Author Archives: Michael Froomkin

Presidential Blackberry Considered Dangerous

Posted on February 12, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

Chris Soghoian's Obama's BlackBerry brings personal safety risks is a fine example of the inspired paranoia of the true security professional.

And, you know…

Posted in National Security | 1 Comment

Is Wikipedia Like Fox News?

Posted on February 11, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

Slashdot, False Fact On Wikipedia Proves Itself:

Germany has a new minister of economic affairs. Mr. von und zu Guttenberg is descended from an old and noble lineage, so his official name is very long: Karl Theodor Maria Nikolaus Johann Jacob Philipp Franz Joseph Sylvester Freiherr von und zu Guttenberg. When first there were rumors that he would be appointed to the post, someone changed his Wikipedia entry and added the name 'Wilhelm,' so Wikipedia stated his full name as: Karl Theodor Maria Nikolaus Johann Jacob Philipp Wilhelm Franz Joseph Sylvester Freiherr von und zu Guttenberg. What resulted from this edit points up a big problem for our information society (in German; Google translation). The German and international press picked up the wrong name from Wikipedia — including well-known newspapers, Internet sites, and TV news such as spiegel.de, Bild, heute.de, TAZ, or Süddeutsche Zeitung. In the meantime, the change on Wikipedia was reverted, with a request for proof of the name. The proof was quickly found. On spiegel.de an article cites Mr. von und zu Guttenberg using his 'full name'; however, while the quote might have been real, the full name seems to have been looked up on Wikipedia while the false edit was in place. So the circle was closed: Wikipedia states a false fact, a reputable media outlet copies the false fact, and this outlet is then used as the source to prove the false fact to Wikipedia.

Not a reliable source. Of course, a similar thing happens on Fox 'news' all the time, cf. Echo chamber: Bloomberg “commentary” health IT falsehood goes from Limbaugh to WSJ's Moore and Fox, back to Limbaugh, but that's not a reliable source either.

Fox is united by a top-down intent; Wikipedia is plastic and subject to hijack by almost anyone… So Fox is consciously malign, Wikipedia (small-“d”) democratically inept?

Posted in Internet | 1 Comment

Fair Districts Florida Takes Aim at Florida Gerrymandering

Posted on February 11, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

Florida has a serious gerrymandering problem. We're the classic 50/50 state politically (remember the 2000 election?) but the state legislature in particular and also the state congressional districts are drawn with a heavy partisan bias. The results are sometimes quite striking.

The people at FairDistrictsFlorida.org are trying to do something about it. Trying to legislate neutral principles for districting is a Very Hard Problem, and I haven't yet taken the time to figure out what I think of this proposed solution to it, but I agree it's a major issue and admire the energy and commitment Fair Districts Florida is bringing to the problem.

Posted in Florida, Law: Elections | 1 Comment

The Most Amazing Twitter Story Yet

Posted on February 10, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

Not Larry Sabato: Social Media Saves [Virginia State] Senate For Democrats:

Apparently Senator Ralph Northam had agreed with Minority Leader Tommy Norment to vote to give Republicans power sharing in the Virginia Senate today.

Before it was announced on the floor and finalized, RPV Chairman Jeff Frederick tweeted about it.

Majority Leader Dick Saslaw adjourned before it could happen.

The Democrats got into a room and pounded into Northam what would happen if he did this.

Northam backed down. (Now everyone hates him, idiot).

Twitter scares me: I don't need more distractions in my life. But this is an amazing story.

Posted in Politics: US | Comments Off

Updates on Sex/Race Bias Suit Against UF Law

Posted on February 10, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

Some updates to my previous post, UF Law Professor Files Sex/Race Discrimination Lawsuit:

Paul Caron has the most extensive updates, including a link to a public email from Florida Dean Bob Jerry, which says, among other things,

At this time, I am at liberty to say that the allegations of discrimination in this case are unfounded. We will be responding vigorously to this complaint, and we will provide a copy of our response when we do. There are important facts with bearing on this case that will come out when we submit our response.
Earlier, in Former Florida Law Prof Comments on Racial and Sexual Discrimination Lawsuit Against School and Dean Prof. Caron wrote, “Ms. Russell-Brown has sent me the following clarification:”

I just wanted to clarify one point for your blog that was not covered by the National Law Journal article, but which is addressed in my complaint.

I went on leave from the UF College of Law in August 2004, in order to meet the 2-year residency requirement for a DPhil in public international law at the University of Oxford (UK). It was while I was overseas that I felt more comfortable, as a “tenure-accruing” faculty member, speaking up about some of the statements and/or comments that I was hearing. I returned from leave back to Gainesville in January 2007, which is when I began to experience the difficulties resulting in my departure by the end of that year, December 31, 2007.

However, while I was on leave and at Oxford for my doctoral studies, from August 2004 until December 2006, my “tenure clock” stopped, along with my publication obligation, and was “re-started” when I returned to academic service at the UF College of Law in January 2007. Consequently, my complaint does not allege that I was “passed over” for tenure consideration, in the sense of being denied tenure, but rather that I was not allowed to continue in my “tenure-accruing” position starting from January 2007, until the end of my “tenure probationary period” in 2009-2010 – that my “tenure clock” was unlawfully stopped on December 31, 2007, in retaliation for my disclosures, and I was not allowed to be considered for tenure in 2009-2010, as UF faculty regulations provide.

Other updates of note: