Ross's TCPA paper

[Joseph Ashwood]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Anonymous" <nobody at remailer.privacy.at>

> The amazing thing about this discussion is that there are two pieces
> of conventional wisdom which people in the cypherpunk/EFF/"freedom"
> communities adhere to, and they are completely contradictory.

> The first is that protection of copyright is ultimately impossible.

> The second is that evil companies are going to take over our computers
> and turn us into helpless slaves who can only sit slack-jawed as they
> force-feed us whatever content they desire, charging whatever they wish.

I disagree that these are entirely contradictory. The first is a statement
in the realm of logic; that if Bob is prepared to deal with whatever
consequences will occur because of the publication of the conversation,
there is nothing Alice can do to stop him (short of killing him before he
publishes).

The second is a statement in the realm of law, that companies will try to
rid themselves of any requirements that are painful to their bottomline. In
the current case there is a perceived threat of this nature (right or wrong)
regarding the TCPA, that corporations are using their monetary power to
revoke rights that are currently enjoyed.

These statements are not contradictory; Alice can still do as she pleases to
the TCPA devices in her computer, the problem arises that she may have to
deal with substantial civil and criminal penalties for doing so. This is
similar to the question "Is Alice free to walk into a bank carrying a
full-automatic weapon, kill everyone inside, and steal all the money?" yes
she is, but she has to be prepared to deal with the (wo)manhunt that will
begin the moment something like that happens, and the inevitable that she
simply won't live to stand trial (with high probability).
                Joe