At 12:09 AM 5/1/03 -0400, zem wrote:

...

So Bob either redistributes the decrypted bits, or cruises through the analog hole. Game over. All your Valentis are belong to us.

Point is Bob can't redistribute the file with Alice's approval rating still intact. And it's the approval rating that people are paying her for, not the content. Bob can't redistribute the profitable part, only

the worthless part.

Who gives a rat's ass about Alice's rating? The mass of P2P clients will rate the content. Its already in practice. All one needs is the content, the rating system will handle itself.