MIT Campaign for Students: Hacking

In October 2006, three students were charged with trespassing and breaking and entering with the intent to commit a felony in Middlesex County Cambridge District Court [1]. The students had been caught hacking in the Faculty Club in Building E52. This marked the first time a student had been charged with a felony for trespassing, and raised concerns amongst students that the administration had taken a new stance against hacking. A lack of communication between students, campus police, and top level administrators resulted in the case dragging out for nearly six months before charges were dropped in March 2007 [2]. Both faculty and students demanded explanations as to why the situation was handled in court as opposed to the traditional Committee on Discipline hearing [3], but no adequate response was given.

In the aftermath, a group was formed to develop a statement on hacking to serve as guidelines for the future. However, little ever came of these meetings in the way of progress, and no true guidelines were ever developed.

1: http://tech.mit.edu/V127/N4/hackers.html
2: http://tech.mit.edu/V127/N8/hackers.html
3: http://tech.mit.edu/V127/N6/facultymeeting.html

In June 2008, a graduate student was caught hacking in NW16 and was charged with breaking and entering with the intent to commit a felony and possession of burglary tools [4]. This marked the second time in two years that a student caught hacking had been charged with a felony in Cambridge District Court. This incident further strained relations between hackers and campus police, which had already been tense since the faculty club incident in October 2006. This incident became yet another in a series of incidents that were widely considered to be mishandled by the MIT Administration, including the original E52 Faculty Club Case and the Star Simpson Incident at Logan International Airport. All charges were later dropped in July 2008 [5].

4: http://tech.mit.edu/V128/N28/hackers.html
5: http://tech.mit.edu/V128/N30/hacking.html

In controversial letters to the MIT Community (in both 2007 and 2008), Chancellor Clay described how students must take full responsibility for their actions, even when participating in traditions such as hacking [6]. Clay suggested that all hackers follow the ‘Hacking Code of Ethics’ while hacking, and stated that ‘true hackers’ identify themselves to the police rather than evade them. Furthermore, Chancellor Clay stated that any hackers who breaks the law cannot seek protection and will be held accountable for their actions. In these letters, the MIT Administration not only displayed a blatant misunderstanding of the hacking tradition, but also chose to take a controversial stance on hacking. This fundamental misunderstanding of hacking, despite several meetings with administrators to develop a hacking code, compounded feelings of disenfranchisement.

6: http://tech.mit.edu/V127/N45/hacking.html