Machine Compatible Show: MC Episode 00005

Machine Compatible Episode 5 recorded June 25th, 2014
In this episode we draft our favorite movies of all time and touch briefly on the Lincecum’s second no-hitter this year, the Mavs/Knicks trade, legislation and court rulings on digital searches and Aereo, Google i/o and whatever else we feel like talking about ‘cause it’s our show.

Quick News (Tech, Sports, News)

Missouri Amendment to State Constitution would require a warrant for digital searches(TechCrunch article)

Section 15. That the people shall be secure in their persons, papers, homes, effects, and electronic communications and data, from unreasonable searches and seizures; and no warrant to search any place, or seize any person or thing, or access electronic data or communication, shall issue without describing the place to be searched, or the person or thing to be seized, or the data or communication to be accessed, as nearly as may be, nor without probable cause, supported by written oath or affirmation.

Legislation that would have reversed that decision and required search warrants was opposed by police groups and vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown, who said it was an issue for the courts, not the Legislature.

"A cell phone search would typically expose to the government far more than the most exhaustive search of a house," the chief justice wrote. A basic phone that sells for less than $20, he said, "might hold photographs, picture messages, text messages, Internet browsing history, a calendar, a thousand-entry phone book, and so on."

In sum, having considered the details of Aereo’s practices, we find them highly similar to [early cable TV services] .. Insofar as there are differences, those differences concern not the nature of the service that Aereo provides so much as the technological manner in which it provides the service. We conclude that those differences are not adequate to place Aereo’s activities outside the scope of the Act.

Writing in dissent, Justice Antonin Scalia argued that Aereo did not “perform” at all — an interpretation of the law that enjoyed considerable support by many law professors. Scalia argued that the majority ruling did not reflect what Aereo’s service actually did, and warned that other companies and services would struggle to navigate a “guilt-by-resemblance regime” and complained of “an improvised standard (“looks-like-cable-TV”) that will sow confusion for years to come.”

Draft