Sophia M. Chang, a student at Harvard Law School and the Kennedy School of Government, compared Lee's situation to that of MIT Institute Professor John M. Deutch, a former Director of the CIA who downloaded classified documents onto his home computer, which was connected to the Internet.

"It is very likely that [Lee] may have done something wrong," Chang said. "But the point is he was charged with a crime, while people like John Deutch are sitting pretty at MIT."

Government officials said that Deutch accidentally downloaded the files, while they believe that Lee had ulterior motives.

Not everyone in attendance said that Lee's confinement is unnecessary. Henry Y. Huang '01 said, while Lee was being singled out for his Asian ethnicity, he still posed a legitimate security threat.

"If those seven tapes are out there, you have to agree that it's possible he could tell people where those tapes are," Huang said.

"You can't just play the straight race card," he added.