Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority

A federal judge on Tuesday lifted a gag order placed on three Massachusetts Institute of Technology students earlier this month. The trio, Zack Anderson, R.J. Ryan, and Alessandro Chiesa, were going to discuss the vulnerabilities of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's fare system at the annual Defcon conference.

The judge found the MBTA had a minimal case against the students under the federal computer-intrusion law and denied the MBTA's request for a five-month injunction.

Defcon 16, which drew an audience of 9,000 people to Las Vegas over three days, is over -- but the focus remains on a trio of Massachusetts Institute of Technology students who stole the spotlight at the world's largest hacker conference.

MIT students Zack Anderson, Alessandro Chiesa, and R.J. Ryan are still blocked from revealing how they found a way to ride the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's subways free. They used weaknesses in the MBTA's Charlie Card and Charlie Ticket Fare system.

A federal judge has blocked three Massachusetts Institute of Technology students from presenting a paper at the Defcon 16 security conference. The paper would detail security problems with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's "CharlieCard" system and reveal how the cards can be hacked to give free rides on Boston's "T" system.

The students -- Zack Anderson, R.J. Ryan, and Alessandro Chiesa -- say they offered to show officials how to fix the problem at a meeting last week.

Tim Harrington sits aboard the express bus from Mason, Ohio, to Cincinnati, his computer propped in his lap. He logs on, picks through his e-mail and begins his workday during the 30-to-40-minute rush-hour trip.

His commuter bus and buses in more than 20 other cities now offer wireless Internet, according to an informal survey by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA).