"to outlaw general purpose computers"

Eric Cordian emc at artifact.psychedelic.net
Tue Jul 2 12:55:51 PDT 2002


Tim wrote:

> > Unfortunately it is being introduced at the same time as there is
> > legislation proposed, the SSSCA, to outlaw general purpose
> > computers

> Anyone who believes this, or even repeats it as a rumor, is on drugs.

If the government can outlaw the sale of TVs which do not have the
closed-caption feature, which do not tune UHF as easily as VHF, which do
not have Macrovision compliant AGC circuits, or countless other government
mandated features, what makes you think that computers could not be
required to be compliant with a similar laundry list?

Sure I can own and use use a "general purpose" TV which was manufactured
before the requirements, but it won't have a remote control, nor a high
contrast black matrix picture tube, nor a coax input, and it will take me
all afternoon to adjust the purity and convergence.  It will also weigh a
ton.

Almost all TVs in use today have the mandated features.  If analagous
features are mandated in computers, almost all computers in use will be
compliant within a period of a few years.  Sure I will be able to use an
antique "general purpose" computer, but it won't run the right software,
and it won't play current content.  Will most innumerate Sheeple bother?  
Of course not.

> I have half a dozen computers, all usable in various ways. Not even in a 
> Chinese-type police state could these legally-acquired computers, 
> acquired for a lot of money, be declared "outlawed."

Whem Moore's Law gives your wristwatch more computing power than all your
antique machines combined, you will haul them to the dump, just like your
neighbors are doing.

> Not even counting your computers, and my computers, and 500 million 
> computers already out in the U.S. alone, there are the designs of 
> processors like Pentium 4, Athlon, McKinley, Thoroughbred, Duron, etc., 
> _none_ of which are of this Valenti-friendly TCPA form. None of the 
> hundreds of millions of systems now being prepared for sale are of this 
> form. Saying that general purpose computers lacking TCPA/DRM will be 
> "outlawed" is silly.

Such functionality will be placed in a dedicated chipset apart from the
microprocessor initially.  How many computers made 10 years ago are around
today?  How many made today will be around 10 years from now?

-- 
Eric Michael Cordian 0+
O:.T:.O:. Mathematical Munitions Division
"Do What Thou Wilt Shall Be The Whole Of The Law"





More information about the cypherpunks-legacy mailing list