DeCSS, crypto, law, and economics

[Eric Rescorla]

"John S. Denker" <jsd at monmouth.com> writes:

> Eric Rescorla quoted Slate:
> http://slate.msn.com/id/46376/
> >   Here's a stylized example: Suppose some people (call
> >   them the "prudes") cherish their freedom of religion, but not
> >   half so much as they would cherish a general ban on
> >   pornography. Others (call them the "lewds") cherish their
> >   right to read Lady Chatterley's Lover but not half so much as
> >   they would cherish a general ban on religion. Then if you
> >   outlawed both pornography and religion, you'd make everyone
> >   happier, while simultaneously making everyone less free.
> 
> Is that supposed to be a conundrum?  Is that
> supposed to cause headaches for economists
> or anybody else?
This did in fact cause headaches when Amartya Sen made this point.
The original paper is considered a classic of the economics
literature. It's in, for instance, Moser's "Rationality in
Action". 

-Ekr

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

---------------------------------------------------------------------
The Cryptography Mailing List
Unsubscribe by sending "unsubscribe cryptography" to majordomo at wasabisystems.com