Comments on: “I don’t really understand what a Web site is.”

By: Andrew McG

Andrew McG — Sat, 19 May 2007 06:43:54 +0000

He might have been no more ignorant than most people: "website" is a pretty vague term, and he was looking for a precise definition - and apparently frustrated at not getting one. Many people would be surprised at how tricky the concept is.

By: Andrew McG

Andrew McG — Sat, 19 May 2007 05:43:54 +0000

By: nathan

nathan — Thu, 17 May 2007 20:43:58 +0000

additionally, besides being able to admit his ignorance in the technical matters at hand, perhaps the judge was also able to get the definition of a website into the record, as it is to apply the case at hand.

the importance of a judge being able to understand the technical concepts of a website are less important than the judge being able to understand the concepts of the laws of the land some of which predate the magna carter.

By: nathan

nathan — Thu, 17 May 2007 19:43:58 +0000

the importance of a judge being able to understand the technical concepts of a website are less important than the judge being able to understand the concepts of the laws of the land some of which predate the magna carter.

By: Brian Moore

Brian Moore — Thu, 17 May 2007 18:33:00 +0000

I wonder how many judges there are who haven't acknowledged their ignorance.

I don't have a good solution for the ignorance of judges and juries in technology, science or medical cases. Think how bad it would be if the case hinged on some arcane mathematical feature of security algorithms, rather than a "web site."

Sometimes the case simply rests on information that the average person does not understand, at which point they must value the claims of the prosecution and defense equally, even if one side's claims are scientifically false.

By: MikeT

MikeT — Thu, 17 May 2007 18:03:09 +0000

At least he acknowledged his ignorance, rather than complicating the trial through his ignorance.

By: Brian Moore

Brian Moore — Thu, 17 May 2007 17:33:00 +0000

I wonder how many judges there are who haven't acknowledged their ignorance.

I don't have a good solution for the ignorance of judges and juries in technology, science or medical cases. Think how bad it would be if the case hinged on some arcane mathematical feature of security algorithms, rather than a "web site."

Sometimes the case simply rests on information that the average person does not understand, at which point they must value the claims of the prosecution and defense equally, even if one side's claims are scientifically false.

By: MikeT

MikeT — Thu, 17 May 2007 17:03:09 +0000

At least he acknowledged his ignorance, rather than complicating the trial through his ignorance.