Re: Dr. Dobbs Cryptography and Security CD-ROM

Bill Frantz wrote:
>Excuse me.  Certain parts of that CDROM are already available overseas.
>If they are not posted to the net how does that prevent them from being
>available overseas?

You mean that it would be fine for foreigners to copy and sell the CD, but
not to put it on the net? Well, copyright law being what it is, makes this
a bit tricky. An ftp administrator have never been sentenced for copyright
violation (please correct me if I'm wrong), but CD copiers are thrown in jail
all the time. The distinction that the courts make is that of profit.

Sure, they can buy the book, but the electronic version is obviously more
useful to some people, or there wouldn't be any market for it.

I know foreigners who would like to put a copy of Applied Cryptography in
their PalmPilots, to carry around for reference. They can't do that legaly,
and that makes crypto less accessible.

Mike.

Mike <Michael.Johnson@mejl.com> writes:
> You mean that it would be fine for foreigners to copy and sell the CD, but
> not to put it on the net? Well, copyright law being what it is, makes this
> a bit tricky. An ftp administrator have never been sentenced for copyright
> violation (please correct me if I'm wrong),

An MIT student named Lamachhia(sp?) reportedly operated a warez FTP archive.
He got arrested and charged with something irrelevant (wire fraud??).

---

Dr.Dimitri Vulis KOTM
Brighton Beach Boardwalk BBS, Forest Hills, N.Y.: +1-718-261-2013, 14.4Kbps

Dr.Dimitri Vulis KOTM said:
> Mike <Michael.Johnson@mejl.com> writes:
> > You mean that it would be fine for foreigners to copy and sell the CD, but
> > not to put it on the net? Well, copyright law being what it is, makes this
> > a bit tricky. An ftp administrator have never been sentenced for copyright
> > violation (please correct me if I'm wrong),
> 
> An MIT student named Lamachhia(sp?) reportedly operated a warez FTP archive.
> He got arrested and charged with something irrelevant (wire fraud??).
> 

And the charge was dismissed.

http://www.leepfrog.com/E-Law/Cases/US_v_LaMacchia.html

-- 
Kevin L. Prigge                     | "The only thing that saves us from
Systems Software Programmer         | the bureaucracy is it's
Enterprise Internet Services        | inefficiency." - Eugene McCarthy
University of Minnesota             |

At 5:12 AM -0700 7/7/97, Mike wrote:
>Bill Frantz wrote:
>>Excuse me.  Certain parts of that CDROM are already available overseas.
>>If they are not posted to the net how does that prevent them from being
>>available overseas?
>
>You mean that it would be fine for foreigners to copy and sell the CD, but
>not to put it on the net? Well, copyright law being what it is, makes this
>a bit tricky. An ftp administrator have never been sentenced for copyright
>violation (please correct me if I'm wrong), but CD copiers are thrown in jail
>all the time. The distinction that the courts make is that of profit.
>
>Sure, they can buy the book, but the electronic version is obviously more
>useful to some people, or there wouldn't be any market for it.
>
>I know foreigners who would like to put a copy of Applied Cryptography in
>their PalmPilots, to carry around for reference. They can't do that legaly,
>and that makes crypto less accessible.

You will have to decide for yourself how important the extra "convenience"
of an electronic copy is compared with the publisher's stated intent to
"never do this again" if it is posted.  It is a simple case of future
benefit vs. immediate gratification.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bill Frantz       | The Internet was designed  | Periwinkle -- Consulting
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At 8:31 PM -0700 7/7/97, Bill Frantz wrote:

>You will have to decide for yourself how important the extra "convenience"
>of an electronic copy is compared with the publisher's stated intent to
>"never do this again" if it is posted.  It is a simple case of future
>benefit vs. immediate gratification.

Anytime a statement like this is made, one can count on the text being
posted. The act of posting such a warning, seen as a dare to many, or as a
suddenly very attractive target, ensures that it will be posted.

Either by someone just wanting to be the one to provoke an action, or by
the imp of the perverse, or by some TLA spook seeing in his posting the
solution to the problem of crypto knowledge proliferation.

(Not to mention being posted by someone who thinks it more important that
the knowledge get spread widely than that the publisher collect incremental
revenues.)

Similarities with such warnings to children--or to the infamous "Don't
think about the color blue for the next minute"--are left for you to ponder.

--Tim May

There's something wrong when I'm a felon under an increasing number of laws.
Only one response to the key grabbers is warranted: "Death to Tyrants!"
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
tcmay@got.net  408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA  | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
Higher Power: 2^1398269     | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."