CIA funds anonymous web surfing

[Jon Callas]

At 9:26 AM -0400 8/31/01, Arnold G. Reinhold wrote:

>So if a U.S. citizen working as a programmer on this project visits
>China to deliver a paper at a conference and is arrested for
>conspiracy to violate China's laws, will the U.S. consider the arrest
>and subsequent prosecution a legitimate expression of Chinese
>sovereignty?

Maybe. Maybe not.

One of the bits of irony about Sklyarov's case is that the brouhaha was
happening at the same time was the Chinese jailing Chinese-American
academics for "spying."

On some level, "spying" and "infringement" are the same thing: both are the
misuse of information. Alice gives Bob some information, and Bob gives it
to someone Alice would rather not have it. Alice has a non-linear response
to this. Spying, infringement; infringement, spying. You say tomayto, I say
tomahto. If you spend five years in a foreign pokey for it, what *is* the
difference? The biggest problem of the DMCA is that it makes copyright
violations a criminal, not a civil offense. It also shifts policing from
the holder to the state.

If the Chinese put a price tag on information, and instituted criminal
infringement penalties, then WIPO and the US would probably have no choice
but to back them.

	Jon




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