MIT Students' Gag Order Lifted 160
mytrip and several other readers let us know that a judge in Boston has lifted the gag order — actually let it expire — against three MIT students who discovered flaws in the security of the local transit system, the MBTA. We've discussed the case over the last 10 days. "Judge O'Toole said he disagreed with the basic premise of the MBTA's argument: That the students' presentation was a likely violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, a 1986 federal law meant to protect computers from malicious attacks such as worms and viruses. Many had expected Tuesday's hearing to hinge on First Amendment issues and what amounts to responsible disclosure on the part of computer security researchers. Instead, O'Toole based his ruling on the narrow grounds of what constitutes a violation of the CFAA. On that basis, he said MBTA lawyers failed to convince him on two points: The students' presentation was meant to be delivered to people, and was not a computer-to-computer 'transmission.' Second, the MBTA couldn't prove the students had caused at least $5,000 damage to the transit system."
Working As Intended (Score:5, Funny)
Of course, this is a victory for the MBTA. They've managed to derail the conference presentation. Objective met.
We all know this will effectively bury the information. Bureaucrats understand that communication is impossible outside of face-to-face meetings. There's nothing that could possibly allow dissemination of this potentially damaging (read: embarassing) information now that the conference is over. Situation handled. Bullet dodged.
HA! (Score:5, Funny)
Yeah - real successful law that.
Bad Lawyers? (Score:5, Funny)
Lawyers for the MBTA claimed Tuesday they had proof the students had violated the law, but stopped short of specifying what they did.
Wow, I can just see these lawyers:
Lawyer: "They broke the law. We have the proof."
Judge: "What is your proof?"
Lawyer: "Um, they...uh, yeah, they just broke the law."
Re:Working As Intended (Score:3, Funny)
Of course if there had been an Ignignokt [wikipedia.org] slide they would've all been shot.
Re:Bad Lawyers? (Score:1, Funny)
Not much different from a typical RIAA file-sharing case, then.
Re:They can't hold their talk now, can they? (Score:3, Funny)
Query: What exactly was the flaw under dicussion?
Question: Why do you prefix your questions with query?
Statement : I find it sorta redundant.
Re:Working As Intended (Score:5, Funny)
*whoosh*...
Re:They can't hold their talk now, can they? (Score:5, Funny)
I find people saying "Can I ask you a question?" is worse.
My response is often "You just did."
And of course they immediately say "Can I ask you another question?" to which you reply "You just did."
Finally they say "Can I ask you 2 questions?"
And having already identified yourself as a jerk you say "No."
Re:$5000 worth of damages? (Score:2, Funny)
Does a mechanic cause $5000 worth of damage when he points out that your axle is broken and needs replacement?
Only if he hurts your axle's feelings.
Re:They can't hold their talk now, can they? (Score:5, Funny)
Your English is both clear and unmistakable. That may have been your problem. Next time, consider adding in an inane meme, such as:
"Imagine a beowulf cluster of MBTAs!"
or
"The MBTA is not a big truck. It's a series of tubes!"
Also, consider to add several speling and/or grammatical error. This will lend to the impression that you are either a caffeine-soaked systems engineer who has been sitting in front of a terminal for eighty straight hours, or a semi-literate American of the species cellarcola nerdus, both of which are held in high regard here.
Accordingly, the dialect best suited to effective communication on slashdot is lolspeak. [speaklolspeak.com]
Free Security Analysis (Score:2, Funny)
Gee, the MBTA had the students turn over not only their slide deck but a 30 page analysis of the security flaws. Most firms would end up paying something approaching the 6 figure range for a detailed security vulnerability analysis like that, they get it for free. AND sue the students. It's a win-win for incompetent government bureaucracy!
6 bit encryption (Score:3, Funny)
The article I read said 6 bit encryption... 64 possibilities.
64 possibilities ought to be enough for anyone.
What?
Re:They can't hold their talk now, can they? (Score:2, Funny)
I tend to do the "You just did, and in doing so you have used up your quota for the day. Try again tomorrow."
I usually don't stick to it, unless they're really annoying.