Headline, November05, 2013

''' CAPTURING LIGHTNING IN A 

BOTTLE '''

After his funding from the University of Indiana ran out in 2008, Dr Soghoian received several grants and fellowships. He gleefully points out the varied political leanings of his patrons.

He has received some funding from the libertarian leaning institute for Human Studies, backed by the arch conservative Charles Koch.

But as he moved to investigate business misdeeds rather than those of the government, this money was replaced by a fellowship from the Open Society Foundations, a group run by Mr Koch's nemesis on the left. George Soros.

Can Dr Soghian's reputation as a Digital Samurai be squared with his obvious flair for self-promotion? Yes, says Jules Poloneisky, director of the Future of Privacy Forum, a think-tank based in Washington DC, who by his own admission does not always see eye-to-eye with him.

''People would be surprised by the number of times that this otherwise very public media bomb thrower has quietly worked to get a company to simply solve a problem when it could have been a front page story,'' says Mr Poloneisky.

Dr Soghoian's agenda is ''not about money, not about fame or anything like that,'' says Lee Tien of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a lobby group with which Dr Soghoian sometimes collaborates. He just uses the glare of the media to get results.

Though known for his string views on privacy and surveillance, Dr Soghoian is no absolutist. Last year, he published a paper in the Berkeley Technology Law Journal on how best to grant law-enforcement agencies access to individuals' location data, with proper checks and balances.

It was co-written with Stephanie Pell, who was in the justice of department team that prosecuted people accused of being linked to al-Qaeda.

Writing the paper, says Dr Soghoian, involved finding a balance between Ms Pell's knowledge of the utility of location=tracking in law enforcement and his own concerns about unwarranted privacy intrusions.

''The marginal cost of spying on one more person is essentially zero now,'' he says. ''The economics of modern surveillance are not beneficial to the consumer,''

As a respite from his campaign to defend personal privacy, Dr Soghoian likes to go to India. But he may have to find some where else to holiday.

''India is rapidly becoming a surveillance state,'' he says. Such trips may be less frequent in any case, because Dr Soghoian now has a new job at the American Civil Liberties Union, mediating between geeks and lawyers, as he did at the FTC.

His new employers must be well aware that they have captured lightning in a bottle -and should not be surprised when it escapes.

With respectful dedication to the Students, Professors and Teachers of Australia. See Ya all on the World Students Society Computers-Internet-Wireless:

'''!!! The Only Way Forward !!!'''

Good Night & God Bless!

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless