On Mon, 6 Jul 1998, Ernest Hua wrote:
I think we are in violent agreement here ...
Except that it seems odd that speech is no longer 1st amendment protected as soon as it can be interpreted by a machine to do something. So, then, if I want to deny you first amendment protections for something, I can simply write a compiler to turn your words into machine executable code, and suddenly, your words are no longer protected speech. How could that be a reasonable interpretation of functional versus not?
By the same reasoning as in my posting:
As another example, bringing together one pound of inert metal with another one pound of the same inert metal was not considered to be explosive -- until U235 was used for the inert metal and properly compressed. The difference is semantic, not syntatic.
Thus, your instructions to bring together those two one-pound pieces would be your right to free speech -- maybe it is poetry -- as long as that is not recognized as a federal crime! After it boooms the first time... it is a device, and it is immediately recognized to be an unlawful one.
Secondly, Gwin said that encryption is a special class of software which is MORE functional. This is definitely a misunderstanding, to say the
I could not find that quote -- "more functional". BTW, I think that Gwin was struggling to express the notion that source code (syntax) is a device whenever there is a clear binding between that source code and known semantics, together with proper pragmatics (the enviroment, as defined in semiotics), in order to perform the desired function. This is called a Just In-Iime Compiler ... and Gwin is 100% right when he affirms that the difference between source code and compiled code is null regarding its effects -- its desired function. Thus, if the device is unlawful then it must be unlawful both as a source code and as a compiled code. Cheers, Ed Gerck ______________________________________________________________________ Dr.rer.nat. E. Gerck egerck@novaware.cps.softex.br http://novaware.cps.softex.br --- Meta-Certificate Group member, http://www.mcg.org.br ---