Subway Card-Hacking Students Successful in Overturning Injunction

Three Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) students planned to give a presentation on their research into the vulnerabilities of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) subway payment system. The presentation was scheduled for the long-running DefCon annual hacker conference in Las Vegas and, it was claimed, it would demonstrate a relatively weak RFID encryption system. A fast-paced series of litigation steps ensued. First, the MBTA brought a motion in the Federal Court for the District of Massachusetts to block disclosure of any of the students' research and included MIT as a named defendant. On Saturday August 9, US Federal Court Judge Woodlock granted the MBTA a temporary restraining order preventing the students from discussing or disclosing their research into vulnerabilities of the payment system. The grounds of the restraining order were based upon possible violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. The following Thursday August 14, US Federal Court Judge O'Toole let the restraining order stand despite strong opposition from the Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts and Electronic Frontier Foundation, two groups assisting the three students. The Judge also granted a request by the MBTA to obtain research documents from the three students and their MIT professor. Finally, however, on Tuesday August 19, Judge O'Toole overturned the restraining order, ruling that allowing the three MIT students to present their research would not violate the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, a decision welcomed by many observers as an endorsement for academic freedom. For a news article from the Washington Post, visit: http://tinyurl.com/5d4w3l Summary by: Oren Weichenberg