From: ph@netcom.com (Peter Hendrickson)
To: “Scott V. McGuire” <cypherpunks@toad.com>
Message Hash: 82786b25ef735e227d3245c48d599cd409932ea918a9f1b2a89e38a3d4108535
Message ID: <v02140b08aedfee1f1c35@[192.0.2.1]>
Reply To: N/A
UTC Datetime: 1996-12-20 07:21:24 UTC
Raw Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1996 23:21:24 -0800 (PST)
From: ph@netcom.com (Peter Hendrickson)
Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1996 23:21:24 -0800 (PST)
To: "Scott V. McGuire" <cypherpunks@toad.com>
Subject: Re: Executing Encrypted Code
Message-ID: <v02140b08aedfee1f1c35@[192.0.2.1]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain
At 1:41 AM 12/20/1996, Scott V. McGuire wrote:
>On Thu, 19 Dec 1996, Peter Hendrickson Wrote:
>> The manufacturer of the encrypted-code processor would protect its
>> instruction set using intellectual property law. Given the high
>> price of a fab, it is entirely feasible to stop anybody from building
>> a new architecture which can execute the code about as fast as
>> the encrypting-code processor.
> It seems to me that this is where this scheme would be broken. Have
> intellectual property laws been (successfully) used in this way?
I don't know, but I bet it would be possible to arrange if there was
support for it.
Or, maybe the instruction set itself remains a trade secret. Sure,
it could leak out, but aren't there laws against industrial espionage?
(If the instruction set was secret, the manufacturer might have to
provide a compilation service.)
> And even if so, would they be enforced in all the countries where the
> chips might be fabricated?
Yes, if the laws exist they would be easy to enforce. What does
a state-of-the-art fab cost now? $5 billion? $10 billion? I was
generous when I said "G-7". Which countries can really compete in
this market? The U.S. and Japan, I believe.
There is no reason to rule out extra-legal pressure, either. The
USG appears to have played the policeman in supporting the DRAM market
in an informal way.
It would be very easy to have a chat with the Japanese government
about the importance of stopping software piracy.
Peter Hendrickson
ph@netcom.com
Return to December 1996
Return to “ph@netcom.com (Peter Hendrickson)”
1996-12-20 (Thu, 19 Dec 1996 23:21:24 -0800 (PST)) - Re: Executing Encrypted Code - ph@netcom.com (Peter Hendrickson)