Re: Dr. Dobbs Cryptography and Security CD-ROM

[pgut001@cs.auckland.ac.nz (Peter Gutmann)]

>Copyright laws will do nothing to prevent the text from being distributed.
>All copyright laws will do is make you able to punish "offenders" after
>the fact.  They have no mystical value to "protect" anything, especially
>digital medium, which is easy to copy.
 
What makes this case especially awkward is the fact that the CDROM can't 
legally be sold outside the US, which means the only way the rest of the world 
can get it is through illegal copies.  Given the immense usefulness of 
something like this, I'd say it's only a matter of time before bootleg copies 
start appearing outside the US, but because of the USG's position we can't pay 
for it even if we want to (DDJ wouldn't look too good if they accepted payment 
for what they knew was illegally exported crypto).  Perhaps a donation of the 
same amount to charity would serve as some equivalent to payment...
 
Peter.