[14726] in cryptography@c2.net mail archive
Gresham's Law?
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Russell Nelson)
Wed Nov 12 22:11:36 2003
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X-Original-To: cryptography@metzdowd.com
From: Russell Nelson <nelson@crynwr.com>
Date: Sat, 25 Oct 2003 11:29:22 -0400
To: cryptography@metzdowd.com
I wonder if the DMCA (why do those initials bring to mind a song by
The Village People?) isn't invoking Gresham's Law? Gresham's Law says
"bad money drives out good", but it only applies when there is a legal
tender law. Such a law requires that all money be treated equally --
as legal tender for all debts. Gresham's Law predicts that people
will hoard good money and spend bad money, since it's all the same to
them.
The DMCA requires that all copyright protection systems be treated
equally, since it says nothing about the efficacy of a copyright
protection system. In that regard it is identical to a legal tender
law because it does not distinguish between good and bad copyright
protection. Any kind of cryptography, effective or not, seems to be
presumptively copyright protection. Marketplace competition in the
realm of DMCA-protected products will give people an interest in
putting the least amount of resources into copyright protection.
The DMCA is a recipe for ineffective copyright protection.
`Sec. 1201. Circumvention of copyright protection systems
`(2) No person shall manufacture, import, offer to the public,
provide, or otherwise traffic in any technology, product, service,
device, component, or part thereof, that--
--
--My blog is at angry-economist.russnelson.com | Can I recommend python?
Crynwr sells support for free software | PGPok | Just a thought.
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Potsdam, NY 13676-3213 | +1 315 268 9201 FAX |
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