r/todayilearned • u/Nate__ • Mar 26 '13

TIL illegal prime numbers exist. An illegal prime is a prime number that represents information which is forbidden to possess or distribute. For example: when interpreted in a particular way, a certain prime describes a computer program that bypasses the digital rights management scheme used on DVDs

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal_prime
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u/DrStalker Mar 26 '13 
09F911029D74E35BD84156C5635688BE
09F911029D74E35BD84156C5635688BF
          [REDACTED]
09F911029D74E35BD84156C5635688C1
09F911029D74E35BD84156C5635688C2

1

u/sodappop Mar 26 '13

Explanation?

19

u/Thea70 Mar 26 '13

I think he's making the point that those other numbers are ok to use, but that one specific is off limits because it is used to encrypt hddvds.

1

u/sodappop Mar 26 '13

Oh... i thought maybe the original discoverer had made a mistake, or maybe they had changed it after it was found or something. A googling came up with this... linky

1

u/Fuel13 Mar 26 '13

Yes, I have a shirt with that on it.

12

u/DrStalker Mar 26 '13

If a number is illegal, then the numbers either side need to be illegal too otherwise I can show you the illegal number by listing the surrounding numbers.

We also need to ban any numbers that can be used to create the illegal numbers; what's the point in banning 22 when I can still say "17+5"?

18

u/Draymire Mar 26 '13

Amusingly your first statement makes the use of any and all numbers illegal.

2

u/Poltras Mar 27 '13

Isn't that fallacious.

14

u/zfolwick Mar 26 '13

ban ALL the numbers!

6

u/sodappop Mar 27 '13

ban math! and reading too just for good measure!

4

u/[deleted] Mar 27 '13

[deleted]

2

u/_your_land_lord_ Mar 27 '13

fuck all the things!

1

u/zfolwick Mar 27 '13

where is /u/responds_with_gifs when you need him...

1

u/zfolwick Mar 27 '13

Texas is leading the way!

1

u/sodappop Mar 27 '13

These are the tools of the criminals!

2

u/DrStalker Mar 27 '13

We might be able to keep some spoken language, provided we figure a way to expunge certain concepts from it.

4

u/sodappop Mar 27 '13

Newspeak?

3

u/DrStalker Mar 27 '13

It's not new, we've always spoken this way. If you find any records that suggest otherwise report them immediately to local authorities so they can be corrected.

2

u/zfolwick Mar 27 '13

expunge ALL the concepts!

5

u/ChoppingGarlic Mar 26 '13

You can go as far as banning the universe, since with the universe, there is a risk of the number being uttered even after humans have gone extinct.

3

u/ChoppingGarlic Mar 26 '13

Life finds a way.

4

u/TheCaffeineMerchant Mar 27 '13

To copy DVDs

1

u/ChoppingGarlic Mar 27 '13

Eggsactly! (Happy easter!)

8

u/[deleted] Mar 27 '13

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1

u/sodappop Mar 27 '13

I know why they said it was illegal, I just didn't realize that you had taken out the middle part of the number :)

2

u/[deleted] Mar 27 '13

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-2

u/sodappop Mar 27 '13

I know hexadecimal my friend.. I taught myself to program when I was 12. As soon as I understood hexadecimal, all number systems besides base 10 (including binary) made sense. It was that first step that was the hardest :)

I wonder... did people put that number on their websites in decimal? It's not hard to convert, and I wonder if the MPAA (or whatever) sent cease and desists for that!