Category Archives: Miami

DeFede Case in the Columbia Journalism Review

Posted on January 6, 2006 by Michael Froomkin

Under the title “Miami Noir,” the Columbia Journalism Review has an unsparing, borderline cruel, account of the DeFede affair.

Related posts:

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Padilla is Here

Posted on January 5, 2006 by Michael Froomkin

Padilla Brought to Face Civilian Charges: Jose Padilla is in Miami.

For a place so far, physically and psychologically, from the centers of financial and political power in this nation, we really are at the epicenter of all kinds of interesting things here in Miami.

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Kudos to the Miami-Dade Public Library

Posted on December 17, 2005 by Michael Froomkin

I have to praise the Miami-Dade Public Library system. Once I escalated my complaints about their new wireless service they have done almost (but not quite) everything I asked for.

They unblocked digicrime.com from the PC network. They are going to put into place procedures which allow on-the-spot blocking overrides for the laptops they lend out in the library (!). They regret that they don’t see a secure means of providing a similar on-the-spot override for users who bring their own laptops, as they think that would ‘compromise security’.

But most importantly, they’ve unblocked port 22 so I can use ssh! And they were very nice about it, too. (Please, nobody mention some of the things you can do with ssh tunnels, ok?)

I’m impressed.

Posted in Miami | 2 Comments

Wireless Woes at the Miami-Dade Public Library

Posted on December 10, 2005 by Michael Froomkin

The Miami-Dade Public Libraries, where I tend to hang out on Saturday afternoons because that is where the kids’ chess club meets, has a nice new new free wireless service but it’s infested with about the most restrictive web filters and port blockers it has ever been my misfortune to encounter.

Not only do they block digicrime.com, but they block download.com. And many other harmless sites also. And of course they block the archive.org versions of those pages too.

The library PC’s in the adult section of the library also operate under this highly censored regime. But when one tries to reach a blocked web site on one of those machines one gets an informative error message, and it is possible to request an override code from a librarian. In contrast, the wireless blocking happens in an a most uninformative way: Trying an http connection to a blocked site on the wireless access produces a long delay, followed by this informative popup:

The connection was refused when attempting to contact 192.168.99.32

How many people are likely to know that 192.168.xxx.xxx means a local network, meaning something has intercepted one’s request?

Even armed with the knowledge that one’s browsing is blocked, one is still out of luck: at present the library has no means to override the blocking for wireless users. We can of course use a desktop (if one is available – they’re quite popular), and ask for an override code; this workaround means that the blocking has a decent chance of skirting the First Amendment rules that constrain library content censorship.

And did I mention that anything other than port 80 (http web access) and port 443 (https secure web access) appears to be blocked too? I am unable to telnet or more importantly to ssh to my mail server. Why on earth should the library block me getting my email? Indeed it in was the search for a proxy tunneling tool that I hit the download.com block; there may be a method to their madness. (Is there a way to do ssh over http?)

The branch librarians are sympathetic, especially about the blocked sites, but they don’t control the filter list or the wireless port blocking policies. And they don’t get “ports” at all. All that computer stuff is handled by some distant, faceless, unresponsive central administration. So my requests for changes to the policy, so far, go unheeded, including written requests a week ago to unblock a site, and open port 22.

Only mildly relevant links:

Miami-Dade Public Library Internet/Workstation Policy

Miami-Dade County Liability Disclaimer and User Agreement (which states, notably, “Anyone using this system expressly consents to administrative monitoring at all times by Miami-Dade County and its authorized agents and contractors. You (User) are further advised that system administrators may provide evidence of possible criminal activity identified during such monitoring to appropriate law enforcement officials. If you (User) do not wish to consent to monitoring, exit this system now.” This would be a good exam question for someone as it suggests a rather broad waiver of the right to anonymous speech…)

Posted in Law: Free Speech, Miami | 6 Comments

Miami Won’t Be Checking ID (Updated)

Posted on November 29, 2005 by Michael Froomkin

According to the local ACLU, whom I’d called to volunteer my services, the news story quoted below is all wrong:

This is a story the AP screwed up in two significant ways and they will soon be releasing a revised, corrected version. First, Chief Fernandez called AP to complain that he did not say that the Miami police would be stopping and demanding identification from people. Second, [executive director of ACLU of Florida,] Howard [Simon] was not told of the alleged stop and ID plan when he was contacted. Howard has talked to the reporter and will now be quoted as saying “If the Miami police plan on stopping people and demanding identification without any reason to believe that there is criminal activity, that is unconstitutional.”

Sounds like maybe it’s all a a false alarm!

Update: Here’s how the start of that AP story reads now:

Police are planning “in-your-face” shows of force in public places, saying the random, high-profile security operations will keep terrorists guessing about where officers might be next.

As an example, uniformed and plainclothes officers might surround a bank building unannounced, contact the manager about ways to be vigilant against terrorists and hand out leaflets in three languages to customers and people passing by, said police spokesman Angel Calzadilla. He said there would be no random checks of identification.

“People are definitely going to notice it,” Deputy Police Chief Frank Fernandez said Monday. “We want that shock. We want that awe. But at the same time, we don’t want people to feel their rights are being threatened. We need them to be our eyes and ears.”

“No Random checks of identification“

Posted in ID Cards and Identification, Miami | 2 Comments

Miami Announces Plan for Random ID Checks

Posted on November 29, 2005 by Michael Froomkin

Miami cops go ‘in-your-face’ to deter terrorists – U.S. Security: Miami police announced Monday they will stage random shows of force at hotels, banks and other public places to keep terrorists guessing and remind people to be vigilant.

Deputy Police Chief Frank Fernandez said officers might, for example, surround a bank building, check the IDs of everyone going in and out and hand out leaflets about terror threats.

Leaving aside the obvious point that this won’t deter terrorists, who will obviously have some sort of fake ID, and who by implication have already braved the cameras that are always running in banks, this plan sounds like an organized series of illegal suspicionless search.

We accept the dragnet approach to stopping cars on the roads due to the legal rule (legal fiction?) that driving is a ‘privilege, and hence more regulable than, well, walking.

But that rule doesn’t apply to walking. Although the devil is always in the details, so one needs to know more before taking any firm stands, I don’t see the legal (or constitutional) justification for this dragnet approach to pedestrians.

If so, this plan is ripe for challenge, although I wonder if the 11th Circuit is likely to be the most hospitable place for such a law suit.

(Related post: ID Card Required to Ride a Public Bus?)

Update: I’m told that both the police official and the ACLU official quoted in the story now say the article is all wrong.

Posted in ID Cards and Identification, Law: Privacy, Miami | 3 Comments