[THE ECONOMIST]

Judges and technology
Yes, the justices are old
Apr 23rd 2010, 13:26 by B.G. | WASHINGTON

DC Dicta at LawyersUSA reports from oral arguments at the Supreme Court in City of Ontario v. Quon, which hinges on whether text messages sent from a city-owned device are the property of the sender. The justices are having a hard time figuring out how the internet works.

    At one point, Justice Anthony Kennedy asked what would happen if a text message was sent to an officer at the same time he was sending one to someone else. "Does it say: 'Your call is important to us, and we will get back to you?'" Kennedy asked.

    Justice Antonin Scalia wrangled a bit with the idea of a service provider. "You mean (the text) doesn't go right to me?" he asked. Then he asked whether they can be printed out in hard copy. "Could Quon print these spicy little conversations and send them to his buddies?" Scalia asked.

First, it's actually kind of sweet that Antonin Scalia can imagine a use case for text messaging that prints them out and puts them in an envelope.

Second, this is about as fair as when Ted Stevens caught hell for describing the internet as "a series of tubes". He wasn't wrong, he just used the wrong words; he was trying to make the point that bandwidth on the internet is limited. It is. But he's old, and old people don't understand the internet, and we do so nyah. I can think, without trying too hard, of several people who understand the internet very well but are still wrong on substance. Most of what I read on the Verizon policy blog, for example, is wrong on substance.

But third, it takes time for comprehension of a new technology to work its way through the government. The legislative branch tends to be younger than the executive, in turn likely to be younger than the judicial.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2010/04/judges_and_technology
On Sunday, March 30, 2014 4:53 PM, David Makali <dmakali@yahoo.com> wrote:
Wkigunju: So what remedy was offered to PANG?? Purely out of justice and fairness, am curious. I followed the judgment to the end. So the court finds cck was illegal, and its actions null and void, yet riding on the same nullify, the court proceeds to take over the CAK's presumed mandate and, sorry to say but ironically arbitrarily, without complying with any due process (since it had nullified the cck one that awarded pang and signet licenses) proceeds to award the media a license uncompetitively while depriving Pang? Isnt this synonymous with stealing from one and giving to another? Am Damned if this is justice.

- Makali
This is official mail. If you doubt the content, call back on +254722517540.

On Mar 30, 2014, at 3:50 PM, "wgikunju@gmail.com" <wgikunju@gmail.com> wrote:

> You're spreading false alarm ICT researcher, the Judges offered remedy for PANG, and directed that the government should comply with the Constitution to legally constitute a 'CCK' with authority to regulate the industry. Please read the judgement in full.
> --WG
> -----Original message-----
> From: ICT Researcher
> Sent:  30/03/2014, 3:10  pm
> To: wgikunju@gmail.com
> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
> Subject: [kictanet] Appeal Court Decision to anarchic sector
>
>
> Just watching http://www.citizennews.co.ke/news/2012/local/item/18216-appeal-court-orders-digital-license-for-main-tv-stations
>
> 1. Declared CCK media regulatory role illegal
> 2. Court cancelled licensed earlier issued to PANG
> 3. Court awards 3 a license exempted from competitive bidding process
> 4. Court give license subject to same terms and conditions
> 5. Court rushes next year's switch off date to September this year
>
> Since the court declared CCK illegal, will the same court assume implementation role including migration process?
>
> Foreign investors in Kenya have cause to be very worried.

>
>
>
>
>
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The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.

KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.