Re: Retracting the term ownership (was: Re: Separate trusted computing designs)

[Jonathan S. Shapiro]

On Fri, 2006-09-01 at 19:16 +0200, Marcus Brinkmann wrote:
> At Fri, 1 Sep 2006 17:44:54 +0200,
> Pierre THIERRY <address@hidden> wrote:
> > 
> > I must admit I'm a bit confused here: what argument shows that the
> > technology fundamentally doesn't work in the long run? And what do you
> > mean exactly by this?
> 
> "Trusted computing" is the attempt to put information into a box,
> providing only restricted views on the data inside it.  It is the
> attempt to turn information into something material, that only exists
> once, and that can be alienated by giving it from one person to
> another.
> 
> However, the nature of information is very different.  As Thomas
> Jefferson pointed out:
> 
>   If nature has made any one thing less susceptible than all others of
>   exclusive property, it is the action of the thinking power called an
>   idea, which an individual may exclusively possess as long as he
>   keeps it to himself; but the moment it is divulged, it forces itself
>   into the possession of every one...

I love the quote, but it isn't very relevant. What TPM shows is that the
nature of divulgence can be altered through technical means. Given such
technical means, it is not obvious that Jefferson's words (or any of
those who preceded them) remain true today and in the future.

If I am correct, it is certainly not the only thing universally believed
in Jefferson's time that is now recognized to have been mistaken.

shap