Slashdot Mirror
Maryland Task Force Proposes Special Tech Courts
rkent writes: "In this NYTimes article, Microsoft makes a good point, the wrong way. They argue that their case was 'so technical and esoteric' that Judge Jackson couldn't understand it. However, the Business and Technology Division Task Force in Maryland is examining the viability of setting up special courts for tech cases. Which may or may not have helped Microsoft. But would it have helped 2600? And future Internet 'pirates?'"
Setting up special 'techno-courts' has the glossy sheen of futurism and hipness, but if the proposed high-tech courts are specialized by the content of their trials, what's to stop them from becoming self-perpetuating, invasive, and self-aggrandizing bodies within their particular fields of purported expertise, and using that expertise as a means of blocking criticism? Would such special courts be an improvement over better educating the existing judiciary?
After all, we've seen on /. a thousand times how disillusioned the technically skilled population is with many, many aspects of the law. Many people here advocate "civil disobediance" or even outright flouting of the law as a means of voicing their protests. Are these the people you want as judges in cases like 2600?
You mean people who understand the needs of the common person and not just those with money? Sounds good to me. But your scenario would never happen, they aren't go to hire the average slashdot reader to be a judge. These people will have to have law degrees and experience, just like any other judge.
It also smacks of elitism that certain cases should only be allowed to be judged by an elite cabal of "tech judges". Why should a case which involves technical concepts merit its own special type of judge, one which is likely to be biased by dint of their interests and knowledge?
Because there is no such thing as being impartial. If there was, supreme court judges would all rule in the same direction. Your biases and experiences affect how you think. On top of that, the complete ingnorance displayed by some judges in this area *is* a problem. Having to think in terms of analogies isn't good, as it seemed judge Jackson did.
Sorry, but this wouldn't solve any problems - no judge could keep up with all of the advances in the various fields of computing unless they worked in them. And if they did, you could never be sure that they were unbiased. I say we keep this elitism out of the judicial system, and stick with what we know works.
I think it might help a bit, but I worry about something different than you: that the judges chosen would be "corporate whores" worse than any that are already out there. The effectiveness of a seperate court like this depends completely on the judges chosen.
Tech companies tend to think that it's ok to get around regulations and often they do. This is because tech companies bring in high paying jobs to the community, and can get away with more than the average company. I'm afriad that in this case microsoft is just saying something like "we want a judge who will side with us, because we know we're right because we are". There is no reason to believe other tech companies would be different.