[12273] in cryptography@c2.net mail archive
Re: DeCSS, crypto, law, and economics
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Eric Rescorla)
Fri Jan 10 18:28:15 2003
X-Original-To: cryptography@wasabisystems.com
To: "John S. Denker" <jsd@monmouth.com>
Cc: John Gilmore <gnu@toad.com>, cryptography@wasabisystems.com,
Pete.Chown@skygate.co.uk
Reply-To: EKR <ekr@rtfm.com>
From: Eric Rescorla <ekr@rtfm.com>
Date: 10 Jan 2003 12:03:50 -0800
In-Reply-To: <3E1F2396.9060403@monmouth.com>
"John S. Denker" <jsd@monmouth.com> writes:
> Eric Rescorla quoted Slate:
> http://slate.msn.com/id/46376/
> > Here's a stylized example: Suppose some people (call
> > them the "prudes") cherish their freedom of religion, but not
> > half so much as they would cherish a general ban on
> > pornography. Others (call them the "lewds") cherish their
> > right to read Lady Chatterley's Lover but not half so much as
> > they would cherish a general ban on religion. Then if you
> > outlawed both pornography and religion, you'd make everyone
> > happier, while simultaneously making everyone less free.
>
> Is that supposed to be a conundrum? Is that
> supposed to cause headaches for economists
> or anybody else?
This did in fact cause headaches when Amartya Sen made this point.
The original paper is considered a classic of the economics
literature. It's in, for instance, Moser's "Rationality in
Action".
-Ekr
--
[Eric Rescorla ekr@rtfm.com]
http://www.rtfm.com/
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