilities in our criminal justice system: prosecution as political persecution, when politicians and police need a scapegoat for their own failures."
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
CIEL Reprot on IP and sustainable development
The Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) has released a new report Intellectual Property Bilateral Agreements and Sustainable Development:THE CHALLENGES OF IMPLEMENTATION
Abstract:
"This paper examines the development of strategies for developing country officials, civil society organizations, and other stakeholders with respect to the implementation of intellectual property provisions in bilateral and regional free trade agreements. In particular, the paper aims to raise awareness of the continuing pressure for higher intellectual property protection during the implementation and annual review of bilateral trade agreements, as well as to outline the opportunities created by the diverse options for implementation to “claw back” policy space."
CIEL’s Intellectual Property and Sustainable Development Project works with non-governmental organizations and developing country governments to include sustainable development concerns in current multilateral and bilateral rules on intellectual property.
Abstract:
"This paper examines the development of strategies for developing country officials, civil society organizations, and other stakeholders with respect to the implementation of intellectual property provisions in bilateral and regional free trade agreements. In particular, the paper aims to raise awareness of the continuing pressure for higher intellectual property protection during the implementation and annual review of bilateral trade agreements, as well as to outline the opportunities created by the diverse options for implementation to “claw back” policy space."
CIEL’s Intellectual Property and Sustainable Development Project works with non-governmental organizations and developing country governments to include sustainable development concerns in current multilateral and bilateral rules on intellectual property.
Jobs disses DRM and the music cos
Steve Jobs has called for an end to DRM on legitimate music download sales. Good for him. Cory is pleased:
"This is a big day -- a huge day. If Steve Jobs comes through with his promise to offer DRM-free music from artists who will allow it, we're at the beginning of the end of the DRM wars. I look forward to the day when the iTunes Music Store catalog shows a little warning icon next to those few holdout tracks sold with DRM, a skull-and-crossbones to tell you that you're about to buy some poisonous bits.
Especially if Steve follows this up by offering iTunes videos -- especially the Pixar movies, which he directly controls as the single largest shareholder in Disney -- without DRM!"
Update: All the usual suspects report widely on this, John Markoff in the NYT being one.
"This is a big day -- a huge day. If Steve Jobs comes through with his promise to offer DRM-free music from artists who will allow it, we're at the beginning of the end of the DRM wars. I look forward to the day when the iTunes Music Store catalog shows a little warning icon next to those few holdout tracks sold with DRM, a skull-and-crossbones to tell you that you're about to buy some poisonous bits.
Especially if Steve follows this up by offering iTunes videos -- especially the Pixar movies, which he directly controls as the single largest shareholder in Disney -- without DRM!"
Update: All the usual suspects report widely on this, John Markoff in the NYT being one.
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Princeton join Google book search
From SiliconValley.com:
"Princeton joins Google's book-scanning project
About 1 million books in Princeton University's collection will be made available online through Google Inc.'s book-scanning project, the school announced Monday.
The university library will work with the Google's Book Search Library Project over the next six years to digitize books that are a part of the public domain and no longer under copyright, according to a school news release."
"Princeton joins Google's book-scanning project
About 1 million books in Princeton University's collection will be made available online through Google Inc.'s book-scanning project, the school announced Monday.
The university library will work with the Google's Book Search Library Project over the next six years to digitize books that are a part of the public domain and no longer under copyright, according to a school news release."
Gorbachev to to Gates: Show mercy for pirate
From News.com:
"Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev on Monday asked Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates to intercede on behalf of a Russian teacher accused of using pirated software in his classroom.
“Mr. Ponosov’s case is a criminal case and as such was initiated and investigated by the public prosecutor’s office in Russia,” said Microsoft, whose European operations are based in Paris. “We are sure that the Russian courts will make a fair decision.”
Update: John Pallatto - Sentenced to the Intellectual Property Gulag
"Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev on Monday asked Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates to intercede on behalf of a Russian teacher accused of using pirated software in his classroom.
In an open letter, Nobel Peace Prize winner Gorbachev said the teacher, Alexander Ponosov, who is from a remote village in the Urals, should be shown mercy because he did not know he was committing a crime.
"A teacher, who has dedicated his life to the education of children and who receives a modest salary that does not bear comparison with the salaries of even regular staff in your company, is threatened with detention in Siberian prison camps," read the letter, posted on the Web site for Gorbachev's charitable foundation."
Microsoft declined to intervene according to the NYT:“Mr. Ponosov’s case is a criminal case and as such was initiated and investigated by the public prosecutor’s office in Russia,” said Microsoft, whose European operations are based in Paris. “We are sure that the Russian courts will make a fair decision.”
Update: John Pallatto - Sentenced to the Intellectual Property Gulag
Conservatives formally promise to scrap ID cards
The Conservative Party website had this yesterday;
"David Davis has written to Cabinet Secretary, Sir Gus O'Donnell, giving formal notice that an incoming Conservative administration would scrap the Government's costly ID card project.
And the Shadow Home Secretary has warned of the financial dangers of the Government signing contracts to set up the ID card scheme when it faces cancellation if the Conservatives are returned to power at the next election.
In his letter, Mr Davis asked what provision, if any, has been made in the relevant contractual arrangements to protect the Government - and public funds - against the costs that would be incurred as a result of early cancellation of the scheme; with a similar letter fired off to likely major contractors, warning them of the Party's intentions. "
They're also reportedly promising to oppose the government's plans to extend the detention without trial period beyond the current maximum of 28 days.
"David Davis has written to Cabinet Secretary, Sir Gus O'Donnell, giving formal notice that an incoming Conservative administration would scrap the Government's costly ID card project.
And the Shadow Home Secretary has warned of the financial dangers of the Government signing contracts to set up the ID card scheme when it faces cancellation if the Conservatives are returned to power at the next election.
In his letter, Mr Davis asked what provision, if any, has been made in the relevant contractual arrangements to protect the Government - and public funds - against the costs that would be incurred as a result of early cancellation of the scheme; with a similar letter fired off to likely major contractors, warning them of the Party's intentions. "
They're also reportedly promising to oppose the government's plans to extend the detention without trial period beyond the current maximum of 28 days.
German court outlaw unauthorised remote police searches of computers
From the NYT:
"A German court on Monday ruled that police cannot remotely search criminal suspects' computer hard drives over the Internet without their knowledge.
The decision of the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe bars police from using the online ''Trojan horse'' method, which involves using a computer program to search through remote hard drives over an Internet connection, unless parliament passes a law explicitly allowing it."
"A German court on Monday ruled that police cannot remotely search criminal suspects' computer hard drives over the Internet without their knowledge.
The decision of the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe bars police from using the online ''Trojan horse'' method, which involves using a computer program to search through remote hard drives over an Internet connection, unless parliament passes a law explicitly allowing it."
Neon lights cartoon promotion cost $2million compensation
Well, the neon light cartoon promotion scare has cost Turner Broadcasting and the marketing firm involved $2 million in compensation payments. A simple cost benefit calculation will probably have determined the decision, given that a couple of million dollars is peanuts to these companies but the sheer irrationality of the whole episode makes you wish someone would have the gumption to stand up and say it. Sadly that would involve taking on costly legal action, as well as a slight risk of losing at the end of the day.
Judge orders release of former White House aide's secret testimony
From AP via Findlaw:
"WASHINGTON-Audio recordings of former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's secret grand jury testimony will be released publicly after they are presented at his trial, the judge at Libby's trial ruled Monday.
In a victory for the news media, U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton said he has concerns about releasing the recordings while the case is under way, but he has little choice under the law as applied in the federal court system in Washington, D.C."
"WASHINGTON-Audio recordings of former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's secret grand jury testimony will be released publicly after they are presented at his trial, the judge at Libby's trial ruled Monday.
In a victory for the news media, U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton said he has concerns about releasing the recordings while the case is under way, but he has little choice under the law as applied in the federal court system in Washington, D.C."
Apple settle with Apple
The latest round in the ongoing trademark dispute between Apple Computer and the Beatles'Apple Corps Ltd has been settled.
"The new settlement replaces the companies' 1991 agreement, and gives Apple Inc. ownership of all the trademarks related to "Apple." In addition, Apple Inc. will license certain of those trademarks back to Apple Corps for their continued use.
This settlement ends the ongoing trademark lawsuit between the companies, with each paying its own legal costs, and Apple Inc. will continue using its name and logos on iTunes."
"The new settlement replaces the companies' 1991 agreement, and gives Apple Inc. ownership of all the trademarks related to "Apple." In addition, Apple Inc. will license certain of those trademarks back to Apple Corps for their continued use.
This settlement ends the ongoing trademark lawsuit between the companies, with each paying its own legal costs, and Apple Inc. will continue using its name and logos on iTunes."
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Friday, February 02, 2007
Blackboard offer peace treaty to open source community
Blackboard, it seems, have recognised the damage to their image they have done by patenting elearning.
"Facing sharp criticism from academic computing experts, Blackboard Inc. announced Thursday what it calls a legally binding promise that it won't pursue patent lawsuits against users of open-source online classroom technology.
An open-source group said it welcomed the move but noted a key caveat: It covers a number of named open-source projects, but technically leaves open the possibility future open-source initiatives that bundle proprietary software could be vulnerable...
Blackboard denied it would sue academic users but will now make that commitment more formal, with a worldwide agreement that the company's chief legal officer, Matthew Small, said could be used in court against the company if it ever pursued such an action."
Oh dear. The solution to the lawyerly problems is more lawyers. From the BlackBoard site:
"In summary, the Blackboard Patent Pledge is a promise by the company to never assert its issued or pending course management system software patents against open source software or home-grown course management systems. The Blackboard Pledge is legally binding, irrevocable and worldwide in scope.
"As a member of the e-Learning community, we are committed to the open exchange of ideas, collaboration and innovation," said Michael Chasen, president and chief executive officer of Blackboard. "This pledge is part of that commitment and our continued efforts to work collaboratively with the e- Learning community to foster greater openness and interoperability."
Specifically, the Pledge commits Blackboard not to assert U.S. Patent No. 6,988,138 and many other pending patent applications against the development, use or distribution of open source software or home-grown course management systems anywhere in the world, to the extent that such systems are not bundled with proprietary software...
The Blackboard Patent Pledge along with many Frequently Asked Questions can be found at http://www.blackboard.com/patent."
The BlackBoard patent pledge is here.
"Facing sharp criticism from academic computing experts, Blackboard Inc. announced Thursday what it calls a legally binding promise that it won't pursue patent lawsuits against users of open-source online classroom technology.
An open-source group said it welcomed the move but noted a key caveat: It covers a number of named open-source projects, but technically leaves open the possibility future open-source initiatives that bundle proprietary software could be vulnerable...
Blackboard denied it would sue academic users but will now make that commitment more formal, with a worldwide agreement that the company's chief legal officer, Matthew Small, said could be used in court against the company if it ever pursued such an action."
Oh dear. The solution to the lawyerly problems is more lawyers. From the BlackBoard site:
"In summary, the Blackboard Patent Pledge is a promise by the company to never assert its issued or pending course management system software patents against open source software or home-grown course management systems. The Blackboard Pledge is legally binding, irrevocable and worldwide in scope.
"As a member of the e-Learning community, we are committed to the open exchange of ideas, collaboration and innovation," said Michael Chasen, president and chief executive officer of Blackboard. "This pledge is part of that commitment and our continued efforts to work collaboratively with the e- Learning community to foster greater openness and interoperability."
Specifically, the Pledge commits Blackboard not to assert U.S. Patent No. 6,988,138 and many other pending patent applications against the development, use or distribution of open source software or home-grown course management systems anywhere in the world, to the extent that such systems are not bundled with proprietary software...
The Blackboard Patent Pledge along with many Frequently Asked Questions can be found at http://www.blackboard.com/patent."
The BlackBoard patent pledge is here.
Artists face jail after cartoon stunt sparks US terror alert
The Independent reports further evidence of the irrational paranoia in the US about potential terror attacks in Artists face jail after cartoon stunt sparks US terror alert
" Two artists from Boston found themselves in court yesterday facing the possibility of a prison sentence after signs they had placed around the city to advertise a late-night animated show triggered a traffic-snarling terror scare.
Boston police closed major commuter arteries, underground stations and even a section of the Charles River on Wednesday after receiving phone calls from concerned citizens who had spotted the devices and apparently mistaken them for bombs. The scare crippled parts of downtown Boston.
The Cartoon Network, owned by Turner Broadcasting, later acknowledged that it had contracted with a publicity company, Interference Inc, to distribute the foot-tall, magnetic signs around Boston and nine other cities, including New York and Chicago."
Meanwhile the real terrorists are rolling around on their floors laughing at the fear and panic in downtown America, stoked up by politicians, the media and a wide-eyed populace that is collectively responsible for facilitating this timid mindset, merely because it does nothing effective to counter it. And two blokes are now facing a jail sentence for putting up neon lights promoting a cartoon for goodness sake! The lunatics are well and truly in control of the assylum.
Meanwhile on this side of the assylum, Home Secretary John Reid has been attempting to use the recent terror raids as an excuse to push through longer detention-without- charge limits. The West Midlands police involved in detained the terrorist suspect are less than pleased that Reid waded in. A police insider said:
"There was no need for the Home Secretary to wade in and get his name on the job. He was clearly trying to make political capital out of it. This was not appreciated."
For evil to triumph it requires only that good people do nothing...
Update from Declan:
"So I read the Massachusetts attorney general's press release about the
Aqua Teen Hunger Force lights:
http://www.ago.state.ma.us/sp.cfm?pageid=986&id=1803
And was interested in what law the "only hair questions" guys are
charged with violating. I've placed the statute here:
http://politechbot.com/docs/massachusetts.infernal.hoax.device.020107.txt
The law is actually one prohibiting "infernal machines." No, I am not
making this up. Yes, only in Massachusetts."
" Two artists from Boston found themselves in court yesterday facing the possibility of a prison sentence after signs they had placed around the city to advertise a late-night animated show triggered a traffic-snarling terror scare.
Boston police closed major commuter arteries, underground stations and even a section of the Charles River on Wednesday after receiving phone calls from concerned citizens who had spotted the devices and apparently mistaken them for bombs. The scare crippled parts of downtown Boston.
The Cartoon Network, owned by Turner Broadcasting, later acknowledged that it had contracted with a publicity company, Interference Inc, to distribute the foot-tall, magnetic signs around Boston and nine other cities, including New York and Chicago."
Meanwhile the real terrorists are rolling around on their floors laughing at the fear and panic in downtown America, stoked up by politicians, the media and a wide-eyed populace that is collectively responsible for facilitating this timid mindset, merely because it does nothing effective to counter it. And two blokes are now facing a jail sentence for putting up neon lights promoting a cartoon for goodness sake! The lunatics are well and truly in control of the assylum.
Meanwhile on this side of the assylum, Home Secretary John Reid has been attempting to use the recent terror raids as an excuse to push through longer detention-without- charge limits. The West Midlands police involved in detained the terrorist suspect are less than pleased that Reid waded in. A police insider said:
"There was no need for the Home Secretary to wade in and get his name on the job. He was clearly trying to make political capital out of it. This was not appreciated."
For evil to triumph it requires only that good people do nothing...
Update from Declan:
"So I read the Massachusetts attorney general's press release about the
Aqua Teen Hunger Force lights:
http://www.ago.state.ma.us/sp.cfm?pageid=986&id=1803
And was interested in what law the "only hair questions" guys are
charged with violating. I've placed the statute here:
http://politechbot.com/docs/massachusetts.infernal.hoax.device.020107.txt
The law is actually one prohibiting "infernal machines." No, I am not
making this up. Yes, only in Massachusetts."
Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis
Working Group 1 of the the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) are releasing the IPCC's 4th report today in Paris. A summary for policymakers (SPM) is already available (pdf 2.2M) as is a chapter outline of the full report.
Bush oil imports policy fails basic economics test
I missed this a couple of weeks back, Bush oil imports policy fails basic economics test
"George Bush’s policy on reducing US oil imports would flunk an elementary economics test, experts at the University of Sussex Energy Group said today. The aim of reducing US oil usage by 20% over the next 10 years, as outlined in Bush’s State of the Union address, while a laudable and long-overdue goal, is highly unlikely to make much impression on oil imports. Here’s how: Oil is a commodity traded on price, and abundant Middle East oil means that it is cheap. In addition, the US will be unable to erect trade barriers due to world trade rules...
Sussex Energy Group experts made the following observations on Bush’s address:
• Reliance on Ethanol: fuel from ethanol may help to increase indigenous production of fuel for vehicles but this comes at a price: the intensively grown grain used to produce ethanol itself takes considerable amounts of energy to produce...
• Technology fantasies: Technology can undoubtedly help address environmental challenges, but Bush’s reliance on technology to solve his energy and environmental problems leaves untouched the question of consumer behaviour. This is the elephant in the room that no US politician seems willing to discuss yet lies at the core of the US citizen’s place at the top of the league table for energy use, emissions and consumption of other resources."
Thanks to Chris Blackmore for the pointer.
"George Bush’s policy on reducing US oil imports would flunk an elementary economics test, experts at the University of Sussex Energy Group said today. The aim of reducing US oil usage by 20% over the next 10 years, as outlined in Bush’s State of the Union address, while a laudable and long-overdue goal, is highly unlikely to make much impression on oil imports. Here’s how: Oil is a commodity traded on price, and abundant Middle East oil means that it is cheap. In addition, the US will be unable to erect trade barriers due to world trade rules...
Sussex Energy Group experts made the following observations on Bush’s address:
• Reliance on Ethanol: fuel from ethanol may help to increase indigenous production of fuel for vehicles but this comes at a price: the intensively grown grain used to produce ethanol itself takes considerable amounts of energy to produce...
• Technology fantasies: Technology can undoubtedly help address environmental challenges, but Bush’s reliance on technology to solve his energy and environmental problems leaves untouched the question of consumer behaviour. This is the elephant in the room that no US politician seems willing to discuss yet lies at the core of the US citizen’s place at the top of the league table for energy use, emissions and consumption of other resources."
Thanks to Chris Blackmore for the pointer.
ICO advises schools to ask permission to take fingerprints
The Information Commissioner's Office is now advising schools with fingerprint systems to ask the child's and parents' permission before taking fingerprints.
"A spokesman for the Information Commissioner's Office said: "Because of the sensitivity of the issue, we are recommending that schools follow best practice and ask permission of parent and pupil before they take a fingerprint."
However, he said: "There's nothing in the act that makes that clear," and could not explain what would happen to schools that failed to follow this advice. Neither could he say at what age a child could assume legal responsibility for its own behaviour, without seeking parental advice...
This was the basis on which the ICO worked till now. Last September when the ICO guidance on school fingerprinting was said to be just weeks away from publication, David Smith, now deputy commissioner, said that schools could fingerprint children without parental consent under the Data Protection Act. As long as kids were deemed to be old enough to make their own minds up, the school could ask them and keep parents out of the loop."
"A spokesman for the Information Commissioner's Office said: "Because of the sensitivity of the issue, we are recommending that schools follow best practice and ask permission of parent and pupil before they take a fingerprint."
However, he said: "There's nothing in the act that makes that clear," and could not explain what would happen to schools that failed to follow this advice. Neither could he say at what age a child could assume legal responsibility for its own behaviour, without seeking parental advice...
This was the basis on which the ICO worked till now. Last September when the ICO guidance on school fingerprinting was said to be just weeks away from publication, David Smith, now deputy commissioner, said that schools could fingerprint children without parental consent under the Data Protection Act. As long as kids were deemed to be old enough to make their own minds up, the school could ask them and keep parents out of the loop."
Truth, lies and the law, US style
There is a high profile trial going on in the US at the moment which won't have registered with too many people on this side of the pond. Sooter Libby, former chief of staff of Vice Presient Cheney, is charged with lying to federal prosecutors investigating the Bush administration's leak of the identity of CIA operative, Valerie Plame. Plame's husband, Joseph Wilson, had publicly criticised the administration for claiming that Iraq had been seeking weapons grade Uranium in Niger. In the light of the Libby trial, Edward Lazurus has been thinking about how the law in the US treats the telling of truth and lies.
"At the Top of the Hierarchy: The Lies (and Truths) For Which We Jail the Tellers
At the top of the punishment pyramid are those lies we consider so reprehensible that we will send people to jail for telling them.
Among current news stories, the Libby trial is the most obvious example. Society places a very high value on telling the truth to government investigators, or to grand juries investigating crimes. The same is true of sworn statements in court; if false, they constitute the crime of perjury. In such circumstances, deliberately misrepresenting the truth is a felony.
By the same token, however, you can also go to jail for telling the truth - at least if you aren't forthcoming about how you came by the truth.
Consider the BALCO steroids scandal, in which a federal grand jury has been considering whether to indict a variety of professional athletes, including baseball star Barry Bonds, in connection with their alleged use of illegal performance-enhancing drugs. Not long ago, a couple of enterprising reporters wrote a very well-received book about the scandal, based in part on secret grand jury testimony that had been leaked to them.
It isn't a crime to receive or to publish such grand jury testimony (though it is a crime to leak it). Moreover, no one has suggested that the two journalists somehow misreported or distorted what was said in the grand jury. And it's pretty hard to argue that the journalists' work was not of substantial public interest. But - like journalists across the country who come into possession of information relevant to whether someone else has committed a crime -- they've been threatened over and over again with jail for refusing to reveal their sources. "
Ironically in the steroids case the journalists look like the only ones in the entire affair in danger of being jailed and yet they were the ones who exposed the wrongdoing.
"At the Top of the Hierarchy: The Lies (and Truths) For Which We Jail the Tellers
At the top of the punishment pyramid are those lies we consider so reprehensible that we will send people to jail for telling them.
Among current news stories, the Libby trial is the most obvious example. Society places a very high value on telling the truth to government investigators, or to grand juries investigating crimes. The same is true of sworn statements in court; if false, they constitute the crime of perjury. In such circumstances, deliberately misrepresenting the truth is a felony.
By the same token, however, you can also go to jail for telling the truth - at least if you aren't forthcoming about how you came by the truth.
Consider the BALCO steroids scandal, in which a federal grand jury has been considering whether to indict a variety of professional athletes, including baseball star Barry Bonds, in connection with their alleged use of illegal performance-enhancing drugs. Not long ago, a couple of enterprising reporters wrote a very well-received book about the scandal, based in part on secret grand jury testimony that had been leaked to them.
It isn't a crime to receive or to publish such grand jury testimony (though it is a crime to leak it). Moreover, no one has suggested that the two journalists somehow misreported or distorted what was said in the grand jury. And it's pretty hard to argue that the journalists' work was not of substantial public interest. But - like journalists across the country who come into possession of information relevant to whether someone else has committed a crime -- they've been threatened over and over again with jail for refusing to reveal their sources. "
Ironically in the steroids case the journalists look like the only ones in the entire affair in danger of being jailed and yet they were the ones who exposed the wrongdoing.
More evoting problems in Florida in 2006
Ed Felten says:
"The big e-voting story from November’s election was in Sarasota, Florida, where a congressional race was decided by about 400 votes, with 18,412 undervotes. That’s 18,412 voters who cast votes in other races but not, according to the official results, in that congressional race. Among voters who used the ES&S iVotronic machines — that is, non-absentee voters in Sarasota County — the undervote rate was about 14%. Something went very wrong...
Several explanations have been proposed, but only two are at all plausible: ballot design and machine malfunction. The ballot design theory says that the ballot offered to voters on the iVotronic’s screen was misdesigned in a way that caused many voters to miss that race. Looking at screenshots of the ballot, one can see how voters might miss the congressional race at the top of the second page...
It’s one thing to say that ballot design could have caused some undervotes, but it’s another thing entirely to say it was the sole cause of so elevated an undervote rate...
The malfunction theory postulates a problem or malfunction with the voting machines that caused votes not to be recorded. There are many types of problems that could have caused lost votes...
If we had a voter-verified paper trail, we could immediately tell which theory is correct, by comparing the paper and electronic records. If the voter-verified paper records show the same high undervote race, then the ballot design theory is right. If the paper and electronic records show significantly different undervote rates, then something is wrong with the machines. But of course the advocates of paperless voting argued that paper trails were unnecessary — while also arguing that touchscreen systems reduce undervotes."
Felten will be offering some more thoughts on the problem over the next week or so.
"The big e-voting story from November’s election was in Sarasota, Florida, where a congressional race was decided by about 400 votes, with 18,412 undervotes. That’s 18,412 voters who cast votes in other races but not, according to the official results, in that congressional race. Among voters who used the ES&S iVotronic machines — that is, non-absentee voters in Sarasota County — the undervote rate was about 14%. Something went very wrong...
Several explanations have been proposed, but only two are at all plausible: ballot design and machine malfunction. The ballot design theory says that the ballot offered to voters on the iVotronic’s screen was misdesigned in a way that caused many voters to miss that race. Looking at screenshots of the ballot, one can see how voters might miss the congressional race at the top of the second page...
It’s one thing to say that ballot design could have caused some undervotes, but it’s another thing entirely to say it was the sole cause of so elevated an undervote rate...
The malfunction theory postulates a problem or malfunction with the voting machines that caused votes not to be recorded. There are many types of problems that could have caused lost votes...
If we had a voter-verified paper trail, we could immediately tell which theory is correct, by comparing the paper and electronic records. If the voter-verified paper records show the same high undervote race, then the ballot design theory is right. If the paper and electronic records show significantly different undervote rates, then something is wrong with the machines. But of course the advocates of paperless voting argued that paper trails were unnecessary — while also arguing that touchscreen systems reduce undervotes."
Felten will be offering some more thoughts on the problem over the next week or so.
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Mixers raided
From the NYT: Cracking Down on Mixtape CDs
"Not long before Christmas, Jeff Baker, the chief of police of Morrow, Ga., a small town just south of Atlanta, and one of his officers were walking through a local shopping mall when they happened to pass a kiosk hawking rap music CDs. One in particular caught their attention...
...it did not carry the name or address of the owner of the music copyrights, as Georgia law requires. Rather than arrest the kiosk vendor immediately, Chief Baker said, “We’d rather go after the source of the material. And at that point we had no idea what the source was.”
Any rap music aficionado would; the creator of the album is DJ Drama, whose real name is Tyree Simmons, arguably the nation’s most prominent producer of mixtapes, the name given to popular but largely unlicensed CDs stocked with yet-to-be released rap hits and free-style rhymes.
And many more people now know: last week, local authorities, working with the recording industry’s trade association, stunned fans and music executives alike by raiding DJ Drama’s studio in Atlanta and arresting him and a fellow D.J., Don Cannon, on racketeering charges."
Recommended reading.
"Not long before Christmas, Jeff Baker, the chief of police of Morrow, Ga., a small town just south of Atlanta, and one of his officers were walking through a local shopping mall when they happened to pass a kiosk hawking rap music CDs. One in particular caught their attention...
...it did not carry the name or address of the owner of the music copyrights, as Georgia law requires. Rather than arrest the kiosk vendor immediately, Chief Baker said, “We’d rather go after the source of the material. And at that point we had no idea what the source was.”
Any rap music aficionado would; the creator of the album is DJ Drama, whose real name is Tyree Simmons, arguably the nation’s most prominent producer of mixtapes, the name given to popular but largely unlicensed CDs stocked with yet-to-be released rap hits and free-style rhymes.
And many more people now know: last week, local authorities, working with the recording industry’s trade association, stunned fans and music executives alike by raiding DJ Drama’s studio in Atlanta and arresting him and a fellow D.J., Don Cannon, on racketeering charges."
Recommended reading.
Microsoft Vista Security Hole
From the BBC:
"Microsoft has admitted that speech recognition features in Vista could be hijacked so that a PC tells itself to delete files or folders."
"Microsoft has admitted that speech recognition features in Vista could be hijacked so that a PC tells itself to delete files or folders."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)