3 ms·

How would the concept of colour be used practically in this case? Am I allowed to mention the prime number or am I not?

• teddyh 6y ago
  It depends of the color of the number. If the color is that of a simple prime number, which you mention purely for its characteristics as a number, then you would theoretically be allowed. Otherwise not.
  • feanaro 6y ago
    Let's assume my intent for publishing the paper was clean and I was not attempting to subvert colour. What happens if word spreads around on the internet that the prime number in my paper is actually the illegal DeCSS prime number, making it into an efficient avenue of its dissemination and distribution? Is my paper going to get censored or not?
    • teddyh 6y ago
      > Is my paper going to get censored […]? No, but that is not a problem, since that will never happen. There are too many prime numbers for you to accidentally stumble upon that prime number while doing something else. The theoretical possibility that you might is not a problem for the law, which only concerns itself with problems which occurs in practice.
• praptak 6y ago
  > Am I allowed to mention the prime number or am I not? Since "the colour" is the whole context which led to you mentioning the prime number, the answer is "it depends". In practice you can publish it as a part of mathematical paper on primes. You cannot publish it saying "here's a prime that decoded as X does illegal thing Y". Anything in-between is gray zone, with the disclaimer that courts don't like "clever" schemes that try mess with the "colour". So if you try to publish a fake mathematical paper to thumb your nose at the illegality of publishing something, the court will be unsympathetic.