> George has announced that the number that was suspected
> prime has been
> confirmed to be prime by different hardware and algorithms.
> Because of
> the EFF award money rules, we "GIMPS at large" will not be
> permitted to
> know what the exponent was, or who discovered it, until an
> article has been
> published in a peer-review academic research magazine or such.
>
> George has said he is working on getting such a publication,
> but that no
> publication date has been set. If he were to announce the
> prime NOW,
> prior to publication, however, it COULD void the
> discoverer's claim to the
> prize money, so I understand the caution in talking about it.
Well, the EFF has always struck me as a reasonable sort of
organization, not prone to arbitrariness. Have you asked them, George,
whether you can submit the exponent to them to establish precedence,
then announce it publicly so we can all know what it is, and then wait
for the money until after the article is published? I presume the
publication requirement is a way for them to be sure the claim has been
verified to be real.
Payment after publishing makes some sense, but why would not being able
to announce until after publishing make any sense if you've already
established you knew the exponent first?
Or have I completely missed some pertinent point?
Robert
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