Philippine Lawbytes 177: Empathy, Ingenuity, Technology, in Full Display at the Philippine Australian Alumni Network Summit of 2020, Copyright by Dr. Atty. Noel G. Ramiscal

Last Saturday (December 19, 2020), I got the opportunity to join an especial event that the Philippine Australian Alumni community brings together annually. It is the Philippine Australian Alumni Network Summit, with the theme “Innovators and Influencers: Making an Impact to Recovery,” held of course, via Zoom, complemented by Howspace, Canva and Sli.do.

Dr. Atty. Noel G. Ramiscal donning the black Tudor velvet bonnet with 2 red silk tassels for a UQ Ph.D holder

Dr. Atty. Noel G. Ramiscal in his UQ garb with the hood in rich blue silk and black trencher with black tassel for his Master of Laws Advanced degree in 2000

Since I have not been to these gatherings in several years, and my sojourn in Australia for about seven years have left my “wanderlusting” self, nostalgic, I thought it would be great to commune with fellow Australian alumni, for a few hours, without leaving the hinterlands of Laguna.

Ms. Milalin Javelana, the Program Director of the Australia Awards and Alumni Engagement Program Philippines or AAAEPP (the entity that organized the whole event), kickstarted it by introducing the Australian Ambassador to the Philippine, His Excellency Steven Robinson AO. He, as we learned had been a friend to the Philippines for several decades, opened the event with the right mix of somberness and Aussie good naturedness. 

The current Australian Ambassador to the Philippines, His Excellency Steven Robinson AO

Mr. Donald Lim, the CEO of DITO CME, and a former executive of ABS-CBN, gave a comprehensive overview of how the pandemic has affected businesses all over the world and the Philippines. He gave insights on how businesses can survive and thrive by embracing the changes and adapting their business models and technologies to the new normal, using as an example, one of his family’s businesses, the Family Mart on wheels.

Mr. Patrick Lim, CEO of DITO CME

Ms. Joji Pantoja, the CEO and President of Coffee for Peace (CFP), gave a vivid example of how a seemingly ordinary product, coffee, can lead to peace, and economic emancipation for small indigenous communities and families in Mindanao. She, with her husband and their organization based in Canada, gave training not merely in coffee production technology, but also conflict management to the families they selected. The success of their “Kapeyapaan” venture was recognized internationally in Norway this year when CFP won the Oslo Business for Peace Award. As an avid coffee drinker, to the point when my urine would sometimes smell like coffee (lol), I cannot wait for the day when I can walk up to Ms. Joji’s coffee shop in Davao City and imbibe shots of their renowned Malipayon Honey Arabica brew!

Ms. Joji Pantoja, CEO Coffee for Peace, Inc.

The core of the event came next. The Innovators and Influencers Forum were led by three brilliant, articulate and beautiful women who are all successful in their fields, who shared with the alumni their passion, principles and perspectives on innovation and success. The panel was effectively moderated by Mr. Kim Patria.

Three brilliant, beautiful, influential innovators: Ms. Ace Gapuz, Ms. Marga Nograles and Ms. Cherrie Atilano

Ms. Ace Gapuz, the CEO of Blogapalooza Inc., talked about how social media and internet innovations have shaped the way information was created and disseminated by influencers all over the country, particularly during the pandemic. She shared two important tips to the success of being an influencer: be open and know the cultural dynamics of one’s target audience.

Ms. Marga Nograles, the CEO and founder of indigenous fashion dynamo, Kaayo Modern Mindanao, related how her burgeoning empire started with two indigenous women she hired to create some of her personal pieces, and then blossomed to such an extent that the husbands of the women she contracts with, want to go in the beading industry to make more money. She stated that the pandemic showed the value of repurposing indigenous materials and making them into face masks and personal protective equipment, some of which the company donated to frontliners.

Ms. Cherrie Atilano, the CEO and President of AGREA International, is a multi-awarded champion of food security, and a real farmer. Her personal commitment and professional life are centered on making the Philippines a sustainable food producer for its people first, and then the world, guided by the principles of no hunger, no food waste and no insufficiency. These were tested when the pandemic hit and there were national shortages on vegetables. She revealed that they instituted a program, that began in her own kitchen, where usable portions of vegetables that are about to spoil were saved and used to create meals that sustained communities. This initiative won an award in Brazil. One thing that stuck with me is her passion to change the narrative of farming, from one of dirt and drudgery, to being educated and “sexy.” And why not? Producing food that fuels Life, is more than sexy. It is necessary. And just by looking, hearing and learning from her, farming/farmers can indeed be glamorous.   

All the speakers at this summit, apart from being creative and ingenious in their fields, exhibited one very important trait, that is also a theme that ran through all their speeches and answers: empathy. Each of them, in their unique and purposeful ways, demonstrated compassion, generosity, and understanding for the plight of others during this pandemic, and adapted the knowledge and technologies they have, to answer some vital and crucial needs of the communities they serve. They are truly inspirational!

Five and a half hours passed by like a breeze.

Kudos and big Love to all the AAAEPP staff and volunteers, the technical personnel who seamlessly maneuvered over 190 participants to each of our respective Communities of Practice (CoP), during the breaks, the host, Ms. Bea Almoite, and moderators, the sponsors, and the Alumni talents that passionately serenaded us after the talks. It was truly worth the Time. Deo Gratias!

Philippine Lawbytes 176: Teens and Technology: The 2020 Kid of the Year and the Teen Candidate for the Patron Saint of the Internet (Part 2), Copyright by Dr. Atty. Noel Guivani Ramiscal

In December 3, 2020, the 15 year old multi-awarded scientist Gitanjali Rao from Colorado, U.S.A. was chosen by Time, as the Kid of the Year, in conjunction with Nickelodeon. Born a year before the Blessed Carlo Acutis died, Rao was selected from over 5,000 teens in the U.S. whose accomplishments in their young lives, have come to actually influence the way our future would be shaped and (hopefully) made.

Gitanjali, like Carlo, had early on figured out what her passion was. For Gitanjali, it was in the different fields of science and technology, and channeling the principles and discoveries in these fields to create and invent practical solutions to real world issues. She said in her Tony Burch Foundation interview that one of her earliest inventions was a device to detect snake bites.

But her claim to fame laid in her interest in carbon nanotube sensor technology, which comprise of molecules that can detect chemicals. This technology had been used by MIT for solid objects, so she, at the age of 11, applied what she learned from MIT to water, to detect the presence and levels of lead in it, following the horror story in Flint, Michigan, where lead poisoning had occurred due to the fact that over 9,000 lead service lines are used to transport water from main pipes to the homes of residents. She developed a device called Thetys (named after the Greek Goddess of fresh water), using the carbon nanotube sensor technology, paired with Bluetooth and a mobile app, that can detect and publicize the levels of lead on the water tested. The device is cheaper, reliable and faster than any of those found in the markets all over the world.

Gitanjali Rao, from screenshot of MSNBC interview

In her interviews with Time, tv stations and newspapers, she said that she is interested in genetics, and she is currently at work in developing a product to diagnose prescription ¬opioid addiction, and in detecting biocontaminants like parasites in water. Like Carlo, Gitanjali abhors cyberbullying. She has developed an app in its Beta stage called “Kindly” which use natural language processing and adaptive artificial intelligence to monitor speech. Once downloaded by a user in an e-device like a smartphone, it will read all the text entered into the device and search for trigger words of threats or bullying. Once spotted, the app will flash a warning sign and block the user from sending the text.

Getting to know these amazing teens’ achievements and their steadfast commitment to their visions have brought grateful tears and a wellspring of Faith in my heart. One very important thing that connects them is their selfless passion for sharing. The Blessed Carlo Acutis devoted his entire young life to serve others as he served God, whether it is on a one-on-one basis with a person in need or in the Internet. Pope Francis said that he “did not ease into comfortable immobilism, but understood the needs of his time, because he saw the face of Christ in the weakest. His witness indicates to today’s young people that true happiness is found by putting God in first place and serving Him in our brothers and sisters, especially the least”. (https://www.catholicjournal.us/2020/11/12/blessed-carlo-acutis-an-example-to-be-emulated/).

Gitanjali Rao’s pioneering and saving works are equaled not only by her humility, but also by her generosity of Spirit, Knowledge and of her Time. She told Time magazine (December 14, 2020 issue) that she has partnered with rural schools, STEM organizations and museums around the world to run innovation workshops to help young students develop their own inventions and she has mentored over 30,000 students. She has stated that “(m)y goal has really shifted not only from creating my own devices to solve the world’s problems, but inspiring others to do the same as well…Because, from personal experience, it’s not easy when you don’t see anyone else like you.”

I would like to wish you all a Very Meaningful, Secure and Loving Christmas! May the incoming New Year Grace Us with Love, Redemption, Strength, Courage, Great Health and Prosperity!

And may our world continue to be blessed and enlightened with more teens, more people like Carlo and Gitanjali, who are Originals in their own, but Kindred in Spirits, Minds, Hearts, and Deeds.

Philippine Lawbytes 175: Teens and Technology: The 2020 Kid of the Year and the Teen Candidate for the Patron Saint of the Internet (Part 1), Copyright by Dr. Atty. Noel Guivani Ramiscal

This 2020 has been a year that many people would probably want to forget. YouTube officially cancelled its annual “Rewind” tradition for 2020, because it has “been too much”. In the November 15, 2020 season finale of the “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” a show that I have come to appreciate, Oliver literally blew up “2020” in a segment called “*uck You 2020”.

But 2020 also showed us Faith and Hope in two very significant ways.

In October 10, 2020, a fifteen year old who died in 2006 was sanctified as the “Blessed” Carlo Acutis in a very moving ceremony in the Basilica of St. Francis, Assisi, Italy. Hagiographers have rightly justified the astounding values and virtues he practiced in his very short life. His deep commitment to the Eucharist and great devotion to Jesus Christ and the Saints were not mere religious affects, but formed the core of his understanding and appreciation of people. He had always sought to serve in the very ways he was led to serve, like picking up trash on his dog walks, teaching younger kids catechism, buying a homeless man a sleeping bed with his own savings, befriending and helping the friendless, immigrants, working people whose lives are so different from his privileged one.

The Blessed Carlo Acutis from carloacutis.com

But one important thing that struck me was his passion and skills for technology and the internet and how he used these to bring the Word of Faith in the Eucharist to many areas in the world that he will never get to visit. At 11, Carlo already had gained skills in creating websites and film editing. He started researching and cataloguing over 130 miracles of the Eucharist, or the process called transubstantiation, where the chalice or the bread and wine offered by the priest during the Eucharistic prayer, were changed into the heart (or piece of it) and blood of Jesus Christ. He turned his research and work into an outstanding exhibit made of 160 panels of historical data and pictures about these miracles. These panels had been displayed in many parts of the world that he did not get the chance to visit. These found their way into the Internet, with the panels being downloadable for exhibit in churches and universities, and anyone interested for that matter.

In the televised ceremony of his beautification as a Blessed, his mother stated that he believed that the Internet can be the atomic bomb for Love or evil. He rejected cyberbullying. One of his unforgettable insights is that all of us are born originals, but many turn out to be photocopies. It is a searing understanding of how the Internet, social media and other forms of technologies have brought about mass consumerism that brings soulless conformity.

Carlo refused to be a photocopy. He held onto his vision of the Infinite, to the God and Heaven of his faith, and moved on victoriously. An original.

Philippine Lawbytes 174: How Technological Ignorance and Incompetence of Prosecutors and a Judge Led to the Conviction of an Innocent Person, Copyright by Dr. Atty. Noel Guivani Ramiscal

As we move onto another decade, and new technological challenges, it is time to recount one of the most unknown and one of the saddest travesty of justice in the history of Information Technology. Early this millennium, Computer systems administrator Bret McDanel, worked for Tornado, a company that supplied email and voicemail accounts. He discovered a security flaw in his company’s software which made their customers’ accounts vulnerable to hacking. He warned his managers, but they ignored his pleas. He resigned but he was still allowed to keep his email account and send email through this account.

Upon learning that the company had not fixed the flaw even after he left, he decided to email 5,600 of Tornado’s customers to alert them about the vulnerability. Tornado responded by trying to delete McDanel’s email from the accounts of their customers! It shut down the system and finally plugged the security hole. But Tornado also went to the US Attorney Office and was able to convince them to prosecute McDanel under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act in the theory that McDanel’s 5,600 emails overloaded their server and that email somehow “damaged” the Tornado’s email system because of the warning!

Bret McDanel from wired.com

To be clear, the security flaw observed by McDanel was fairly obvious to the naked eyes of a person who knows what to look out for. Tornado’s system captured a user’s login credentials, as part of the Universal Resource Locator (URL) when the user accessed his/her email account. These would be displayed in the address bar of the user’s Web browser – where it could be seen by anyone nearby. Furthermore, he found out that when a Tornado user logged into the Tornado email website, a numerical code known as “NID” is provided to the user to allow him/her to stay in the website. However, when the user clicks on a link from his/her email account to connect to an outside website, the “NID” would be transmitted by the Tornado system to the outside website, thus allowing third parties to gain access to the user’s email account because of the NID.

As system administrator, McDanel did not need to hack Tornado’s system to find the security flaws. He just needed to use his eyes and knowledge of technical matters. He was allowed to look for vulnerabilities like this, as part of his employment! When he emailed Tornado’s customers to warn them of the vulnerability, he was arguably still within his rights because his email privilege was not revoked by Tornado even after he resigned.

THE U.S. GOVERNMENT POSITION

The government managed to convince the District Judge that the email warning of McDanel caused “impairment” to Tornado’s computing network, damaging the server because it supposedly crashed due to the volume of the emails sent. But in the U.S. Government’s Motion for Reversal of Conviction (yes, the US Government finally and belatedly saw the injustice done here), the government conceded that the actual damage to Tornado’s server did not even meet the minimum amount of damages under the CFAA, which is $5,000. Besides, the fixing of the server and the application of the security fix to the vulnerability can only and ultimately be attributable to the fault of Tornado who knew about the vulnerability but intentionally refused to repair it, until McDanel’s email.

What the U.S. Government’s real theory which formed its cause of action against McDanel, is that the email warning set by McDanel impaired the integrity of the Tornado’s computer system “by revealing confidential information relating to the operation of the Tornado server”.

WHAT IT MEANT

The prosecution and conviction of McDanel was swift and fast because there was no jury trial. Only a judge (District Judge Lourdes G. Baird) decided his fate and he was imprisoned for 16 months. He served his sentence and filed an appeal to have his conviction overturned. Realizing its mistake, the U.S. Government filed a motion to have the conviction reversed in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, which was granted. But the damage caused to McDanel by Tornado, the prosecutors and the judge who convicted him are irreversible [see Paul Ohm, The Myth of the Superuser: Fear, Risk, and Harm Online, April, 2008, 41 U.C. Davis L. Rev. 1327, that cited the US Government’s Motion for Reversal of Conviction, United States v. McDanel, No. 03-50135 (9th Cir. Oct. 14, 2003), available at http://www.lessig.org/blog/archives/govt.pdf

The charge against McDanel actually translates to the damage caused to the reputation of Tornado due to the publication of the vulnerability through the email system, and not to some actual damage to its server or any computer. If anyone is guilty of electronic damage here, it is Tornado since it did not fix the flaws after being informed about them, and it was the one that tried to delete the email warning from the accounts of their 5,600 customers, causing interference and potential tampering and destruction of e-data against their customers!

This case is the first and only American case where an innocent whistleblower paid with his freedom due to the erroneous and incompetent understanding of the technology involved by the prosecution attorneys who manage to convince a technologically ignorant judge that damage to a computing system actually extends to, or is synonymous, to the damage caused to the reputation of the owner of the computing system.

More than a disgrace, it is an example of patent injustice that Philippine courts should learn from so as not to replicate in this jurisdiction.