Three MIT students are being taken to court by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority after receiving information about their plans to disclose sensitive information about several security flaws in the Charlie-Ticket and the CharlieCard systems.

Apparently, the students prepared a presentation with the details of how to duplicate their actions, which was supposed to be released during a computer conference held in Las Vegas. They are accused of offering free subway rides for free to a significant number of people over the Internet.

The lawsuit will also include a hearing with Massachusetts Institute of Technology's representatives, as the authorities considers the school directly responsible for not properly instructing its students on the importance of keeping such information secured.

Their actions were defended by some, with Eric Johanson, a computer security researcher, going on the record and claiming that none of the information prepared for release by the students should be considered new, as the works of the processes were known for quite some time and by a large number of people.

He also added that "prohibition of open discussion of security vulnerabilities greatly harms the ability of researchers to function and has a chilling effect not only on publication, but on whether some important research is done in the first place, greatly stifling scientific advancement."

The computer conference, called DEFCON, is considered one of the best hacker conventions in the world, with its first edition going back all the way to 1993. The event attracts more than 4,000 people every year, bringing new information and details about a significant number of computer-related topics.