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I finally took the time to read the whole (very long) web page, and it
is quite interesting -- I wish that all analysis had such detailed
explanations! Any above-average congress-critter should be able to
understand quite a bit of it. ;-)
The Merc report says:
In its legal filings, Microsystems said it suffered ``irreparable harm''
from the publication of the bypassing software, which it said sought
to destroy the market for its product by rendering it ineffective.
Is there a right for snake oil salesmen to profit from a questionable
product? As the report shows, the hashing and encryption functions
didn't meet any standard well-known design requirements. And many
sites are improperly blocked, while many other sites are missing.
Instead, isn't there a civil cause of action by all the purchasers of
the product? It manifestly doesn't do what the marketing promises.
I'd also encourage state attorney's general to take action, as the
researchers found that half of the blocked sites didn't exist, or
were improperly blocked. When a manufacturer ships 100,000 units,
but they are half filled with rocks, isn't that fraud?
And a fine example of using cryptography to hide the fraud. Good thing
that extra criminal penalty didn't pass last year....
Also, couldn't we put together a class action by the folks that were
improperly blocked or classified. Anti-competitive, damage to
reputation, etc. Could be some nice punative damages.
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