Comments on: MIT students fight to keep card hacking material confidential

A hearing in Boston is likely to resolve the question of whether or not students who found farecard vulnerabilities must turn over unpublished material to the Massachusetts transit agency.

[Michichael]

This judge seems pretty biased in this situation. He has no understanding of how the internet or electronic world works. Move for a new judge!

[Jack K1]

Well, judges can't know everything. The guy is clearly in over his head. Sucks to be him.

[Zen-Masta]

If what they have is simply documentation on how to hack the subway, and they don't have any proof that the individuals themselves actually defrauded the state transit system then I don't believe they should be forced to disclose their research. I believe they most likely field tested their research but I think that's another case that a jury should decide on.

[The_Decider]

The MBTA really screwed the pooch on this one. They caused this to be high profile and actually sought a gag order even though the information is out. Had they not acted foolishly, the presentation would not have stood out and they could have addressed the problems privately. Hopeful the good citizens of Boston are applying pressure to oust the current management of MBTA and hold them criminally liable for implementing such a crappy system.

With all the money and time they are wasting they could be working on fixing all of these problems. Much of the problem can be solved by enforcing rules about securing certain areas of the subway and hiring people to monitor the security equipment.

While there is more then enough information to follow the students work with regards to the more technical parts, it is not something that Joe Sixpack could do.

[Renegade Knight]

MBTA doesn't have the authority to sieze property. That's reserved for actual governments not quasi governments. Even if MBTA was an actual government agency they would be required by the constitution to compensate the students for the take. Based on how much MBTA is spending on the issue, I think the students are sitting on a gold mine.