These and other apparent gaffes by the justices during oral arguments have became a source of bemused derision, as tech aficionados, legal experts and others have taken to social media, blogs, YouTube and other outlets to proclaim the justices as black-robed techno-fogeys. "Everyone who's anyone inside that courtroom is most likely an incompetent Luddite," Sarah Jeong, a 25-year-old Harvard Law School student, wrote on her personal blog following a recent Supreme Court argument dealing with a copyright dispute over TV online startup Aereo. When it comes to cutting-edge technology, Jeong said, "Mom and Dad are the Supreme Court."
Parker Higgins, a 26-year-old digital rights advocate who works at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, spliced together audio of the Aereo argument for comic effect and posted it on a sound cloud and at YouTube. It's a compilation of the justices' references to "the cloud," highlighting some misuse of terminology and uncertainty about how the technology works. "Sometimes it's just amusing and sometimes it's really troubling," Higgins said.
"The justices are just unfamiliar with how the industry works. (They) don't understand how software comes together." The court, via spokeswoman Kathy Arberg, declined comment on the recent criticism. The sense that the Washington, DC-based court is slow to embrace technology is heightened by its having persistently resisted calls to allow cameras or personal recording devices into its hallowed halls. Visitors, including reporters, are allowed to take only a pen and pad into the grand marble courtroom.
The court has a simple website and no presence on social media. During oral arguments, the justices can be seen thumbing through hard copies of court papers, in contrast to some lower courts where judges tap away on laptop computers.
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