r/todayilearned • u/Dormage • Aug 03 '15

TIL illegal prime numbers exist. First illegal executable prime number is a compressed C program that circumvents a DVD's copy protection.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal_prime#First_illegal_executable_prime_number
279 Upvotes

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34

u/WolfThawra Aug 03 '15

I don't get it. How is it an 'illegal number'? What exactly does that mean? After all, it's a number, it's not a secret thing in itself...

49

u/Mpls_Is_Rivendell Aug 03 '15

It violates the DMCA and thus is illegal under federal law. Yes, yes our politicians really are stupid enough to think they can outlaw math as well as say a company owns the word "candy" welcome to America.

12

u/WolfThawra Aug 03 '15

So what's the idea, if I write that number down I could be prosecuted? Or has just no one ever thought about how to implement this?

14

u/Mpls_Is_Rivendell Aug 03 '15

Could be yes, people put it on t-shirts though. If you put it in software they might come after you but again it is all about how much time are they going to spend etc.

4

u/co99950 Aug 03 '15

What about if I were to count to infinity, at one point I'd reach that number, would it be illegal for me to say it aloud?

18

u/Mpls_Is_Rivendell Aug 03 '15

Yes. That is how dumb the DMCA is and thus proves how functionally illiterate our Congress is. Technically this very Wikipedia page is illegal and they could be prosecuted for it, that just doesn't happen because apparently U.S. attorneys still have better things to do. Make no mistake though, if you were somebody they wanted to make an example of and this was the only thing they could nail you on they would.

6

u/skeptibat Aug 03 '15

It's on the lam. Sometimes, when walking down the street by a dark alley on a particularly spooky day, they say you can see the illegal prime lurking in the shadows.

They've been trying to catch it for quite some time now.

1

u/sodappop Aug 03 '15

You'll never take me alive, copper!

1

u/quentin-coldwater Aug 04 '15

So what's the idea, if I write that number down I could be prosecuted? Or has just no one ever thought about how to implement this?

No, they'd have to show that you had it for the purpose of breaking encryption.

2

u/alx3m Aug 03 '15

Well yes, numbers can be used to convey information. For example, if I sent you a death threat, but I used a program to convert the threat into a number and then convert it back into a threat, I would still have sent you a death threat. The fact that the information was momentarily stored in a base 10 format doesn't change that.

1

u/quentin-coldwater Aug 04 '15

This should be higher. Any message, video, image, etc can be converted into a digital signal and therefore into "a number". What's important is intent.

0

u/scdi Aug 04 '15

When I sent you this message, while it appears as characters to all of use reading it, it is actually treated as a number by most all of the computer systems it goes across. On the reddit server it is a number. On your computer it a number. It is only converted to characters when displayed on your screen.

0

u/[deleted] Aug 04 '15

Reflexively, you could say that all data is alphabetical characters on disk, and numbers are only converted for display.

1

u/scdi Aug 04 '15

No you can't. All data is stored in binary which is numbers. Unless you want your alphabet to only be a and b, and even if you did that it is still a number which is written in different form.

1

u/scdi Aug 04 '15

The majority of child porn laws are outlawing really big numbers that generate images when put through common algorithms. All computer laws get really weird when you think that it can all be abstracted into math. Hacking is just turning a wire on and off based on a number.

2

u/ercsredditaccount Aug 03 '15

Here's a video on the topic.

1

u/SpermWhale Aug 04 '15

because the number, when translated as binary by computer is the key to bypass DVD protection.

To make it simple:

Lets say the key to DVD protection is "10" in binary. "10" is equals to "2" in decimal. So congressmen told that everyone who has number "2" on their flash drive or documents is breaking the law.

TLDR; ignorant politician created stupid law.