Re: Labeling Usenet articles.

[Adam Shostack <adam@bwh.harvard.edu>]

Berzerk:

| On Mon, 1 Aug 1994, Jonathan Rochkind wrote:
| > And I agree that scripts using PGP do seem capable of doing this, rather then
| > writing some new software. This actually is quite a good idea.

| The main problem with this is size and access.  I am actuall talking 
| about a system where there is no moderation, or moderation does not stop 
| the flow of information, but only modifies what you want to look at.  
| This could also be used as a service to help people pick out usefull 
| technical articles.
| 
| You need to be able to get the article lists from ftp, mail, modem, or 
| newsgroup, so that people can pay or not pay.

	Carry the information with news.  Either within each article
(X-Christian-rating) or within a set of control groups for this
information to flow in.

	If you want to charge for the information, encrypt it as it
goes out.  (300 bit rsa keys + des or blowfish would work well.  The
value of the information is probably low enough that thousands of MIPS
years/month is more than it would cost to buy the keys.)

	Actually, encrypting it as it goes out has the potential to
create huge gobs of information if the system has even a couple of
hundered subscribers.  Would it be feasable to use a shared key
amongst groups of subscribers?  Some sort of 'raise your hand while we
count users' protocol?  Distribution by site with clari* style rewards
for turning in cheaters?

	Ok, maybe Bezerk is right, and we do need to have multiple
transports available.  But are there protocols which address this sort
of broadcast only to subscriber systems that are cheap/easy to
implement?  How do the cable networks do pay per view?


-- 
Adam Shostack 				       adam@bwh.harvard.edu

Politics.  From the greek "poly," meaning many, and ticks, a small,
annoying bloodsucker.