I found this on boingboing.net. Judges in a Florida County have been throwing out DUI cases when the denfendents ask for the source code from the breath test, along with a few other points of information. I know that cops are required to test their radar guns if you ask them to, so I guess the same law applies here. You have the right to defend youself, and thus you have the right to try to find a flaw in the source code, or in the radar gun, or whatever equipment was used to detect your crime. In the case of source code, it's a private vendor supplying this stuff, and they aren't going to want to reveal their code for obvious commercial reasons.
My first thought when I read this was to laugh. You go guys, stick it to the man. Then I remembered that a DUI is not a laughing matter, not when someone dies, and that happens a lot. If you drive drunk and get caught, then you deserve to be punished for it. Perhaps the only solution is for some government agency to buy the code. They can then make it public. I don't think we have to worry about some drunk driving guy hacking a breath test on the spot, and who cares if someone else uses that code? What's wrong with someone creating their own breath test? Or course this would also kill off any competing breath test makers, since I don't know what else their market would be. It's something to consider, and I think I may have stepped too far in to big government territory for my comfort. Any thoughts?
1 Comments:
Sounds like a gaping loop hole to me, and one that needs to be fixed. Drunk driving is scary, and I'm sure nearly everyone knows someone whose life has been affected by a drunk driver. (The More You Know.)
Since the only users of breath tests are police officers and Sharper Image shoppers, states might as well buy out the patent, or have a contractual agreement to only use that particular brand of breath test. What would probably be better (and more fair in terms of commerce) is if the information was made public about how it works. It seems to me that there is nothing out there that cannot and is not reproduced. I mean, (for instance) if Sony was the first company to make a DVD player, how the hell did Panasonic start making them? Furthermore, if Sony was the only company making DVD players, they'd never improve. Competition is never a bad thing. There must be some way that the source code information can be made public. And if you're worried about other people making your product and selling more than you, make yours better.
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