Misplaced Pages

David S. Touretzky: Difference between revisions

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Browse history interactively← Previous editNext edit →Content deleted Content addedVisualWikitext
Revision as of 06:45, 22 July 2005 editMarkSweep (talk | contribs)12,015 edits rv← Previous edit Revision as of 08:09, 22 July 2005 edit undo128.2.222.123 (talk) fixed typos, corrected minor factual errors, fixed broken Razor linkNext edit →
Line 1: Line 1:
'''David S. Touretzky''' is a ] ] and ] ] of the Computer Science Department and the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition at ]. '''David S. Touretzky''' is a ] ] in the Computer Science Department and the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition at ].


He received a BA in ] at ] in ] and did his doctorate at Carnegie Mellon University in ]. He received a BA in ] from ] in ], and did his doctorate at Carnegie Mellon University in ].


He has worked as an Internet activist in favor of freedom of speech, especially what he perceives as abuse of the legal system by government and private authorities. He is also a notable critic of ]. He has worked as an Internet activist in favor of freedom of speech, especially what he perceives as abuse of the legal system by government and private authorities. He is also a notable critic of ].
Line 23: Line 23:
In ], Dr. Touretzky offered his voice and support to ] to help the long-running ] magazine '']'' in a suit brought by the ] testifying in support of the controversial group and against the MPAA's attempts to block ] decoding software (especially ]). In ], Dr. Touretzky offered his voice and support to ] to help the long-running ] magazine '']'' in a suit brought by the ] testifying in support of the controversial group and against the MPAA's attempts to block ] decoding software (especially ]).


For more than two years, Touretzky has provided a mirror site for bomb-making instructions on his CMU website. In May 2004, to minimize harassment of CMU, Touretzky removed the mirror from the CMU server and placed them on a private site. For more than two years, Touretzky mirrored some amateurish bomb-making instructions on his CMU website, in reaction to the federal prosecution and eventual imprisonment of the teenager (Sherman Austin) who originally hosted the material. In May 2004, to minimize harassment of CMU, Touretzky moved the mirror from the CMU server to a private site. The US government has not commented on the mirror.


== Books == == Books ==
Line 35: Line 35:
== References == == References ==


* Articles relating to Touretzky's online bomb instructions * Articles relating to Touretzky's mirror of the bomb instructions
** by Karen Welles, Target 11 Investigator ** by Karen Welles, Target 11 Investigator
** First published in ''The Tartan'', CMU news sheet, 2002 ** First published in ''The Tartan'', CMU news sheet, 2002
Line 48: Line 48:
* Touretzky's personal CMU websites * Touretzky's personal CMU websites
** **
** to an external server. ** to an external server.


* Published articles by Touretzky * Published articles by Touretzky
** On Scientology: ** On Scientology:
** On DeCSS: ** On DeCSS:


Revision as of 08:09, 22 July 2005

David S. Touretzky is a research professor in the Computer Science Department and the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition at Carnegie Mellon University.

He received a BA in Computer Science from Rutgers University in 1978, and did his doctorate at Carnegie Mellon University in 1984.

He has worked as an Internet activist in favor of freedom of speech, especially what he perceives as abuse of the legal system by government and private authorities. He is also a notable critic of Scientology.

Research

Research interests: Neural representation of space in rodents (e.g., hippocampus), and in robots. Computational neuroscience. Animal learning.

Criticism of Scientology

Since the late 1990s, Touretzky has worked to expose the actions of the Church of Scientology. He sees the actions of the organization as a threat to free speech, and he has taken a prominent part in Internet-based activism to oppose it. He has also frequently appeared on radio and in print as a critic.

He has undertaken extensive research into the upper levels of Scientology, which the church has tried to keep secret, and he has made this information available to the public on the OT III Scholars Page (concerning Xenu) and the NOTs Scholars Page (concerning the higher Operating Thetan levels).

He has also worked to expose what he sees as dangerous and potentially life-threatening treatments provided by Narconon, the Scientology-based drug rehabilitation program. He is the founder and maintainer of a Web site entitled Stop Narconon, which archives media articles critical of the program. Touretzky's research into Narconon was a primary source of information for a series of San Francisco Chronicle newspaper articles criticizing the organization on June 9 and 10, 2004, which ultimately led to the organization being rejected by the California school system in early 2005.

Touretzky's interest in the esoteric secrets of the Church of Scientology has resulted in various "dead agent" campaigns against him. These pages, he states, are academic studies of Scientology's texts, and are therefore legally available due to careful application of the academic fair use provisions of copyright law. As such, the Church has failed to have them removed, despite years of effort and numerous complaints against him with Carnegie-Mellon University. He has also been threatened with lawsuits by the Church several times, but as of 2005 the Church has not followed through with these. CMU, in turn, has issued statements in support of Professor Touretzky, noting that his actions against Scientology are a personal affair and not the opinion of the University itself.

Free speech activism

In 2000, Dr. Touretzky offered his voice and support to Electronic Frontier Foundation to help the long-running hacker magazine 2600 in a suit brought by the MPAA testifying in support of the controversial group and against the MPAA's attempts to block DVD decoding software (especially DeCSS).

For more than two years, Touretzky mirrored some amateurish bomb-making instructions on his CMU website, in reaction to the federal prosecution and eventual imprisonment of the teenager (Sherman Austin) who originally hosted the material. In May 2004, to minimize harassment of CMU, Touretzky moved the mirror from the CMU server to a private site. The US government has not commented on the mirror.

Books

Quotes

"No wonder Scientology hates the Internet."

References

External links

Category: