Boston Transit Authority Sued For Patent Infringement... For Letting You Know Your Train Is Running Late

from the your-patent-system-is-running-late dept

Brad Feld points us to the latest in a long line of ridiculous patent lawsuits. Apparently, two foreign companies that have filed "dozens" of similar lawsuits in the last few years are now suing the MBTA (Boston's transit service) for patent infringement for having a system that sends email/text alerts if a train is running late. The two patents in question (6,317,060 and 7,030,781) highlight why so many people think the patent system is screwed up. There is nothing in creating a system to alert users that their train is late that is all that complicated. If you took just about any group of semi-competent engineers and put them in a room and described the issue, they'd come up with similar solutions. There is no reason to justify giving a patent to such an "invention." All it serves to do is actively stifle the use of technology.

Filed Under: mbta, patents, transit
Companies: mbta

Boston Public Transit Does It Right: Opens Scheduling Data

from the nice-move dept

We were just talking about how NY's public transit authority, the MTA was following in the footsteps of other short-sighted transit groups, by claiming ownership of scheduling data, and trying to squeeze license fees for anyone who uses it. Instead, if they were smart, they'd recognize that their money is made by making it easier and more convenient for people to take public transportation. It appears there are at least a few public transit authorities that recognize this. Rosedale points out that up in Boston, the MBTA is actually taking an open approach to its data. They're opening up all of the data and allowing developers to create their own apps:

"Our priority is to consistently improve customer service for the riders who rely on the T and RTAs everyday to get to their job or their doctor's appointment on time," said Transportation Secretary Aloisi. "With the help of thoughtful technical developers, making this data public will spawn many possible applications to help transit users use their cell phones or laptops to find and use the right bus or train in the right place at the right time for them."

Nice to see at least a few out there who have figured this out.

Filed Under: boston, copyright, data, facts, openness, public transportation, schedule, trains
Companies: mbta

MBTA Will Work With MIT Students, Rather Than Suing Them, To Improve Security

from the a-good-move,-a-little-late dept

You may recall, back in August, that the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority convinced a judge to ban the Defcon presentation by three MIT students, showing how weak the security was on the Boston transit system, and how easy it was to get past it. Of course, in trying to ban the talk, the MBTA only succeeded in getting a lot more attention for its own security vulnerabilities -- and, in the end, the judge lifted the gag order anyway, allowing the students to present their research.

The good news is that the MBTA has now dropped the lawsuit and done what it should have done in the first place: agreed to work with the students to come up with ways to improve security. It's good that they eventually came to this conclusion -- though still mind-boggling that they went down the legal route first.

Filed Under: bans, defcon, mit, obscurity, security, subway
Companies: mbta

Judge Lets MIT Students Share Their Research On Boston Subway Vulnerabilities

from the first-amendment-wins-again dept

While it took about a week and a half, a judge has now lifted the gag order that had prevented some MIT students from sharing a presentation about vulnerabilities in the Boston subway system. The judge refused to ban the students from talking about it for a period of five months (which the MBTA insisted it needed to fix the system). This is definitely a win for free speech, though I'm sure the debate over how and when to disclose security vulnerabilities will continue for a long, long time.

Filed Under: boston, first amendment, free speech, gag order, research, subway, vulnerabilities
Companies: mbta

Boston Subway System Stops Defcon Talk; But Paints Security Target On Its Back

from the yeah,-that'll-work dept

You would think after years and years of it backfiring every time some scared organization tries to shut down a talk concerning their security vulnerabilities, that people wouldn't even bother any more. But never underestimate the short-sightedness of some execs. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority uses a magnetic strip card system to access the subway system in Boston. That system is not particularly secure, and some enterprising MIT students planned to demonstrate just how weak the security was on the system this weekend at the Defcon conference... until the MBTA convinced a judge to ban the presentation and demand that all copies of the presentation not be released -- which is problematic since all attendees at the conference already obtained CDs with a copy of the presentation. Also, somewhat ironically, a copy of the presentation was entered in as evidence in the case, and that copy is now publicly available as part of the court records system. Oops.

Of course, even if the court had actually been able to stop the distribution of the presentation, it's silly to think that this would have stopped the dissemination of the methods for hacking the system. The truth is that the MBTA's system uses woefully weak security, and rather than doing anything to strengthen it, it has to threaten some bright MIT students and get a court order to pretend the such security vulnerabilities don't exist. And, of course, in doing this, all the MBTA has really done is painted a huge target on its back. Perhaps it should have just focused on making its system a bit more secure instead.

Filed Under: bans, defcon, mit, obscurity, security, subway
Companies: mbta