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Secret source code pronounces you guilty as charged
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Comments (6)
There's already precedent for examining the embedded code. From our pals at Ars Technica:
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2009/05/buggy-breathalyze...
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2009/05/buggy-breathalyze...
As someone with both a BS in Comp. Sci. and a JD, I can only agree that it sets a bad precedent. An error in code could be responsible for someone not getting due process. Essentially, it would mean granting expert witness status to an inanimate object, one which is fallible. In most areas of (criminal) law, where there is some sort of machine reading that is evidence of a crime, the machines need to be recalibrated on a regular basis (i.e.: weights and measures, breathalyzers, etc.). Is there even something similar for this software?!?!
> Essentially, it would mean granting expert witness status to an inanimate object,
An expert witness which cannot be cross examined.
An expert witness which cannot be cross examined.
> There's already precedent for examining the embedded code.
Yet, from what I've been able to discover and despite the code being researched by at least one independent and found wanting, the NJ judge still managed to give the case to the corporation.
Now that corporations can legally contribute to a judge's election and/or re-election, the days of an unbiased judiciary are gone. IMO, judges are now nothing more than politicians in graduation gowns. ;)
Yet, from what I've been able to discover and despite the code being researched by at least one independent and found wanting, the NJ judge still managed to give the case to the corporation.
Now that corporations can legally contribute to a judge's election and/or re-election, the days of an unbiased judiciary are gone. IMO, judges are now nothing more than politicians in graduation gowns. ;)
It might be worth noting that NJ doesn't elect their judges... PA and other states do,...
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If source code cannot be reviewed, it can include anything, including purposely deceptive code. If a defense investigator discovers a juror or judge or whomever has acted in error or other unethical misconduct, it needs to be revealed. Can't reveal what can't be seen. If a commercial company want to play in the US legal system, it must be open to legal scrutiny. This is a slippery slope of prodigious proportions.