Sounding like a scene from The Minority Report, the hit film by Steven Spielberg, a New Jersey jail is using a computer system to screen inmates to determine if they will commit hostile acts. The Spielberg film was about a future society that was able to predetermine a criminal act, with law enforcement officers able to swoop in and arrest people before they commit the crime.
Called Cogito, the computer system “emulates the work of an interrogation expert and can accurately expose hostile intents and hidden information in as little as five minutes,” according to Bergen County Sheriff Leo McGuire.
Cogito, developed by the Israeli-based Suspect Detection Systems, uses sensors that measure the person’s “psycho-physiological responses,” which is similar to a polygraph test.
The computer system was used in a pilot study by the New Jersey jail. The prison official used the system by placing an inmates palm in a sensor, and then having them answer a series of questions. The results of the study have been presented at the National Sheriffs’ Association Conference, in Anaheim, California.
“In Bergen County, we have seen promising results when administering the Cogito system as part of our traditional intake procedures,” writes Sheriff McGuire.
Hostile intent technologies have their critics. Many experts say that there is no science to support the ability to detect behavior before it happens. There has also been criticism of the Transportation Security Administration’s use of similar technology, saying that there is no proof that any terrorists have been caught with it.
Music isn’t the only proprietary product in the entertainment world to be suffering from pirated products. Video game giant Nintendo of America Inc. has filed a civil lawsuit against the owner of multiple websites that sell illegal video game copiers.
On May 11, Nintendo filed a lawsuit in the Western District of Washington against the owner of NXPGAME of Queens, New York. An investigation by the video game maker revealed that NXPGAME was selling illegal video game copiers that enable the user to download, play and distribute illegal copies of Nintendo DS and Nintendo DSi video game software.
“Using game copiers to play unauthorized downloaded games is illegal and it’s wrong,” said Jodi Daugherty, Nintendo of America’s senior director of Anti-Piracy. “Piracy is especially harmful to smaller developers. When their creative works are stolen and copied illegally, some companies find it difficult to survive economically.”
One such smaller developer is Alex Neuse, CEO of Gaijin Games.
“I estimate that more than 70 percent of our games that are in the hands of the public have been copied illegally,” says Neuse. “Piracy especially hurts small independent developers who don’t command the sales figures/profits that the bigger companies do; and that ultimately hurts not only developers but all gamers.”
In 2009, Nintendo won a court case in a U.S. District Court in Los Angeles against Daniel Man Tik Chan and Inspire Electronics. The court ordered Chan and the three major websites that he operated to stop selling the illegal copying devices immediately.
We all love Google. It blows our minds. The complicated algorithms and the way it is able to find the information we are seeking on the Internet so quickly is simply dumbfounding. But have they taken their power too far?
A woman in Florida has recently filed suit against Google stating that their new platform “Buzz” invaded the privacy of its users.
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