May 19, 2007 9:15 AM PDT

'What is a Web site?' judge says he's fully computer literate

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May 8, 2007; Missing: Politicians who take clear stand on tech
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Judge who said he didn't grasp basic concepts in an Internet terrorism trial now says comments were taken out of context.

The story "'What is a Web site?' judge says he's fully computer literate" published May 19, 2007 at 9:15 AM is no longer available on CNET News.

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Add a Comment (Log in or register) 16 comments

Luddite Judge should recuse himself
by Orion Blastar May 19, 2007 3:04 PM PDT: and get replaced by a Judge that is techno-savvy enough to know what a web site is, and what it means to have words posted on one.

This is the 21st century, has this judge been living in a cave for the past 25 years or something and never figured out what the Internet is and what web sites are?; Reply to this comment View reply
Processing

The Real question.
by Marcus Westrup May 19, 2007 3:36 PM PDT: What is the legal definition of a Web Site? I think that?s what this judge was really asking. Is it any resource that can be reached on-line through a browser (FTP, email, etc.), or do you narrow the definition to just HTML pages? The law can be non-obvious about these things.; Reply to this comment View reply
Processing

On the other end
by richardishere May 20, 2007 9:43 PM PDT: It's nice to have lawyers being on the other end of the stick. We need more of this so liars, I mean lawyers, know how it feels.; Reply to this comment

Any U.S. Senator . . .
by K.P.C. May 21, 2007 6:47 AM PDT: . . . could have told that silly judge that a web page is that
doohickey attatched to the end of all those tubes that make up the
internet.; Reply to this comment

Judges give definitions???????
by fhharris May 21, 2007 12:13 PM PDT: Last I checked judge make rulings on contentions by attorneys. Definitions are given by experts in the appropriate field. One of the requirements of our judicial system is to make sure that the terms used in court are well understood.

If I use the term one's house, am I including detached outbuildings? If I say computer am I including unattached accessories? How about external hard drives?

When I say web-site am I including page hosted elsewhere that I include by link and accessible from an original site? Especially if I give no credit to any other author?

Any idiot knows....

Well maybe not!; Reply to this comment

It's not as bad as it seems
by Christopher Hall May 21, 2007 12:38 PM PDT: It's a common practice in law and classical debate mechanics to define words so that all involved parties are operating under the same assumptions. A "web site" is in many ways a broad term used to describe any number of things on this here series of tubes we call our Internets. A clarification is not out of line.

After all, it depends on what the definition of "is" is.; Reply to this comment View reply
Processing

reminds me of the Microsoft IE case....
by redraider89 May 22, 2007 1:49 AM PDT: Microsoft performed a coup because the judge didn't understand the difference between "uninstalling" and "removing a desktop icon" because as you can see, we still have IE integrated into the OS 2 MS OS's later in XP. The judge apparently thought that because she could not see the icon, it must be removed from the computer. Judges need to start taking qualifying tests to make sure they are suitable to preside over technology cases.; Reply to this comment

People defending this story must not have read it
by redraider89 May 22, 2007 2:13 AM PDT: If a Judge asked what is a "murder" in a murder trial, or "what is larceny" in a theft trial, I wonder if these people who are defending this judge would be saying, "He was just asking for clarification." But to say "I haven't quite grasped the concepts" as it the article says he says, for this trial it is the same thing as asking what is "murder" in a murder trial or at the minimum, "what is a gun?" in a murder trial, where someone was shot.

This is not a clarification statement for the court, that is saying, "I, the Judge, don't know what you are talking about."; Reply to this comment

Better ask...
by rleon May 22, 2007 6:51 AM PDT: than pretend he understand everything. Or just say: A website is a
faucet in the net of pipes and tubes.; Reply to this comment

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