anki toner writes:
>My guess is that it will NEVER work, or that it will be hacked in a few
>weeks.
to which i say: one need only read simon singh's 'the code book' to begin
to understand how robust cryptography is today, and how unlikely it is that
any group of people, even if working together, could ever crack a
well-engineered cypher. singh argues persuasively that, until some
difficult-to-forecast breakthrough takes place (such as quantum computing)
cryptographers will always have the upper hand over code breakers.
but anyway, i am somewhat less worried about hard drive encryption since
reading in the register that microsoft is against it. so it may be an
uphill struggle to get crypto into hard drives.
i also hope that zechariah harvey is correct when he says:
>Luckily for us, if the precedent that was set with Intel's Unique
>Identifier Number on the first run of P3s still holds, we won't have a thing
>to worry about.
but it's best to be prepared.
steev and others are correct when they say that
>A lot of the "planks" are out there in various places.
and i am aware of most of those mentioned, but what i was trying to get at
in my original post was that most of these writings, eloquent and correct
as they may be, form the 'required reading' on the issue, but they lack
marketing panache. there i've said it, and i'm blushing a little. but in
fact, the terms of the dialog are set by others in mainstream culture, for
lack of better terms. what this means that if we simply speak logically and
honestly we are at a disadvantage for the task of being heard and
understood.
i wonder if it is possible to boil it down to sound bites (*ugh*) without
castrating (sorry for the sexism) the message. steev's (and chris
"yes-you-are-out-in-left-field-with-your-burden-of-proof-thing" ball's)
suggestion of making slogans is slightly more tolerable since slogans
historically have been used for political ends, as well as advertising. but
you all know how jaded the public is. 'this is your brain on drugs' is a
snappy slogan but it's just too easy to turn it into a joke.
any another concern i have is this. if our position seems contemptuous of
the general public, the culture industry, or of common sense, it will get
nowhere, regardless of how 'right' we truly believe we are. what i am
getting at, we need to treat the opposing side's arguments with some
respect, or else we will not merit the same treatment ourselves.
anyway, what's the best forum for changing the minds of WIPO, congress, and
hidden consortia of computer-industry schemers? dispassionate letter
writing on respectable-looking letterhead? television public service
announcements? hit singles? please tell me, i want to make the world
better.
Lloyd Dunn <11ATdetritus.net>
The Tape-beatles -- P.O. Box 3326 -- Iowa City IA 52244 -- USA
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