At 1:57 PM -0700 11/8/97, William H. Geiger III wrote:

Once you have given me the keys to unlock and display the data I can save it, copy it, reproduce it and distribut it. To assume otherwise shows a lack of understanding of computer systems and moderen OS's. Sure I would need to write some software and jump through some hoops to do it but there is nothing that your system can do to prevent me from doing so. Now wether it is worth the effort to do so will depend on the value of the data involved. Once you have given me the ability to display the data you have lost the battle as I can do whatever I want with it.

Exactly so. Once able to go into the listener's ears, the viewer's eyeballs, or the customer's whatever, the battle is basically lost. About the best that can be hoped for is to insert some "almost unnoticeable mark"--a watermark, a notch filter (a la early scheme for combatting DAT piracy), etc. And even these "almost unoticeable marks" are easily twiddled away. Unless they are so noticeable that serious image or sound distortion occurs when the marks are removed or obscured. Even purely digital works are easily copied. Even unique IDs per software piece are easily removed (e.g., by having N customers compare and diff out the noncommon bits). --Tim May The Feds have shown their hand: they want a ban on domestic cryptography ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, ComSec 3DES: 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Higher Power: 2^2,976,221 | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."