MIT student wrote in a paper how to ride a train free of charge

A student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) who produces world-class scientists found a way to change the balance of the IC card for getting on the train and wrote it in the paper and got the top score.

Although it is problematic if you actually use it, it seems that clarifying the process itself is academic and not a crime.

Details are as below.MIT Students Get Top Marks for Hacking Boston Subway | Gadget Lab from Wired.com

Three Massachusetts Institute of Technology students discovered how to change the IC card balance. At first it was just a mischief, but as it went well it seems he decided to make a paper. Regarding this matter, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Bureau appealed as a computer fraud and asked for time to repair the system before submitting the paper.

However, the Massachusetts Gulf Transportation Bureau lost the judgment that "publication of thesis does not violate the computer fraud law". The students were given the top grades and the result was that the IC card was still unstable.