DeCSS, crypto, law, and economics

[Eric Rescorla]

William Allen Simpson <wsimpson at greendragon.com> writes:
> I thought I made a fairly clear and cogent original synopsis,
Clear, cogent, and wrong.

> Eric Rescorla wrote:
> So, in the matter of DVDs, we all agree that the product _has_ been 
> produced.  There are only artificial barriers in the market.
No. Each individual DVD is a new product as far as this model goes.

> > Maybe you live in some alternate universe where companies don't
> > to practice price discrimination, but here on planet Earth,
> 
> The model (you proposed quoting Varian) required perfect knowledge of the 
> producer, and complete lack of knowledge by the consumer.  That's not 
> planet Earth.  The model doesn't work on planet Earth.
Actually, it works just fine. Varian gave a number of examples in
his paper and I gave several (that you elided) in my response to you.

> > companies routinely offer products at widely variable prices
> > to different consumers.
> 
> Only when the consumers are unaware of the practice, and/or where the 
> companies have raised a monopolistic legal barrier to *FORCE* the 
> consumers to pay different prices.  
I'm afraid that's not the case. Restaurants, for instance, quite
frequently offer senior citizens discounts. They are widely
advertised. They also offer early bird specials, also widely
advertised. Bars offer lady's nights. Manufacturers offer "versioned"
products. All of these are classic examples of market segmentation and
they're not secret. Quite the contrary.

-Ekr

-- 
[Eric Rescorla                                   ekr at rtfm.com]
                http://www.rtfm.com/

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