David Sobel Quotations

Where the basis of the request comes from is that the government itself has revealed nothing about these initiatives. The objective here is to move beyond unnamed DOT sources to really make public on an official basis some of the details.

When this kind of power is used in the regular criminal justice system, there are some built-in checks and balances. The intelligence context provides no such protection. That's the main problem with these kinds of secretive procedures.

The plaintiff asked for a permanent injunction to affect individuals other than the two defendants who have agreed to this.

We're seeing what might be the tip of the iceberg at the FBI and across the intelligence community. It indicates that the existing mechanisms do not appear adequate to prevent abuses or to ensure the public that abuses that are identified are treated seriously and remedied.

But they can notify the user so he can question the legitimacy of the subpoena.

But AOL does not in writing guarantee they'll provide notice.

We're now at a critical point in this debate, ... and the balance could really go either way.

There are some very legitimate community concerns that a lot of companies would like to conceal in the name of fighting cyber-terrorism, ... It will become too easy to hide behind the shield of critical infrastructure protection in the same way that organizations in the past hid behind 'national security' to protect information that they didn't want to have disclosed.

I suspect that it is one of the best solutions that we've seen,

It is appropriate for the federal court to independently decide which documents should be withheld and which should be disclosed.

Why wasn't some moratorium on Carnivore announced? ... How can the administration on one hand say they are trying to improve online privacy and also, at the same time, approve the use of technology that appears to be inherently invasive?

We tiptoed the tops of beaver dams, hopped hummocks, went wading, looked at spring flowers, tried to catcha snake, got lost and found. How fine it was to move at a meandery, child's pace.

What's important is that children have an opportunity to bond with the natural world, to learn to love it and feel comfortable in it, before being asked to heal its wounds.

Wet sneakers and muddy clothes are prerequisites for understanding the water cycle.

You can’t bounce off the walls If there are no walls: outdoor schools make kids happier—and smarter

Exploration of the natural world begins in early childhood, flourishes in middle childhood, and continues in adolescence as a pleasure and a source of strength for social action.

The heart of childhood, from seven to eleven, is the critical period for bonding with the earth.

If we want children to flourish, to become truly empowered, then let us allow them to love the earth before we ask them to save it. Perhaps this is what Thoreau had in mind when he said, “the more slowly trees grow at first, the sounder they are at the core, and I think the same is true of human beings.

If we want children to flourish, to become truly empowered, let us allow them to love the earth before we ask them to save it.

We will end up in a fight over what of this information can be made public. We welcome that fight because at least it won't be the unilateral decision of the agency; it will be up to a federal judge.

The big question is whether the formal parties to a lawsuit can reach an agreement that has the effect of silencing other individuals from speaking and communicating on the Internet.

Everyone involved really needs to look at the proposal and debate what makes sense, ... We need to look closely at all of these issues and understand what the impact would be on these servers.

The Administration has confirmed the existence of the program, but released very little information that sheds light on the key question (of) whether the government is acting illegally.

It's not clear that a Hotmail user whose privacy has been compromised really has any recourse against Microsoft for what might be found to be negligent engineering of this feature,

If you attempt to impose ... a credit card and registration model ... there will be a substantial loss of readership.

The FOIA already contains an exemption, as it has for the last 25 years, that protects confidential business information if the release of the information could create some harm or damage to the submitting company, ... The courts have interpreted that the exemption is adequate.

The general sense is that with Gerald Solomon's retirement, a significant obstacle has been removed.