What's This Whole Encryption Mess?
 

After the recent software removeal on GNU I got very interested and couldn't find anything that wasn't in legal talk. What laws or restrictions are causing all these problems? (Includeing the ones outside of gnu, like libdvdcss{,2})

Simple. In order to preserve copyrights and prevent unauthorized duplication, content owners prevailed on Congress to pass a law barring any device or software that cracks encyption for unauthorized use or copying.

Does that mean I should delete the little XOR program I wrote?
Wasn't there also an international side to this issue?

Sure there's an international side. Stay out of the US and you only have to conform to local laws, not US laws. As for your program, that's up to you. The only crime is getting caught.

I'm not sure where this thread is supposed to be going. :rolleyes:

#define soapbox

For many years, "content" was owned and controlled ... not by the creators themselves, who were in a position considerably worse than that of an employee, but ... by well-heeled conglomerates. These moguls controlled the only avenues that existed for allowing "your song" to make money, and they controlled them with fists of iron.

The Internet changed all that, forever. But there are some moguls who see that as tremendous opportunity, while others see it only as a threat. ("The bad news is: it's the end of the world as you know it. The good news is: it's the end of the world as you know it.")

The "clueless moguls" want to find a way to kill the golden goose ... to put a quarter-drop slot on your computer so you have to insert a coin to hear a tune just like your grandpa did. They won't succeed, but they of course do know how to bribe. :jawa:

The "smart moguls," on the other hand, will leverage this new, essentially cost-free method of worldwide(!) data distribution as a vehicle for providing undreamt-of services that people will buy and will be glad to buy. They're already doing that.

So, where does that put all of us now? Really, the situation is unchanged. The United States still represents only a mere 5% give-or-take of the world's population. Its actual influence in world affairs, while important, is not and never will be absolute. This new form of communication will never go away, any more than the "newfangled" telephone will be replaced by telegraph or by Pony Express. Data will continue to be encrypted (and to require encryption), and encryption will continue to be attacked and broken. People will continue to buy music, in much greater numbers than anyone actually (why bother?) tried to steal it. The "clueless moguls" will fade away, to be replaced by the "smart" ones.

#undef soapbox