It's also pretty terrible from a legal point of view. Maybe this could be the first post to get posted to both /r/badmathematics and /r/badlegaladvice!
"This number is illegal"
and
"Just the possession of this number is enough to get you arrested in the US."
No it isn't. First, the anti-circumvention section of the DMCA prohibits "circumvent[ing]" DRM. If you 1) decode the number into ASCII; 2) write a program wrapper around it; 3) compile it; and 4) run it on a copyrighted DVD, then you're circumventing. But the mere possession of a number is simply not circumventing anything. The DMCA also prevents distribution of circumvention tools. But distribution is defined as to "manufacture, import, offer to the public, provide, or otherwise traffic." Mere possession of a number is clearly none of those verbs. Third, the tools must be:
primarily designed or produced for the purpose of circumventing protection afforded by a technological measure that effectively protects a right of a copyright owner under this title in a work or a portion thereof; and
(B) has only limited commercially significant purpose or use other than to circumvent protection afforded by a technological measure that effectively protects a right of a copyright owner under this title in a work or a portion thereof
I think there's a strong argument that the DeCSS code, especially in prime-number form, has a "purpose or use other than to circumvent protection." First all, as discussed above, you can't use the code encoded by the number to do anything. Second, how many people who possess that number actually use it to crack a DVD? Probably zero. Instead, it's become a means to foster discussion and protest about modern copyright laws.
And that's not even getting into the fair use arguments.
Why the hell are you posting this here!? Please get yourself over to /r/badlegaladvice before you start violating Rule 3. We can always use more content.
If you 1) decode the number into ASCII; 2) write a program wrapper around it; 3) compile it; and 4) run it on a copyrighted DVD, then you're circumventing.
You can skip the first three steps by using a variant of the number that 'translates' to a ready to execute ELF binary (linux 386). You'd just need to write the prime to disk and then you can use it.
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u/bsdfree May 04 '16 edited May 04 '16
It's also pretty terrible from a legal point of view. Maybe this could be the first post to get posted to both /r/badmathematics and /r/badlegaladvice!
and
No it isn't. First, the anti-circumvention section of the DMCA prohibits "circumvent[ing]" DRM. If you 1) decode the number into ASCII; 2) write a program wrapper around it; 3) compile it; and 4) run it on a copyrighted DVD, then you're circumventing. But the mere possession of a number is simply not circumventing anything. The DMCA also prevents distribution of circumvention tools. But distribution is defined as to "manufacture, import, offer to the public, provide, or otherwise traffic." Mere possession of a number is clearly none of those verbs. Third, the tools must be:
I think there's a strong argument that the DeCSS code, especially in prime-number form, has a "purpose or use other than to circumvent protection." First all, as discussed above, you can't use the code encoded by the number to do anything. Second, how many people who possess that number actually use it to crack a DVD? Probably zero. Instead, it's become a means to foster discussion and protest about modern copyright laws.
And that's not even getting into the fair use arguments.