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Charges Dropped In Fake Boarding Pass Case

An anonymous reader writes, "Investigators have dropped the criminal case against Christopher Soghoian after satisfying themselves that he acted without criminal intent. The grad student had created a web site capable of printing fake airline boarding passes. Soghoian is quoted: 'If they fix the airport security problems... then this entire process has been worth it. If they don't fix airport security, then... what was the purpose?'" Soghoian's blog has insightful comments about the divide between security researchers and government officials on subjects such as TOR.

9 of 135 comments (clear)

  1. More detail by krell · · Score: 4, Funny

    Unfortunately, the investigators who dropped the charges were unable to be reached as they were enjoying their cushy first-class-flight South Pacific vacations.

    --
    Where were you when the voynix came?
  2. Eh? by voice_of_all_reason · · Score: 3, Funny

    his life got turned upside down

    Yes, but was it "flipped" as well?

    Perhaps, while we sit here, he would like to take a minute and tell us.

    1. Re:Eh? by spellraiser · · Score: 4, Funny

      As I understand it, he used a fake boarding pass to fly to Bel Air, where he whistled for a cab and when it came near, the license plate said "FRESH" and it had dice in the mirror.

      --
      I hear there's rumors on the Slashdots
  3. Alternative boarding pass by 4solarisinfo · · Score: 3, Funny

    If you can't print a fake boarding pass, you can always scribble something illegible on an old ticket with a magic marker. Ever had that happen? "Sorry your flight is delayed, we're transfering you to another airline, just show them this.." and you're thinking, wonder if this scribble will get me to Hawaii?

  4. Golly. by Black+Parrot · · Score: 3, Funny

    Don't the morons running this place realize that it isn't safe to forego shooting the messenger?

    --
    Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
  5. Re:Strange laws? by Vengeance · · Score: 2, Funny

    I hate to tell you this, but our legislators couldn't explain US laws to you.

    Hell, many of 'em freely admit to not reading the legislation they vote upon. Asking 'em to actually understand it is obviously going way too far.

    --
    It was a joke! When you give me that look it was a joke.
  6. those are antiques!!!! by krell · · Score: 5, Funny

    ""/// DEADULUS & EARHART AIRLINE CUSTOM FIRMWARE VERSION 1.22"/// . "

    Those are antiques! You might just try to re-sell them on eBay. Daedalus Airlines, in particular, had their assets sold of decades ago when the last wax-attached bird features fell off the last airliner. Both airlines declared bankruptcy, and eventually merged with the old Glenn Miller Airlines to form the Oceanic Air we know and love today. You know, the one with the slogan "Getting halfway there is all the fun". They're also the first airline to consider electrified wings in order to keep the gremlins off.

    --
    Where were you when the voynix came?
  7. DHS Tax! by bdonalds · · Score: 2, Funny

    Printing devices are just machines used for printing fake boarding passes, and they all know it. So it's time to get paid for it! -Department of Homeland Security

    --
    The most important thing to do in your life is to not interfere with somebody else's life. -FZ
  8. Re:Is security worth the inconvenience? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    They already nearly demand you show up hours before your flight. Fine. If you don't, you don't board with luggage. If you do, you are allowed luggage.

    One of the advantages of air travel is purportedly that it is fast.

    All checked luggage is loaded into one big bay,
    Okay so far...

    can have no electronics
    This eliminates laptops for business workers flying to a client site. It also rules out digital cameras, iPods, radios, portable TVs, and PDAs. In other words, most modern conveniences.

    is X-rayed

    No regular cameras allowed, either? So much for holidays.

    sniffed with a mass spec

    A mass spectrometer? How? To determine what, exactly?

    and decompressed and compressed multiple times.

    If you compress my luggage, there's no guarantee that it will decompress again. That rules out travelling with just about any solid goods.

    Liquids on planes are already banned. You can't transport gasses without a container. Why not just ban luggage altogether?

    All people undergo rapid low res MRI scans clothed

    MRIs aren't good for large classes of people. Anyone who's worked with metal, or has metal implanted inside them has to worry about the magnetic effects of the device.

    I don't know about the speed of a low res-scan, but my MRI scan took a full 40 minutes, with me lying down and loaded on a conveyor into the machine. 40 minutes/person is too long to be feasible for airline travel, and MRI machines aren't cheap.

    Don't meet these simple rules?

    Your rules seem to boil down to: "show up hours in advance, don't bring any luggage, don't have ever worked with metal, don't have metal implants, don't be claustraphobic, be very comfortable with full body scans, and preferably, don't fly at all". Any system requiring nuclear magnetic resonance imaging generators doesn't really qualify as "simple" in my books.

    You don't fly so buy yourself a Greyhound or train ticket.

    What do I do if I want to go to Hawaii? Swim?