[sudo-discuss] It's Unconscionable

Thu Oct 3 09:49:42 PDT 2013

I went to an Oakland mayoral candidate event for Bryan Parker on Tuesday. There was a short opportunity during the event to mention people's individual interest in the race and I gave a tweet-length description of Sudo Room. 

In the after-mingling part, a few people (none of whom I knew before) wanted to learn more. Actually - there was one person there I've seen before - the bearded guy who runs a video editing shop down on the Mezzanine level of our building in the kitchen/conference room (technically 2143 Broadway, I believe) - he was in fact doing some video for the event. He's cool.

All but one of the comments and reactions were very positive, including from Phil Tagami, an apparently big-wig developer in Oakland. He wants to come check out Sudo Room sometime and even mentioned he'd had an interview with someone that hung around Sudo Room and had heard interesting things about it. But I digress.

The one negative comment came when someone asked me if I knew anything about the lock-picking class that was held at a hackerspace in Oakland some time back. After explaining a bit about Workshop Weekend and that the event took place at Sudo Room, he asked "What the %^&$^ #$%^ #$%^ were you thinking?" It made me realize that we should probably try to tell our side of the story, which we hadn't really publicly. Below are excerpts from the drafts of public statements at the time from the sudo-discuss archives. 

Workshop Weekend published their statement on their website at the time, but Sudo Room never collectively went through agreeing on and fine-tuning the substance of such a public statement. Given that Workshop Weekend (http://workshopweekend.net/) is taking place next weekend, I thought it might make sense to re-visit our drafts and try to piece something together. The fact that the Police Chief Jordan has since gone into early retirement (though retained his high-tier benefits) during a week when Oakland had 3 different police chiefs and got razor-thin close to federal receivership - would likely work in our favor.

> From: "J.D. Zamfirescu" <zamfire at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [sudo-discuss] It's Unconscionable
> Date: March 1, 2013 11:14:30 AM PST
> To: sudo-discuss <sudo-discuss at lists.sudoroom.org>
> 
> For those interested, Workshop Weekend (that is, my brother and I) prepared the following statement on the lockpicking issue. We fully support Sudo Room having its own statement on the issue too.
> 
> ===========
> Over the past two days, Workshop Weekend has received complaints from concerned citizens of Oakland about the upcoming "Introduction to Lockpicking" workshop being offered as part of Workshop Weekend on March 2, 2013. The workshop will run as scheduled, but in response to community concerns, lock-picking tools will no longer be offered for sale at the event.
> 
> As Oakland residents ourselves, we have felt Oakland's crime problem, and we appreciate the community's concerns that offering a lock-picking workshop appears to encourage crime and sends the wrong message. We recognize now that it was insensitive to have the workshop listed and broadcast in the way that it was, and we regret doing so.
> 
> To provide some background, Workshop Weekend invited The Open Organization of Lockpickers (TOOOL) to run a workshop about lock-picking and lock mechanisms this weekend.
> 
> Exploring lock-picking and understanding the limitations of locks is valuable for everyone who relies on locks for physical security, and in kids it can spark an interest in mechanical engineering and complex systems.
> 
> We would also like to share the following note from TOOOL, the group offering the session: "We in TOOOL are of course sensitive to the concern that occasionally surrounds our lock-themed workshops. We can only hope that the atmosphere of openness, information sharing, and strong ethical standards which is a part of all TOOOL meetings can assuage some concerns. Knowing about the weaknesses in certain locks protects the public; it does not aid criminals. Please visit our website -- toool.us -- for more information."
> 
> We hope this note makes things clear to everyone; our goal is provide an educational and inclusive experience for everyone in Oakland who would like to be involved with our events.
> 
> Workshop Weekend is a two-day celebration of hands-on learning taking place in the heart of downtown Oakland, bringing together kids and adults from Oakland as well as the rest of the Bay Area. The event encourages exploration of new interests and passions by offering over 40 workshops in subjects not typically taught in schools, including aeroponics, electronics, and 3D printing. For more information, visit workshopweekend.net
> 
> We welcome your thoughts and comments at feedback at workshopweekend.net
> ===========
> 

> From: Eddan <eddan at clear.net>
> Subject: Re: [sudo-discuss] It's Unconscionable
> Date: March 2, 2013 1:37:00 PM PST
> To: Daniel Finlay <namelessdan at gmail.com>
> Cc: sudo-discuss <sudo-discuss at lists.sudoroom.org>
> Reply-To: eddan at eddan.com
> 
> Not sure how to append or collate this with Daniel's section, but included below is a draft of suggested comments I tried piecing together. I think that if we are to have a statement, that we should merge our various contributions to represent one voice. I'm not sure what platform is best to do this kind of thing on, but have had some positive experience with http://www.co-ment.com/.
> 
> 
> 
> sent from eddan.com
> 
> 
> 
> ---
> 
> To our community – 
> 
> 
> It is in good conscience that we, the members of Sudo Room, host the Lock-Picking session at the Workshop Weekend taking place at 2141 Broadway [and Tech Liminal] today. As even a quick glance at the rest of the program would make clear, we are a diverse community of technologists, artists, and activists joined together by the ambition of figuring things out for ourselves and teaching other people how to do it.
> 
> A further step back would reveal a context of free and open to the public educational opportunities covering everything from sewing recycled fabric into sustainable clothing; making vanilla extract to experiment with new flavors of ice cream; creating a transparent and democratic corporate governance; and indeed yes – taking locks apart and reverse engineering software.
> 
> Regarding the option of calling a locksmith, an Oakland resident locked out of their house or car should be advised to read through the peer review websites carefully for reputable services before calling their number. It is our general belief that public safety is better served when the skills necessary to be hired as a locksmith, for example, are taught in classrooms rather than by picking it up in the actual commission of crimes.
> 
> We share in our city’s mourning of the death of Kiante Campbell at the Art Murmur last month. Collectively and as individuals, we are also aware of and concerned about the alarming levels of crime in our neighborhoods. It is in fact those concerns that have made for the greatest challenges in offering an openly accessible entrance to our building. Being a horizontally-governed organization, the compromised option of only several people having the keys is problematic. We are now experimenting in our own space with ways that can increase security while preserving the privacy of the general public. We intend to share our results publicly on our website and wiki, as with all of our other projects, so that public safety in Oakland can be more effectively enforced.
> 
> We regret that Mayor Quan stepped back from her support of the event, though we appreciate her support for our innovative programs that are bringing about an emergent start-up technology culture in downtown Oakland. We can certainly sympathize with the overwhelming task of responsibly editing a large amount of information such as what is in the Mayors’ newsletter. We intend for this unfortunate series of misunderstandings to be yet another incentive for us to work on some of the projects we’ve already started – those aimed towards more efficiently sorting through large volumes of information to allow for making editorial judgment calls more fairly.
> 
> We would like to take this unsolicited opportunity to make our intentions clear with Police Chief Jordan and Mayor Quan. We have among us people who can contribute a great deal to solving our law enforcement technology problems and addressing the cyber-security concerns of critical infrastructure such as the Port of Oakland. We hope to get a chance to work together with our city’s leaders in bringing cutting-edge capacity building to the people of Oakland with sustainable and equitable economic structures. We are trying to be very conscientious about it – we welcome you to drop by one of our many events or visit our website for information about our initiatives.
> 
> 
> 
> On Sat, Mar 2, 2013 at 12:51 PM, Daniel Finlay <namelessdan at gmail.com> wrote:
> Anca's right, this is a huge opportunity.
> 
> Lower dues, anyone?
> 
> Here's my caricature of opportunism, feel free to tune down the tone to your tact level of preference:
> 
> The admonition of lockpicking classes by the Mayor and Police Chief of Oakland are as unconscionable as the thefts they purport to be in fear of.  While the alarmists claim that publicly available lockpicking classes may promote criminal activity, they lose sight that this class is in the context of a larger public enrichment.
>  
> Despite being only a few months old, Sudoroom has already made itself host to a wide variety of educational, cooperative, and even marketable skill-building classes and events for hundreds of local residents.  From programming computers and 3-D printing to curing cheese and modifying DNA, Sudo Room is a free, community sponsored place for fostering the collaborative creativity that comes with groups full of intellectual curiosity in a time of as much change and development as this one.
>  
> In a time where people's opportunities might lead them to crime, perhaps we ought to provide better alternatives rather than stupefying the public as a form of self defense.
>  
> Let us address the cause of this sickness rather than try to snuff out its symptoms, and give ourselves access to an unfettered flow of knowledge and opportunity.  We encourage you to participate in this local renaissance, by visiting the Sudoroom yourself, and taking part in any of the classes of your interest.  You can always find the upcoming events at sudoroom.org/calendar, or just stop by almost any time to join your neighbors in their curious pursuits.
> 
> Feel free to fork it at https://gist.github.com/flyswatter/5070131
> 
> -Dan
> 
> 
> 
> On Mar 1, 2013, at 11:27 PM, Anca Mosoiu <anca at techliminal.com> wrote:
> 
>> 
>> On Fri, Mar 1, 2013 at 6:35 PM, Michael Scroggins <michaeljscroggins at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> The sentence implicitly draws a difference of kind between the lock picking class and the other Workshop Weekend classes. Doing so invites the question: What is the difference that makes broadcasting this workshop (in the way it was) regrettable?  In an environment where the mayor, the chief of police and the media have all given the same answer - the class breeds criminals - allowing that question is regrettable.
>> 
>> It's regrettable because it gave some easy pickings for the people who want to portray Oakland, and the current administration, in a certain way. Many of the people who are upset about the workshop aren't upset about lockpicking, they're upset that Jean Quan appears to encourage crime in her newsletter.
>> 
>> It's regrettable because it sucked up airwaves and mental effort that might have been better spent.
>> 
>> Drafting a reasoned and reasonable response lowers the blood pressure of the people who are up in arms just because they aren't informed.  Some of them will come around, especially if they understand the actual intent of the class.  
>> 
>> Eddan, I'd like to participate in writing a statement. I was really taken aback when I read some of the emails and talked to some of the people who were actually upset.
>> 
>> The media storm will blow over with the next foot-in-mouth opportunity from a local politician, but we have a great opportunity to reach out while the world is looking.    
>> 
>> Anca.
>> 
>>  
>> -- 
>> -=-=-=-
>> Anca Mosoiu | Tech Liminal
>> anca at techliminal.com
>> M: (510) 220-6660
>> http://techliminal.com | T: @techliminal | F: facebook.com/techliminal
>> _______________________________________________
>> sudo-discuss mailing list
>> sudo-discuss at lists.sudoroom.org
>> http://lists.sudoroom.org/listinfo/sudo-discuss

>>>> 
>>>> Now, this requires a response. Has anybody started drafting something? If not, I will.
>>>> 
>>>> ...
>>>> Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan was not pleased.
>>>> 
>>>> "I'm in shock that people would provide a class to teach people a skill to violate the law," Jordan said. "It's unconscionable."
>>>> 
>>>> Lock-pick instructor Michael Fitzhugh is a member of TOOOL (The Open Organisation Of Lockpickers), a Netherlands-based outfit that teaches and holds national and international lock-picking events annually. In their world, lock picking is done for sport and bragging rights. But, he says, it's also a useful tool if you lock yourself out of your home.
>>>> 
>>>> Jordan has a more conventional solution to that problem: "Call a locksmith!"
>>>> 
>>>> http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Quan-s-wrong-note-on-lock-picking-class-4318130.php
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> Even worse than Quan, this guy's so desperate to change the subject about the incompetence of the OPD in news story after news story. 
>>>> 
>>>> Unconscionable!?! This coming from a police department that was about to go into an unprecedented federal receivership for its failure to reform; not to mention a police department seared with a global reputation for brutality, racism, and excessive means; and whose fundamental miscalculations and mismanagement of the response to Occupy cost the city millions of dollars.
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