Interesting People mailing list archives
Re: can a random number be subject to a takedown?]
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Wed, 2 May 2007 17:02:41 -0400
Begin forwarded message: From: Daniel Weitzner <djweitzner () csail mit edu> Date: May 2, 2007 11:59:48 AM EDT To: dave () farber net Cc: ip () v2 listbox com Subject: Re: [IP] can a random number be subject to a takedown?] for IP if you like...With great respect and sympathy for those who are opposed to overbroad copyright laws such as the DMCA, asking the question whether a random number can be banned misses the point. This is a bit like asking whether a basic chemical element, carbon, can be banned to regulated in the name of protecting against climate change, or the iron in handguns for the purpose of reducing gun violence. Laws depend on context and intent, not just abstract qualities.
To me, the thousands of Digg users who re-submitted the 'number' after it was taken down are the interesting part of the story. If they each felt the need to express that number for some reason other than to liberate information on DVDs, then my guess is they'd have a great First Amendment defense against any DMCA action, but if their intent is to enable circumvention of copy protection techniques, then it seems pretty obvious that they've violated the law. Should they proceed with civil disobedience nonetheless? I guess you'd have to consult Thoreau (http://thoreau.eserver.org/civil.html) and ask whether resisting overbroad copyright laws in the moral equivalent of opposing British tyranny in India (Gandhi), racism in the US (MLK) or slavery in the US (Thoreau).
Danny On May 2, 2007, at 11:24 AM, David Farber wrote:
Begin forwarded message: From: John Kemp <john.kemp () mac com> Date: May 2, 2007 11:22:36 AM EDT To: David Farber <dave () farber net> Subject: [Fwd: can a random number be subject to a takedown?] For IP perhaps? http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6615047.stm Regards, - John From: "Perry E. Metzger" <perry () piermont com> Date: May 1, 2007 3:53:32 PM EDT To: cryptography () metzdowd com Subject: can a random number be subject to a takedown? A lot of sites have been getting DMCA takedowns for the HD-DVD processing key that got leaked recently. My question to the assembled: are cryptographic keys really subject to DMCA subject to takedown requests? I suspect they are not copyrightable under the criterion from the phone directory precedent. -- Perry E. Metzger perry () piermont com --------------------------------------------------------------------- The Cryptography Mailing ListUnsubscribe by sending "unsubscribe cryptography" to majordomo () metzdowd com------------------------------------------- Archives: http://v2.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now RSS Feed: http://v2.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/ Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
------------------------------------------- Archives: http://v2.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now RSS Feed: http://v2.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/ Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
Current thread:
- can a random number be subject to a takedown?] David Farber (May 02)
- <Possible follow-ups>
- Re: can a random number be subject to a takedown?] David Farber (May 02)