To that end, the Teaching, Learning, and Advising Committee, which originally brought teaching evaluations online, will take up the question of how to respond to these developments,...
My guess is their response will be to no longer make the evaluation data available.
Moreover, the "camel" comment in the letter and the report is pure hearsay. Swartz's lawyer is the only one who has said this is what the lead prosecutor said. Just because he says so does not make it true.
This is incorrect on a couple of counts.
First, it was not Aaron Swartz's lawyer who quoted the lead prosecutor, it was MIT's lawyers (in a memorandum provided by MIT’s outside counsel to its Office of General Counsel, dated August 10, 2012).
Second, MIT's counsel recited what the lead prosecutor stated directly to them -- in order to qualify as "hearsay" they would have to had quoted something that they heard that the prosecutor said to someone else.
One of the most contentious aspects of the NSA's surveillance is the central belief by General Alexander and presumably many others at the agency that it must "collect it all" in order to protect the public. To stand a chance of overturning that policy, those against this dragnet approach need to come up with a realistic alternative.
A realistic alternative? How about "don't collect it all". Fire the people who have based the organization's operations on this failed policy of "collect it all" and hire people who can run the NSA in a manner that doesn't do massive harm to U.S. technology companies, doesn't subvert the efficacy and reputations of cybersecurity standards bodies, doesn't embarrass the U.S. government in the eyes of foreign leaders, and doesn't violate the U.S. Constitution.
"But he set aside his own decision, as he said 'likely to be overturned'
Rogers is wrong on two counts.
Judge Leon did not "set aside" his judgement, he "stayed" it. Setting aside a decision nullifies it, staying a decision postpones its execution until a later time.
Nor did the Judge say it was "likely to be overturned"; he presumed the government would appeal his decision -- so "likely to be appealed" would be an accurate paraphrasing -- but he also warned the government it should prepare for the eventuality of "when, and if, this ruling is upheld".
This reminds me of the petulant and childish response of movie theaters when filmmakers started trying to release films online at the same time they were in the theaters. Like in that situation, ...
It might be "like in that situation" were Target seeking to have their physical copies released in advance of the Itunes release, but the fact they are objecting to not receiving equal treatment suggests it's a rather different situation and hardly deserving of being called petulant and childish.
a somewhat angry questioner in the audience insisted that some comments written on Techdirt by some of our users were "illegal in Germany" and that, under German law, I was liable for them. He stood at the microphone with a laptop reading the comments ...
So was the questioner arrested for doing something that was "illegal in Germany"? Or is there some reason that his sharing of the comments was legal while Techdirt's was not?
It is a shame that the U.S. government doesn't have a massive data center that has been intended to be used for collection and storage of its citizens private data -- in violation of the U.S. Constitution -- and instead could be re-purposed by Congress for archiving of such historic public collections.
Hopefully the TCB are right in their prediction, that this will indeed be the first in a long overdue trend toward expanding users' rights (or rather, a reduction in the taking away of users' rights).
On the post: USTR Promises Congress TPP Will Have Strong Environmental Protections; Then Immediately Denies Saying That
On the post: Oregon Police Push State Law-Violating ID Scanners On Nightclub And Bar Owners
Huh?
On the post: Purdue Cops Throw Student Journalist To Ground, Seize His Camera And Detain Him For Three Hours
Minor correction (credit where due)
On the post: Yale Student Creates Unblockable Replacement For Useful Course Catalog Site Yale Blocked; Yale Reconsiders Initial Block
On the post: Members Of Congress Ask Eric Holder To Try Again In His Explanation Of The Prosecution Of Aaron Swartz
Re:
First, it was not Aaron Swartz's lawyer who quoted the lead prosecutor, it was MIT's lawyers (in a memorandum provided by MIT’s outside counsel to its Office of General Counsel, dated August 10, 2012).
Second, MIT's counsel recited what the lead prosecutor stated directly to them -- in order to qualify as "hearsay" they would have to had quoted something that they heard that the prosecutor said to someone else.
On the post: Could 'Tailored Access Operations' Be An Alternative To 'Collect It All'?
On the post: Rep. Mike Rogers Goes On National TV To Lie About NSA Programs And Snowden
Judge Leon did not "set aside" his judgement, he "stayed" it. Setting aside a decision nullifies it, staying a decision postpones its execution until a later time.
Nor did the Judge say it was "likely to be overturned"; he presumed the government would appeal his decision -- so "likely to be appealed" would be an accurate paraphrasing -- but he also warned the government it should prepare for the eventuality of "when, and if, this ruling is upheld".
On the post: Upset About Beyonce Going Digital, Target Refuses To Stock New Album
Reminiscing
On the post: German Court Tells Wikimedia Foundation That It's Liable For Things Users Write
On the post: USTR Insists Secret, MPAA-Backed TPP Is 'Most Transparent Trade Negotiation In History'... From Hollywood Studio
Re:
On the post: Privacy Groups Want The Government To Investigate Google Over The NSA's Hacking
On the post: Movie Studios Suddenly Drop Lawsuit Against Limewire
Re: Why do you say "Drop"?
On the post: Internet Archive Fire Shows Vulnerability Of The World's Online Memory
On the post: Dan Gillmor's Favorite Techdirt Posts Of The Week
To what is this referring? I enjoyed the article but I don't see anything akin to deconstructing famous musician's songs within it.
On the post: Chinese Propaganda: The US Military Is Making Master Chief Armor; Me: Awesome!
On the post: Why Is Red Hat Associated With A Letter That Calls More User Rights In Copyright A Dangerous 'Contagion'?
On the post: Appeals Court Puts A Hold On NYC Stop And Frisk Ruling; Boots Judge From Case For 'Appearance Of Bias'
On the post: No, People Who Choose To Write On The Internet For Free Are Not 'Slaves'
And yet that is invariably how members of our species spend the first 16-odd years of our lives (just ask your parents).
On the post: Educational Exercises Aimed At School Shootings, Drug Abuse Result In Terrorized Students And K-9 Attacks
Re:
How comforting to know that after a student has been injured and sent the hospital, none of the officials thought to stop the exhibition.
On the post: Feds Wait Until Late Friday To Release Details Of Criminal Case That Used NSA Surveillance, Which They'd Kept Secret
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