Monday, December 22, 2008

More elegance deconstructing the system

I've always found it to be elegant to misuse a system you disagree with to point out how easy it is to misuse it, and remove it from common use.

Like calling an anonymous tip line with tips against random people or elected officials, or getting a bunch of sober friends together to repeatedly drive through a DUI checkpoint, absorbing most of random checks.

One such system is red light cameras.

Local teens claim pranks on county's Speed Cams
students duplicate the license plates by printing plate numbers on glossy photo paper, using fonts from certain websites that "mimic" those on Maryland license plates. They tape the duplicate plate over the existing plate on the back of their car and purposefully speed through a speed camera, the parent said. The victim then receives a citation in the mail days later.

How'd you like to be the first person to get targeted like this? Before they figured out it was just some kids outsmarting their infallible system, of course.
"Looks like your car. Looks like your plate. Pay up."
"But I didn't--" JAIL!

The parent said that "our civil rights are exploited," and the entire premise behind the Speed Camera Program is called into question as a result of the growing this fad among students.

"Why; it's almost as if still images that appear to be certain cars that appear to be driven by certain people, leading to legal action against the person has some kind of flaw?!"
No fucking shit.

We need to look at these systems not by how much good they can do, but how much bad they can do in the wrong hands.

Just because people haven't been caught framing others, or creating probable cause out of thin air, doesn't mean it isn't happening.

Hat tip to Uncle

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