3 ms·

All computers run mathematics all the time. They've already placed significant restrictions on what can be run and can't be run through copyright and patent pr

All computers run mathematics all the time. They've already placed significant restrictions on what can be run and can't be run through copyright and patent protections. Additionally I believe there are still restrictions on the export of strong crypto. You would think that freedom of expression would cover that but it does not. The funny thing is about rights guaranteed by the constitution is that the courts continually keep moving towards the idea of, "they're not absolute rights". We slowly build the chain from, "no shouting fire in a crowded theater" to not being able to express a mathematical formula without being regarded as an international arms dealer.

Wowfunhappy 5y ago
> The funny thing is about rights guaranteed by the constitution is that the courts continually keep moving towards the idea of, "they're not absolute rights". We slowly build the chain from, "no shouting fire in a crowded theater" to not being able to express a mathematical formula without being regarded as an international arms dealer. It should be noted that the modern interpretation of the first amendment only goes back to the early 1900s. https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/articles/what-holmes https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/articles/what-... This isn't to say the modern interpretation is bad or unimportant, but I don't actually think it was what the constitution's authors intended.
garaetjjte 5y ago
> We slowly build the chain from, "no shouting fire in a crowded theater" Context of that quote is probably not what you expected, it was used in ruling censoring any speech expressing opposition to conscription. https://www.popehat.com/2012/09/19/three-generations-of-a-hackneyed-apologia-for-censorship-are-enough/ https://www.popehat.com/2012/09/19/three-generations-of-a-ha... >After Holmes' opinions in the Schenck trilogy, the law of the United States was this: you could be convicted and sentenced to prison under the Espionage Act if you criticized the war, or conscription, in a way that "obstructed" conscription, which might mean as little as convincing people to write and march and petition against it.
dcolkitt 5y ago
> Additionally I believe there are still restrictions on the export of strong crypto. You would think that freedom of expression would cover that but it does not. There is not. Precisely because the Supreme Court has ruled that code is constitutionally protected speech. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/04/remembering-case-established-code-speech https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/04/remembering-case-estab...
parasense 5y ago
> Additionally I believe there are still restrictions on the export of strong crypto. That might be true, however exporting strong crypto is easily achieved by publishing the source code in a textbook, which is exactly what the Author of PGP did back in the days. At this point the goverment probably wouldn't dare file criminal charges for exporting strong crypto, because said crypto would probably be published under the 1st amendment. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Export_of_cryptography_from_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Export_of_cryptography_from_th... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Good_Privacy#Criminal_investigation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Good_Privacy#Criminal_i... But it's a red herring, because in present day modern crypto in the sense of a munition is so far ahead of what block chain technology actually uses that it's a moot point. We are developing quantum resistant cryptography that moves away from traditional ideas. Like for example, RSA modular arithmetic that can be done concurrently by a quantum computer. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modular_arithmetic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modular_arithmetic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12Q3Mrh03Gk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12Q3Mrh03Gk > You would think that freedom of expression would cover that but it does not. It does, at least in terms of source code. Same issue with 3D printed firearms, the source code is free expression. However, taking the source code and printing/machining a ghost gun is an entirely different topic. Same goes for blockchain, but it's nuanced. If somebody perceive cryptocoin as a kind of financial "Securities", then the exchange of crypto could be regulated as commerce. But what if the exchange is not financial? What if a blockchain doesn't have any "platform" to regulate, such as services that trade crypto for ccurrency? What if I use a blockchain to publish a book, for instance the source code of the blockchain itself could be in the blockchain. We start to see paradoxes and circular reasoning. Blockchain schemes have both commercial speech, and regular speech.

Wowfunhappy 5y ago

> The funny thing is about rights guaranteed by the constitution is that the courts continually keep moving towards the idea of, "they're not absolute rights". We slowly build the chain from, "no shouting fire in a crowded theater" to not being able to express a mathematical formula without being regarded as an international arms dealer. It should be noted that the modern interpretation of the first amendment only goes back to the early 1900s. https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/articles/what-holmes https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/articles/what-... This isn't to say the modern interpretation is bad or unimportant, but I don't actually think it was what the constitution's authors intended.

garaetjjte 5y ago

> We slowly build the chain from, "no shouting fire in a crowded theater" Context of that quote is probably not what you expected, it was used in ruling censoring any speech expressing opposition to conscription. https://www.popehat.com/2012/09/19/three-generations-of-a-hackneyed-apologia-for-censorship-are-enough/ https://www.popehat.com/2012/09/19/three-generations-of-a-ha... >After Holmes' opinions in the Schenck trilogy, the law of the United States was this: you could be convicted and sentenced to prison under the Espionage Act if you criticized the war, or conscription, in a way that "obstructed" conscription, which might mean as little as convincing people to write and march and petition against it.

dcolkitt 5y ago

> Additionally I believe there are still restrictions on the export of strong crypto. You would think that freedom of expression would cover that but it does not. There is not. Precisely because the Supreme Court has ruled that code is constitutionally protected speech. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/04/remembering-case-established-code-speech https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/04/remembering-case-estab...

parasense 5y ago

> Additionally I believe there are still restrictions on the export of strong crypto. That might be true, however exporting strong crypto is easily achieved by publishing the source code in a textbook, which is exactly what the Author of PGP did back in the days. At this point the goverment probably wouldn't dare file criminal charges for exporting strong crypto, because said crypto would probably be published under the 1st amendment. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Export_of_cryptography_from_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Export_of_cryptography_from_th... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Good_Privacy#Criminal_investigation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Good_Privacy#Criminal_i... But it's a red herring, because in present day modern crypto in the sense of a munition is so far ahead of what block chain technology actually uses that it's a moot point. We are developing quantum resistant cryptography that moves away from traditional ideas. Like for example, RSA modular arithmetic that can be done concurrently by a quantum computer. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modular_arithmetic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modular_arithmetic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12Q3Mrh03Gk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12Q3Mrh03Gk > You would think that freedom of expression would cover that but it does not. It does, at least in terms of source code. Same issue with 3D printed firearms, the source code is free expression. However, taking the source code and printing/machining a ghost gun is an entirely different topic. Same goes for blockchain, but it's nuanced. If somebody perceive cryptocoin as a kind of financial "Securities", then the exchange of crypto could be regulated as commerce. But what if the exchange is not financial? What if a blockchain doesn't have any "platform" to regulate, such as services that trade crypto for ccurrency? What if I use a blockchain to publish a book, for instance the source code of the blockchain itself could be in the blockchain. We start to see paradoxes and circular reasoning. Blockchain schemes have both commercial speech, and regular speech.