Jeremy Rubin & Friends, vs State of New Jersey ------------------------------------------------ In December 2013, the New Jersey AG demonstrated that nothing is sacred, when they harrassed a bunch of MIT students during finals week. New Jersey felt that a non-functioning but nontheless award-winning demo of a theoretical idea, conceived in Massachusets, was somehow harming the interests of citizens of the discontiguous state of New Jersey. The students went to the university for help. In a perfect demonstration of both the thesis and antithesis of Burke's advice --that "the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing"-- MIT told the students it could not help, and yet one laywer "gave unofficial advice" and placed these students under the auspices of the EFF. who did help. Mid-crisis, many others signed an open letter to the administration, informing them of the incongruity between the ideals of "please invent cool stuff, here is a free laboratory you can use" and "if you invent cool stuff, and get unduly harassed for it, well that's your problem". The letter prompted the University President to "ask" *other people* to create "a proposal" for providing legal advice to kids, and plyed the vauge language and easily-breakable commitments usually reserved for our handsomest politicians. Eventually, NJ settled with the students in exchange for a $25,000 fine that they didn't have to pay, and a promise from Rubin et al not to break any other laws (a promise which, presumably, the AG already had on a standing basis with them and with everyone). In short, some unworthy buffoons took advantage of vulnerable children. Far worse: MIT takes credit for the achievements of its students, but is not there to help them in their hour of need. A wonderful tour of human cruelty and injustice. The lesson I draw from it is Vonnegut's: "Before you kill somebody, make absolutely sure he isn't well connected." Thankfully, these students were able to 'connect' with the EFF, and with other students in the University -- if not for this, they could have attempted to connect to the media, or to wealthy Bitcoiners. If they had failed to connect, who knows what might have happened to them. References ------------- https://www.eff.org/cases/rubin-v-new-jersey-tidbit http://web.mit.edu/fnl/volume/263/tidbit_letter.html http://tech.mit.edu/V134/N4/abelson.html http://news.mit.edu/2014/letter-to-mit-community-regarding-support-of-students-behind-tidbit https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Slaughterhouse-Five#Chapter_5