4 ms·

You can't ban encryption, it's practically impossible, it's like banning math.

by alerighi 5y ago

gjsman-1000 5y ago
If you can get jailed for speech, you can get jailed for encryption.
- jchw 5y ago
  Technically in the real world you can get jailed for anything as long as corruption exists and humans remain imperfect. But you shouldn’t get jailed for protected speech and you shouldn’t get jailed for preserving your privacy (via encryption or otherwise.) As cynical as people may get, this is one thing that we have to agree on if we want to live in a free society. And above all, most certainly, we shouldn’t allow being jailed over encryption to become codified as law, and if it does, we certainly must fight it and not become complacent. Apathy over politics, especially these days, is understandable with the flood of terrible news and highly divisive topics, but we shouldn’t let the fight for privacy become a victim to apathy. (And yes, I realize big tech surveillance creep is a fear, but IMO we’re starting to get into more direct worst cases now.)
- alerighi 5y ago
  > If you can get jailed for speech, you can get jailed for encryption. Not in any democratic country. How can you prove that I'm using encryption? How you even define what encryption is to make it possible to have a law that bans it? If me and you we put down a code to communicate, is that encryption and thus banned? Also you wouldn't need to ban encryption completely. There are cases where encryption is required by law (e.g. digital signature on documents) and others where the encryption is required for things to work (e.g. credit cards, mobile phones, etc). You have to put down a list of cases where you can use encryption and others where you can't. That is nearly impossible.
rolph 5y ago
in a loose sense, mathematics, and its associated notations are a form of encryption
vineyardmike 5y ago
You can ban it's use, you can't ban its existence. You can't mandate math work differently, you just mandate people not use math. Its amazing since this would have decimated the American Tech sector in many unknown ways.
bitwize 5y ago
The ban won't make encryption disappear. You can still have it. But if you're found using it, it's a felony.
Unklejoe 5y ago
All they have to do is force Apple and Google to ban it and any apps that use it from their app store and they've effectively banned encryption for like 99% of people.
eurasiantiger 5y ago
Well, we are already banning numbers (see: DeCSS), what’s the big difference? In some countries even discussing the application of certain numbers is unlawful.

You can't ban encryption, it's practically impossible, it's like banning math.

gjsman-1000 5y ago

If you can get jailed for speech, you can get jailed for encryption.

jchw 5y ago
Technically in the real world you can get jailed for anything as long as corruption exists and humans remain imperfect. But you shouldn’t get jailed for protected speech and you shouldn’t get jailed for preserving your privacy (via encryption or otherwise.) As cynical as people may get, this is one thing that we have to agree on if we want to live in a free society. And above all, most certainly, we shouldn’t allow being jailed over encryption to become codified as law, and if it does, we certainly must fight it and not become complacent. Apathy over politics, especially these days, is understandable with the flood of terrible news and highly divisive topics, but we shouldn’t let the fight for privacy become a victim to apathy. (And yes, I realize big tech surveillance creep is a fear, but IMO we’re starting to get into more direct worst cases now.)
alerighi 5y ago
> If you can get jailed for speech, you can get jailed for encryption. Not in any democratic country. How can you prove that I'm using encryption? How you even define what encryption is to make it possible to have a law that bans it? If me and you we put down a code to communicate, is that encryption and thus banned? Also you wouldn't need to ban encryption completely. There are cases where encryption is required by law (e.g. digital signature on documents) and others where the encryption is required for things to work (e.g. credit cards, mobile phones, etc). You have to put down a list of cases where you can use encryption and others where you can't. That is nearly impossible.

rolph 5y ago

in a loose sense, mathematics, and its associated notations are a form of encryption

vineyardmike 5y ago

You can ban it's use, you can't ban its existence. You can't mandate math work differently, you just mandate people not use math. Its amazing since this would have decimated the American Tech sector in many unknown ways.

bitwize 5y ago

The ban won't make encryption disappear. You can still have it. But if you're found using it, it's a felony.

Unklejoe 5y ago

All they have to do is force Apple and Google to ban it and any apps that use it from their app store and they've effectively banned encryption for like 99% of people.

eurasiantiger 5y ago

Well, we are already banning numbers (see: DeCSS), what’s the big difference? In some countries even discussing the application of certain numbers is unlawful.