Diebold Folds In DMCA E-Voting Lawsuit

sunbird writes "Diebold has filed a responsive pleading (PDF) in the lawsuit brought by the Electronic Frontier Foundation to challenge Diebold's practice of using the DMCA to suppress discussion of the critical flaws with electronic voting. Diebold states that it has "decided to withdraw its existing DMCA notifications and not to issue any further ones . . . ." Other recent developments include: this transcript of the court hearing on EFF's application for a preliminary injunction and Dennis Kucinich's linking to Diebold memos from his webpage at the U.S. House of Representatives. Stay tuned- the judge has scheduled a status conference for this Monday in the case."

Comments

DMCA - how can i abuse thee, let me count the ways

[putaro]

Talk about a poorly crafted piece of legislation. There are so many ways to abuse this ridiculous thing. It really needs to be amended to get rid of all of these legal like mechanisms that do not involve the courts. You should have to get a judge to issue an injunction to take material offline, not just say "You have to do it".

Diebold's defense that the plantiffs "did not suffer irreparable harm" because Diebold didn't actually sue them is outrageous. The threat to sue, especially by a party with deep pockets vs a small party definitely causes a chilling effect on free speech. If Diebold had not intention to sue, why did they ask for the material to be removed?

Who'd have thought reason would prevail?

[divide overflow]

Now it's time for the substantive discussion of how best to tally the votes and ensure it is done accurately and impartially. This needs to be done in open public discussions by people who really know how to design and peer review such systems.

Re:Who'd have thought reason would prevail?

[Snowdrake]

Unfortunately I have my doubts as to whether Diebold or any of the other voting-machine manufacturers would be particularly willing to go forward with such a process. As much as many of us (myself at times included) might like to believe that this is fueled by a massive right-wing conspiracy, the real fact is that it's just not their usual MO.

Prior to entry into the voting-machine market, Diebold's primary presence in computing has been in manufacturing ATMs. A brief consideration (disclaimer: I didn't research this and won't be held responsible if it turns out to be dead wrong) suggests that these are, by design, pretty much turnkey systems in which a large amount of the security is provided by an extremely limited user interface. There aren't a lot of branches in the ATM flowchart, and the necessary local configuration is probably minimal.

Now compare this to the requirements of a voting system. Because ballots vary greatly from one precinct to the next, each voting machine must store considerably more local configuration. With this comes a much more complex UI and many more opportunities for security to be compromised. If this is a first foray into a system this complex, it may be a simple underestimation of the requirements. When one considers that the operation of the Diebold voting machine as discussed in the Johns Hopkins paper is not unlike that of an ATM, it's easy to see where someone may have seen elections as just another nail to hit with their particular hammer. Little did they know that the demands are so different.

Re:Who'd have thought reason would prevail?

[ajs318]

I'll tell you "how best to tally the votes and ensure it is done accurately and impartially" in just two words:

By hand.

But if you really must use machines, if it really is more important that it be done quickly than it be done right, then every aspect of the machines' operation must be absolutely open to public scrutiny at every stage of the process. Corporations' rights to make profits are subordinate to individuals' rights to democracy.

Re:Who'd have thought reason would prevail?

[Anonymous Coward]

Paper ballots, which are fed into a simple optical reader at the polling station. The ballot is then dropped into a locked ballot box. The result can be counted instantly by the machines, but there is a good old-fashioned paper trail which can be hand counted should there be any doubt over the outcome.

Re:Who'd have thought reason would prevail?

[divide overflow]

> I'll tell you "how best to tally the votes and ensure it is done accurately and impartially" in just two words:
>
>By hand.

My two words would be PAPER TRAIL.

Re:Who'd have thought reason would prevail?

[cheezedawg]

I assume you are basing this on Dr Lichtman's claim that "persons living in a county with a substantial African American or people of color population are more likely to have their ballots spoiled or discounted than persons living in the rest of Florida." (cited by the democrat majority in the USCCR report on the 2000 Florida election). This claim is a pretty good example of somebody trying to find evidence to support his preconceived conclusions, and it is thoroughly debunked in the dissenting statement.

Here are the facts:

Election procedures are controlled by the individual County Elections Supervisors. Out of the 25 counties with the highest ballot "spoilage" rates, 24 of the counties were supervised by a democrat, and the 25th was supervised by an independent.

The NAACP, who was called in to represent these minority voters that you claim were disenfranchised, were very clear that they don't allege that anybody "acted in a purposefully discriminatory manner toward any group."

Dr John Lott of Yale University did his own study, and he concluded that coefficient on the percent of voters who were black to the number of spoiled ballots was not statistically significant.

Re:DMCA - how can i abuse thee, let me count the w

[beacher]

Agreed. Just look at the RIAA uses the DMCA - "The copyright owner may then present a subpoena request to the Clerk of the Court that requires the user's ISP to identify the person who was using the particular IP address when the copyright owner observed the copyright infringement. " - and this is based on a good faith belief that the person has committedd copyright infringement. Then the case goes to civil trial. Completely bypasses the bill of rights.

Good Faith... RIAA/MPAA.. truly a disconnect. Nasty

My Theory

[benna]

I don't think that their systems are faulty really. I think they work exactly as designed.

Beginning of DMCA downfall?

[Froobly]

I just read this in conjunction with the story on Best Buy and FatWallet, and I can only hope, maybe people are finally seeing the DMCA the way we see it. Here we have two cases against major companies challenging the DMCA for its chilling effects. How long before it works its way up to the Supreme Court?

Re:hooray!

[silentbozo]

It's not a win unless the EFF wins the actual case. Although the main intent behind the suits was to stop Diebold from issuing any more takedown letters citing copyright, a successful injunction against Diebold would have sent a very strong message against any future abuses of copyright in ways contrary to the public good (ie, interference with 1st amendment protections.)

If the judge allows dismissal, the EFF misses a slam dunk chance to nibble away at corporate abuse (ie, the DMCA stands, Diebold gets away with saying "Oops, we really didn't mean to stifle free speech. We promise not to do it again *crossing fingers*" While OGP will probably be relieved that they won't have to go to the time and expense of trial, we're just postponing the inevitable courtroom clash between individual freedom and corporate manipulation of federal law.

Fair thanks

[jdifool]

Hi,

sticking to the relevant way of using the 'fair' mechanism, I'd like to thank those two students, and the whole bunch of people who fought Diebold's obnoxious use of the DMCA.

You did a fucking awesome job. And you proved that personal actions really matter in this deincarnated world.

This is no time to loosen the backlash ; Dieblod may ask for some 'mediation', my advice would be not to give them any relief. They *must* pay for what they've done.

Regards,
Jdif

Re:hooray!

[silentbozo]

Hmm, after reading the Diebold response, it looks like someone with half a brain and a clue got through to the idiot execs. It is essentially a total surrender, abandoning claims of irrepairable harm, a recognition that the materials are too widespread to control, and a conditional promise not to sue under copyright.

I was wrong - this is a win (sort of)! Too bad we had to file suit to generate this response though...

Open source democracy

[Savage-Rabbit]

If ever there was a case for open source this is it. Democracy is not democracy without transparency. For Diebold to deny the public the right to know how its votes are counted and how secure the process is by keeping its source closed is inexcusable.....

"the code, which Diebold refuses to allow the public to audit, was discovered unencrypted on a publicly accessible Diebold Internet FTP (file transfer protocol) site.

.... uuuuhhh, oops my bad!, they are open source after all.

But all fun aside, at least it can now be said to have been officially confirmed that one of the numerous things DMCA will not protect you against is your own stupidity and incopetence.

Re:Open source democracy

[timeOday]

I suppose diebold is to blame, but what about our government? Why are our tax dollars going towards a product that is all wrong for the application?

The govt. should contract to have the voting software written, so it is govt. owned and open source. I don't want my tax dollars wasted pumping up Diebold from now until the rest of eternity, and more importantly I want vote integrity - not just actual integrity, but also public confidence. They should form an oversight committe for this voting software contract. Reputable scientists from academia and industry would come out of the woodwork to join the committee and help insure votes are counted right.

Re:Who votes anymore?

[benna]

Kucinich. Apearently the real question is who reads the slashdot article anymore since if you had read the post you would know who to vote for. :P

Can WE abuse the DMCA too?

[carcosa30]

There should be some sort of credo that when a system can't be fixed, it should be used/abused equally by everybody.

Surely there are enough correct-thinking corporations that we could begin to use the DMCA to begin to put pressure on certain groups. Then perhaps the government will begin to realize how asinine it is (the DMCA, not the... never mind.)

This is kinda like the putative holes in Diebold machines. If nothing can be done about them, surely they can be abused by everyone :)

Re:DMCA - how can i abuse thee, let me count the w

[beacher]

Take a look at The Register's article as mentioned a few days ago here in regards to the MP/RIAA seeking anti-trust exemption...

"Hatch said the big studios and major record labels need the exemption because of "market realities...The bill authorizes appropriations to ensure that all Department of Justice units that investigate intellectual property crimes have the support of at least one agent specifically trained in the investigation of such crimes," he said last week."

Why isn't the DOJ doing this? I'm sure that the DOJ and the FBI have models in place for persuing internet fraud and cracking cases (yes I know this is not the best comparison theft vis a vis copyright infringement), so until the DOJ gets Copyright agents, the RIAA/MPAA is acting as an affiliate of the government and conducting searches without due process.

Anyway, this is my take on it
-B

Corporate?

[AndroidCat]

the inevitable courtroom clash between individual freedom and corporate manipulation of federal law

But one of the larger abusers of the DMCA like this is the Cthurch of Scientology and they're not a corp .. oh .. never mind, I haven't caffievolved yet this morning.

Re:DMCA - how can i abuse thee, let me count the w

[Anonymous Coward]

It's a violation of the right to due process. Basically, the DMCA has granted private entities the power to issue their own enforceable subpoenas with no judicial or even administrative review whatsoever. This is completely unprecedented.

Re:Kucinich Blog on Election Activism

[Zeinfeld]

Kucinich is a good guy on some positions, particularly on eliminating corporate welfare. The problem is that he is 100% unelectable as President. The US people are not going to replace the ultra-right Bush administration with Kucinich.

The fact is that despite Ralph Nader's claim that there was no difference between the major party candidates in fact it turns out that there is. The small matter of a multi-trillion dollar surplus being turned into a multi-trillion dollar debt and starting a war in Iraq before Bin Laden was eliminated.

At this point the clear priority is to replace Cheney/Bush or to use their corporate titles Haliburton/Harken. One thing is clear, the war in Iraq is not going to end any time soon when Haliburton is war-profiteering, lining its pockets (and therefore Cheney who still has a major interest).

It is not just the program, it is the way the program is communicated. Someone who is technically very good at communicating (and Edwards for example) could get away with most of Kucinich's program. Kucinich cannot.

I see the race as divided between the no-hoper candidates (Kucinich, Edwards, Sharpton, Braun) the Bob Dole candidate who can be relied on not to loose too baddly (Gephart) and the serious ones.

Of the serious candidates we have the DLC sponsored Lieberman and Kerry and the outsiders Clark and Dean. At this point the party workers are so disgusted with the DLC and the policy of trying to fudge the Iraq war issue I don't think Lieberman or Kerry has much of a chance.

My guess is that the race will quickly settle to being between Dean and Clark, the rest will drop out either after NH or the big 7 primaries. The most likely outcome is a Dean/Clark ticket.

So if you want to influence the campaign with ideas on open source or copyright policy I would lobby the Dean people. At this point their attitude is 'yeah sounds like a good plan, problem is nobody understands technology or votes on it'.