[Solar-general] Cuando les quieran hacer una prueba de alcohol...

Vie Oct 21 21:07:28 CEST 2005

...pidan ver el codigo fuente del aparato que le mide el alcohol!!!

Esta es la pregunta que hay que hacer: "what's more important, the
trade secrets of a vendor or the constitutional right to due process,
which surely includes the right to examine a machine used to determine
one's guilt?"

 Accused DUIs demand access to breathalyzer software source-code

A group of accused drunk drivers in Florida are demanding to see the
source code for the breathalyzer software that fingered them for being
over the limit. The prosecutors say that the software is a trade
secret belonging to the company that sells the breathalyzer. It's a
fascinating problem: what's more important, the trade secrets of a
vendor or the constitutional right to due process, which surely
includes the right to examine a machine used to determine one's guilt?
Does selling breathalyzer software for use in evidence in a court of
law mean that you waive your right to keep the software's workings a
secret?

Ed Felten's got a great editorial on this on Freedom-to-Tinker:

    So this issue is not about open source, but about ensuring
fairness for the accused. If they're going to be accused based on what
some machine says, then they ought to be allowed to challenge the
accuracy of the machine. And they can't do that unless they're allowed
to know how the machine works.

    You might argue that the machine's technical manuals convey enough
information. Having read many manuals and examine the innards of many
software systems, I'm skeptical of such claims. Often, knowing how the
maker says a machine works is a poor substitute for knowing how it
actually works. If a machine is flawed, it's likely the maker will
either (a) not know about the flaw or (b) be unwilling to admit it
exists.

http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/?p=914

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