Do Technology Lawsuits Lead To The Chewbacca Defense?

from the this-does-not-make-sense dept

The "trojan horse" defense is becoming popular in computer crime cases. We've recently mentioned how it's been used to get people off who were accused of attacking servers, child porn and tax fraud. A reporter who was at the case last week that dealt with a hack attack on servers in the Port of Houston said that the jury was clearly bored out of their skulls during all the technical testimony, and it was unlikely they really understood what was going on. Last week, when the decision came out, we asked whether or not it still made sense to have non-technical people on such a jury. This reporter is suggesting that because juries don't understand technical jargon, we're getting closer and closer to situations where lawyers are going to employ the Chewbacca Defense, as created for South Park. Already, Slashdot has suggested that SCO is using a Chewbacca Defense in their case. Basically, you just have a convincing lawyer make up a bunch of technical stuff, make connections that don't have anything to do with one another, point out that it does not make sense, and therefore, the case should get thrown out. The legal strategy of the twenty-first century: trojan horses and Chewbacca.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • identicon
    frankiejr, 24 Oct 2003 @ 10:29pm

    no....

    That does not make sense!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    anon, 26 Oct 2003 @ 1:02am

    No Subject Given

    It's called a straw man.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Alex, 30 Nov 2003 @ 5:54am

      Re: No Subject Given

      Straw man is using an outrageous exaggeration of a particular argument (i.e. one or two people suddenly represent an entire industry or population), and then attacking the exaggerated version.

      The Chewbacca defense draws a parallel where no parallel exists, or goes of on a tangent to apply similar logic to a completely unrelated topic, and then argue that that logic applies to the the subject in question.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 26 Oct 2003 @ 8:32am

    Plausable denability vs. Reasonable Doubt vs The T

    I don't know what the current quality and state of LE forensic investigators, but I can tell you from experience in the past there's a major reason why they guys work LE instead of making easier $$s elsewhere... and it's primarily because they couldn't find their way out of a wet paper bag let alone investigate a computer crime.

    The whole amicus curi and LE "computer forensic expert" is sooo much about resume filler/oh by the way I just did this/what better way to serve the pulic by provide with with my limited knowledge of a subject I'm good a talking about. It's frightening to think of what actually hangs in the ballence.

    But then I remember the supply side theory of Law Enforcement and it all becomes crystal clear why the courts are inhabited and run and judged by such clueless folk.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Jane Doe, 23 Feb 2007 @ 6:13am

    Chewbacca

    Very similar to a Red Herring fallacy!

    link to this | view in chronology ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.