[free-sklyarov] voices screaming with maniacal laughter (was: Re: locking up books)

Paul Gowder paul at paultopia.net
Mon Jul 23 03:55:36 PDT 2001


Eric said:

>Yes, these companies are trying to do with the law what
>they fail to do with technology.  But the impact on us
>technologists is severe.  It means that cryptographic
>scientists can't even disclose publicly what they found
>wrong with weak schemes by companies such as Adobe or
>the DVD-CCA.

Hence the transcendent virtue anonymity.

Raised to a more amusingly extreme level: There's a little strange voice in 
my head that says "what would happen if a bunch of hackers [or even civil 
libertarian software engineers... ] were to spend their time 
exposing/breaking weak encryption, but, rather than simply do it 
anonymously, 'encrypt' their identities behind ROT-13 or some such... 
rot... such that, at the very moment the software company target files suit 
against the doeishly innocent cryptographer, they confess their own 
violation of the very same act, with hopefully offsetting damages, and -- 
get this -- for financial advantage! (to protect their market for the 
flawed product), hence subjecting them to criminal prosecution as well!"

Too cute?

Watch there's an exception in the DMCA somewhere I don't know about making 
this impossible.  Never actually read it from start to finish.

         -Paul

--
	-Paul Gowder

"It's because they're stupid. That's why everyone does everything."
     - Homer Simpson

	<paul at paultopia.net>

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