WEBVTT - The Illegal Number 0:00:04.400 --> 0:00:07.800 Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 0:00:11.800 --> 0:00:14.520 Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 0:00:14.640 --> 0:00:17.680 Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio 0:00:17.720 --> 0:00:21.080 and how the tech are you. I've been getting some 0:00:21.160 --> 0:00:24.880 requests on Twitter as well as the talk back feature 0:00:25.120 --> 0:00:28.520 that's in the I Heart Radio app under the tech 0:00:28.560 --> 0:00:30.760 Stuff podcast label. More on that at the end of 0:00:30.760 --> 0:00:33.519 the episode, and I wanted to start tackling some of 0:00:33.560 --> 0:00:37.199 those requests this week. We also will have a special 0:00:37.280 --> 0:00:39.639 episode coming up a bit later this week, so it's 0:00:39.640 --> 0:00:43.360 gonna be a little different from a normal tech Stuff week. 0:00:43.800 --> 0:00:46.520 That will actually carry over next week in a bit 0:00:47.000 --> 0:00:48.880 beyond as well, because I'm going to take a short 0:00:48.960 --> 0:00:52.839 vacation from work. But I'm trying to record stuff in 0:00:52.880 --> 0:00:55.240 advance to at least cover some of that so that 0:00:55.360 --> 0:00:58.959 it's not all reruns. Anyway, let's get to the request 0:00:59.040 --> 0:01:02.840 for today's episode. Now, today's episode comes to us courtesy 0:01:02.920 --> 0:01:07.400 of the Gregorlis on Twitter, who asks, quote, could you 0:01:07.480 --> 0:01:11.280 do a tech Stuff tidbit episode about the illegal number? 0:01:11.720 --> 0:01:16.240 End quote? And yes I can. The Gregorlis. Now, first 0:01:16.400 --> 0:01:20.880 I should say there's not just one illegal number. Not 0:01:21.440 --> 0:01:24.960 if we follow the logic, and I use the term 0:01:25.000 --> 0:01:30.560 loosely about what makes a specific number illegal. There is 0:01:30.720 --> 0:01:34.319 a particular number referred to as the illegal number, and 0:01:34.360 --> 0:01:37.200 I'll explain that as well. I will not be saying 0:01:37.400 --> 0:01:40.920 that number, not because I fear reprisal. It's not that 0:01:41.000 --> 0:01:43.479 I'm worried that the Feds are gonna kick down my door. 0:01:44.200 --> 0:01:47.680 It's because the illegal number is a one thousand, four 0:01:47.760 --> 0:01:51.040 hundred one digit number. And by the time I would 0:01:51.040 --> 0:01:55.120 finish saying it, we be well into Tuesday. So this 0:01:55.240 --> 0:01:57.920 topic ties into some other stuff I've been talking about 0:01:58.000 --> 0:02:01.720 in recent episodes. And to understand how a number can 0:02:01.720 --> 0:02:06.080 be illegal, we have to cover a few different concepts. 0:02:06.120 --> 0:02:10.040 Some of those concepts deal with technology, uh, some deal 0:02:10.080 --> 0:02:13.400 with politics, and some deal with business. And as you 0:02:13.480 --> 0:02:17.120 might imagine, the last two categories there, politics and business 0:02:17.360 --> 0:02:19.760 have a great deal over of overlap because we're talking 0:02:19.800 --> 0:02:24.840 about the United States in particular. Also, you could overlay 0:02:24.880 --> 0:02:29.480 the word stupid or at least absurd over those two. 0:02:29.840 --> 0:02:33.679 All right, I'm gonna cover the political and business stuff 0:02:33.760 --> 0:02:37.960 first because this ties into the specific case of the 0:02:38.280 --> 0:02:42.840 illegal number. So back in here in the United States, 0:02:43.440 --> 0:02:47.240 then President Bill Clinton signed into law the Digital Millennium 0:02:47.560 --> 0:02:51.560 Copyright Act, or d m c A. The d m 0:02:51.600 --> 0:02:56.320 c A in turn incorporated two World Intellectual Property Organization 0:02:56.480 --> 0:03:01.320 or wi BO treaties UH. These were the WIPO Copyright 0:03:01.360 --> 0:03:05.600 Treaty and the WIPEO Performances and Phonograms Treaty, both of 0:03:05.600 --> 0:03:10.040 which had very similar language in them. Now, WHIPO itself 0:03:10.240 --> 0:03:14.080 is an international organization that is part of the United Nations, 0:03:14.400 --> 0:03:17.640 and it has been since nineteen seventy four. The purpose 0:03:17.680 --> 0:03:21.480 of WIPO is to create international agreement on certain aspects 0:03:21.480 --> 0:03:25.840 of copyright so that the created works enjoy copyright protection 0:03:26.360 --> 0:03:30.720 across borders, though the extent of that protection and the 0:03:30.760 --> 0:03:34.240 penalties incurred by those who ignore it are largely up 0:03:34.240 --> 0:03:39.200 to each individual country's government, so enforcement and everything that's 0:03:39.200 --> 0:03:41.680 not covered in the treaty just that these are the 0:03:41.720 --> 0:03:45.440 basic concepts that we want to make sure countries across 0:03:45.480 --> 0:03:48.000 the world agree on. So the d m c A 0:03:48.160 --> 0:03:51.480 is America's version of adhering to the rules established by 0:03:51.480 --> 0:03:54.280 those two WIPO treaties. The protections in the d m 0:03:54.360 --> 0:03:57.120 c A stem from those treaties, but the actual wording 0:03:57.160 --> 0:04:01.240 and implementation are uniquely American. UH. The d m c 0:04:01.360 --> 0:04:04.480 A also has other stuff that wasn't directly covered by WIPO. 0:04:04.720 --> 0:04:09.320 For example, under Title five of the d m c A, UH, 0:04:09.360 --> 0:04:12.680 there was a new form of protection created for quote 0:04:12.960 --> 0:04:17.640 the design of vessel hulls end quote as in boats 0:04:18.440 --> 0:04:21.080 and a dooming boats because the update to the Copyright 0:04:21.120 --> 0:04:25.479 Code only applies to boat hole designs with holes that 0:04:25.520 --> 0:04:28.440 are no longer than two hundred feet. So yeah, this 0:04:28.520 --> 0:04:31.400 update got real specific. But never mind that we're not 0:04:31.440 --> 0:04:33.880 here to talk about boats. I'll say that for some 0:04:34.000 --> 0:04:37.479 future episode. The part we need to focus on is 0:04:37.520 --> 0:04:41.719 the bit that created section twelve oh one one hundred 0:04:41.800 --> 0:04:46.720 one to Title seventeen of the US Code. That section covers, quote, 0:04:46.960 --> 0:04:51.440 the obligation to provide adequate and effective protection against circumvention 0:04:51.480 --> 0:04:55.479 of technological measures used by copyright owners to protect their 0:04:55.520 --> 0:04:59.719 works end quote, or as we typically think about it, 0:05:00.040 --> 0:05:04.080 digital rights management or DRM. Now, a lot of people, 0:05:04.240 --> 0:05:08.080 including myself, have oversimplified the intent of this piece of 0:05:08.200 --> 0:05:11.760 legislation to say that this protection means it's illegal to 0:05:11.760 --> 0:05:14.760 get around DRM, which means that while you are within 0:05:14.839 --> 0:05:17.520 your rights here in the United States to make a 0:05:17.560 --> 0:05:20.800 backup copy of a work for your personal use, whether 0:05:21.120 --> 0:05:26.040 it's a digital music file or some software or a book. 0:05:26.360 --> 0:05:28.039 I mean, it can be a physical thing. It doesn't 0:05:28.040 --> 0:05:31.279 have to be digital. Whatever it is. You are allowed 0:05:31.320 --> 0:05:34.760 to make a personal copy for your own backup purposes 0:05:34.800 --> 0:05:37.760 as long as that's all it's for. But you are 0:05:37.800 --> 0:05:41.039 not allowed to circumvent DRM in order to do it, 0:05:41.480 --> 0:05:44.599 which is kind of like saying the stuff that's inside 0:05:44.600 --> 0:05:48.160 this locked safe is yours, and you can do whatever 0:05:48.240 --> 0:05:50.839 you want with the stuff that's in this safe. You 0:05:50.880 --> 0:05:53.599 can copy it as many times as you like, but 0:05:53.800 --> 0:05:56.800 you're not allowed to open the safe to get at it. Now, 0:05:56.839 --> 0:06:00.000 that analogy isn't perfect, because you can still use DRM 0:06:00.040 --> 0:06:03.920 to material, but there can be some limitations depending on 0:06:04.000 --> 0:06:06.680 the implementation of DRM. But I think it gets the 0:06:06.800 --> 0:06:09.920 idea of the issue across well. The d m c 0:06:10.080 --> 0:06:12.880 A gets a bit more nuanced than just that. It's 0:06:12.880 --> 0:06:15.960 actually a little more complicated, though in practice it doesn't 0:06:16.040 --> 0:06:18.600 end up mattering very much. See, the d m c 0:06:18.800 --> 0:06:23.359 A actually differentiates between measures that control the access to 0:06:23.480 --> 0:06:27.919 a copyrighted work and measures that prevent unauthorized copying of 0:06:27.920 --> 0:06:31.839 a copyrighted work. So, if you were making a personal 0:06:31.880 --> 0:06:36.440 backup copy of a copyrighted work that is legitimate, it's 0:06:36.440 --> 0:06:40.320 a type of fair use. So if the technological prevention 0:06:40.400 --> 0:06:44.200 of copying is all it's stopping you from making a copy, 0:06:44.320 --> 0:06:47.719 it's okay to circumvent that protection, assuming the copy you 0:06:47.760 --> 0:06:51.320 make is legitimate under the umbrella fair use. So if 0:06:51.320 --> 0:06:54.120 you were archiving, say a piece of software, and the 0:06:54.200 --> 0:06:57.880 only thing stopping you was an anti copy piece of technology, 0:06:58.480 --> 0:07:03.040 there's no legal issue getting around it. However, if the 0:07:03.160 --> 0:07:08.640 DRM controls access to the copyrighted work, it's a different story. 0:07:09.120 --> 0:07:11.120 The d m c A is clear about that is 0:07:11.240 --> 0:07:15.680 illegal to circumvent or develop tools meant to circumvent DRM 0:07:15.760 --> 0:07:19.920 that controls access to a work. Well, here's the real problem. 0:07:20.000 --> 0:07:24.560 The way companies use DRM is tied directly to access. Yes, 0:07:24.640 --> 0:07:28.600 copying is part of that, but it's a sub part. 0:07:29.000 --> 0:07:31.720 So trying to get around it so that you can 0:07:31.720 --> 0:07:34.440 make your personal copy also means having to get around 0:07:34.480 --> 0:07:38.400 the access part, and that's illegal. Let's consider the DRM 0:07:38.440 --> 0:07:41.520 that Apple used to use on digital music files. They 0:07:41.520 --> 0:07:44.360 don't use it anymore, but they used to use a 0:07:44.440 --> 0:07:48.680 system called fair Play. Apple was strong armed into developing 0:07:49.000 --> 0:07:52.200 fair Play by the major music labels of the time, 0:07:52.680 --> 0:07:55.160 the DRM put a limit on how many devices would 0:07:55.160 --> 0:07:58.880 be allowed to access any given digital file. That would 0:07:58.880 --> 0:08:02.560 prevent the unauthorized distribution of digital songs that were downloaded 0:08:02.560 --> 0:08:05.640 from Apple's store, because you would very quickly hit the 0:08:05.840 --> 0:08:08.840 small limit of devices that would be allowed to access 0:08:08.840 --> 0:08:12.040 the file, and creating or using a tool to strip 0:08:12.280 --> 0:08:14.960 those files of that protection would be against the law 0:08:15.040 --> 0:08:17.920 because of the d m c A. Now, there are 0:08:17.920 --> 0:08:20.480 a few other exceptions to the d m c A 0:08:20.560 --> 0:08:23.160 that would allow folks to get around DRM and it 0:08:23.200 --> 0:08:27.480 wouldn't be illegal, but those are extremely limited in scope. 0:08:28.320 --> 0:08:32.880 For example, a nonprofit library would be allowed to circumvent 0:08:33.000 --> 0:08:37.199 DRM on some software, for instance, only for the purposes 0:08:37.280 --> 0:08:42.079 of evaluating the copyrighted software if the library were considering 0:08:42.200 --> 0:08:45.199 obtaining a legit copy for itself. So, in other words, 0:08:45.559 --> 0:08:48.320 this nonprofit library is saying, we're thinking about getting this, 0:08:48.480 --> 0:08:50.600 but we don't know yet. We want to evaluate it. 0:08:51.200 --> 0:08:53.320 We don't own a copy of it, so we have 0:08:53.400 --> 0:08:57.920 to use this method to circumvent DRM to evaluate the copy. 0:08:58.280 --> 0:09:02.280 That would be okay under those very specific circumstances. Security 0:09:02.320 --> 0:09:05.439 companies could circumvent DRM for the purposes of testing computer 0:09:05.520 --> 0:09:08.079 and network security and there are a few other exceptions, 0:09:08.080 --> 0:09:11.120 but they're all very limited and they have specific criteria 0:09:11.200 --> 0:09:13.080 that have to be met in order for it to 0:09:13.440 --> 0:09:18.959 pass muster. So we arrived at a point where, because 0:09:19.160 --> 0:09:23.160 of the technological protection overlaid on top of some copyrighted works, 0:09:23.640 --> 0:09:26.920 US citizens were denied the rights to create personal backup 0:09:26.960 --> 0:09:31.280 copies as is permitted under fair use, which is pretty absurd. Right, 0:09:31.440 --> 0:09:34.000 you're allowed to do this thing, only there's a lock 0:09:34.320 --> 0:09:36.600 that prevents you from doing that thing, and it's illegal 0:09:37.080 --> 0:09:41.440 to get rid of the lock. So you're effectively saying 0:09:41.440 --> 0:09:43.120 it's illegal for me to make a backup, and and 0:09:43.160 --> 0:09:45.440 the court would say, oh no, no, it's perfectly legal 0:09:45.520 --> 0:09:47.720 for you to make a backup. You just can't break 0:09:47.760 --> 0:09:49.680 the lock that prevents you from making a backup to 0:09:49.720 --> 0:09:52.440 make a backup. But if you can make a backup 0:09:52.679 --> 0:09:57.280 without getting around or breaking the lock, you're good to go. Well, 0:09:57.360 --> 0:10:00.760 that's patently absurd. You cannot do those things. It's the 0:10:00.800 --> 0:10:03.360 sort of situation you would expect to encounter in a 0:10:03.400 --> 0:10:08.360 a novel like Catch twenty two. Now companies were thrilled, 0:10:08.679 --> 0:10:12.240 right like the big music labels were thrilled. Movie and 0:10:12.320 --> 0:10:17.280 television studios were thrilled, publishers were thrilled. Organizations like the 0:10:17.280 --> 0:10:22.520 Electronic Frontier Foundation were not thrilled. Also, while the measures 0:10:22.520 --> 0:10:28.080 were intended to curb piracy, uh that largely failed. Piracy 0:10:28.160 --> 0:10:30.320 was still running rampant, and in fact, there was a 0:10:30.320 --> 0:10:32.760 pretty strong argument that the pirates were ending up with 0:10:32.840 --> 0:10:37.280 better versions of the copyrighted works because their versions didn't 0:10:37.320 --> 0:10:39.640 have all that pesky DRM attached to them. They had 0:10:39.679 --> 0:10:44.240 stripped it out, and DRM could cause other problems like 0:10:44.520 --> 0:10:48.720 for legit users, your DRM could actually interfere with your 0:10:48.800 --> 0:10:54.600 access to material you had fairly and legally purchased. So 0:10:55.040 --> 0:10:58.400 legitimate customers who did not remove their DRM had inferior 0:10:58.559 --> 0:11:01.679 versions of the works that the pirates were enjoying. The 0:11:01.800 --> 0:11:04.400 d m c A did, however, give big software and 0:11:04.440 --> 0:11:07.840 media companies the equivalent of an enormous cannon They could 0:11:07.840 --> 0:11:11.720 point at people who were found or suspected to be 0:11:11.800 --> 0:11:16.920 downloading material without permission to do so. So they fueled 0:11:17.000 --> 0:11:24.080 a lot of incredibly disproportionate lawsuits against people, and it 0:11:24.160 --> 0:11:28.520 did not win the industry any favors. Anyway, we're gonna 0:11:28.600 --> 0:11:30.719 pivot in a second. We're gonna come back to the 0:11:30.800 --> 0:11:33.440 d m c A and DRM toward the end of 0:11:33.480 --> 0:11:37.400 this episode because it will play a pivotal role in 0:11:38.280 --> 0:11:42.360 the creation of the concept of the illegal number. First, 0:11:42.400 --> 0:11:44.360 we're gonna take a quick break, and when we come back, 0:11:44.480 --> 0:11:55.320 we're gonna talk about abstraction. We're back, and it's time 0:11:55.360 --> 0:11:58.920 for us to talk about computer languages and machine language. 0:11:58.960 --> 0:12:02.480 It's a good jumping off point for the concept of abstraction. Now, 0:12:02.480 --> 0:12:04.760 I'm sure you all know that when you really get 0:12:04.800 --> 0:12:07.800 down to the hardware level of what's going on inside 0:12:07.800 --> 0:12:11.080 a computer, all the information passing through the system is 0:12:11.080 --> 0:12:15.480 in machine code a k A binary that's zeros and 0:12:15.600 --> 0:12:20.000 ones bits. In other words, machines use zeros and ones 0:12:20.080 --> 0:12:23.320 to represent anything and everything, and we can use zeros 0:12:23.320 --> 0:12:26.280 and ones to represent different types of stuff. We just 0:12:26.360 --> 0:12:29.160 need to gather enough zeros and ones to be able 0:12:29.200 --> 0:12:32.960 to do it. So a collection of eight binary digits 0:12:33.280 --> 0:12:37.079 is a bite. Eight bits is a bite. That's something 0:12:37.080 --> 0:12:39.320 we arrived at after a lot of back and forth 0:12:39.320 --> 0:12:42.079 in the computer industry. But there's no need to rehash 0:12:42.120 --> 0:12:45.559 all of that right now. With eight binary digits, you 0:12:45.600 --> 0:12:49.280 can represent up to two hundred fifty six different values 0:12:49.840 --> 0:12:52.040 or two to the power of eight. We have two 0:12:52.080 --> 0:12:55.520 possible states zero and one, and we have eight total 0:12:55.640 --> 0:12:58.160 binary digits, so it's two to the power of eight. 0:12:58.600 --> 0:13:02.040 With eight binary digits, we could designate different letters and figures. 0:13:02.280 --> 0:13:05.680 For example, the letter A and binary is zero one 0:13:06.600 --> 0:13:11.880 zero zero zero zero zero one. The letter Z in 0:13:11.960 --> 0:13:16.760 binary is zero one zero one one zero one zero. 0:13:17.040 --> 0:13:19.720 And yes, it sounds like I'm singing robots by Fly 0:13:19.840 --> 0:13:22.800 of the concords, but that's how we could designate A 0:13:22.960 --> 0:13:26.160 and Z in binary. Now you've probably already noticed that 0:13:26.280 --> 0:13:29.640 using binary would be far too clunky for humans. We 0:13:29.720 --> 0:13:32.960 would quickly get lost while trying to spell a simple word, 0:13:33.040 --> 0:13:36.280 let alone create complex instructions for a computer to follow. 0:13:36.720 --> 0:13:40.560 For that reason, we have different ways or abstractions to 0:13:40.679 --> 0:13:46.080 deal with machine languages. Programming languages are an example. With 0:13:46.160 --> 0:13:49.880 programming languages, we can use formats that humans can read, 0:13:50.440 --> 0:13:53.800 some we can read more easily than others, and machines 0:13:53.960 --> 0:13:58.800 cannot read. These not natively programming languages that aren't far 0:13:58.880 --> 0:14:03.360 removed from the struction set that's used by the machine itself. 0:14:03.400 --> 0:14:07.920 Those are called low level languages. Assembly, or sometimes as 0:14:08.000 --> 0:14:13.160 Simbler language, is the ultimate example of low level languages. 0:14:13.200 --> 0:14:16.400 These days, a utility program would take the instructions written 0:14:16.400 --> 0:14:21.000 an assembly, which would very much mirror the instruction set 0:14:21.120 --> 0:14:23.960 of the architecture of the machine that's running the stuff, 0:14:24.480 --> 0:14:28.400 and then it would convert the assembler language into executable 0:14:28.440 --> 0:14:33.680 machine code. So it takes this one representation of processes 0:14:34.360 --> 0:14:38.880 and converted into a different representation of processes, and it's 0:14:39.040 --> 0:14:42.880 the representation that the machine can actually use. Higher level 0:14:42.880 --> 0:14:47.240 programming languages have more levels of abstraction in them. They 0:14:47.280 --> 0:14:51.000 are generally speaking easier for people to work with, so 0:14:51.240 --> 0:14:54.960 it's much easier to write a program in these languages. 0:14:55.000 --> 0:14:58.840 The instruction sets in these programming languages are further removed 0:14:59.240 --> 0:15:02.160 from the base architecture of the machine that you are 0:15:02.200 --> 0:15:06.160 programming for. In fact, there are programming languages where you 0:15:06.160 --> 0:15:09.640 can program for all sorts of different machines, and you 0:15:09.760 --> 0:15:12.880 use a different utility for each machine to convert it 0:15:12.920 --> 0:15:16.120 into a language the machine can use. And because of 0:15:16.160 --> 0:15:18.600 all this, the computer code has to go through a 0:15:18.680 --> 0:15:23.440 process called compiling before a machine can actually execute the program. 0:15:23.480 --> 0:15:26.160 If there was no compiling process, the machine wouldn't know 0:15:26.240 --> 0:15:29.000 what to do with the sets of instructions. It would 0:15:29.040 --> 0:15:32.800 be it would be as if you spoke only one language, 0:15:33.280 --> 0:15:37.400 someone else spoke only a different language, and you just 0:15:37.480 --> 0:15:39.960 tried to keep on asking the same question like eight 0:15:39.960 --> 0:15:43.000 different ways in English, for example, and the other person 0:15:43.080 --> 0:15:46.040 only speaks a Mandarin, it wouldn't matter how many times 0:15:46.080 --> 0:15:49.520 you reworded the question. The languages are fundamentally different. There 0:15:49.520 --> 0:15:52.840 would be no communication same sort of thing. Without compiling, 0:15:53.480 --> 0:15:55.880 the machine has no way of understanding what is you 0:15:55.920 --> 0:16:00.080 wanted to do. So the compiler is absolutely key in 0:16:00.120 --> 0:16:04.240 this case. Now, the compiler essentially takes one language and 0:16:04.280 --> 0:16:07.560 converts it into a different language. That language could be 0:16:07.720 --> 0:16:13.800 assembly language. So compiling could take your very complex, sophisticated program, 0:16:13.880 --> 0:16:16.560 break it down into all the different steps that would 0:16:16.560 --> 0:16:20.560 be required to make that program work in assembly language, 0:16:20.840 --> 0:16:23.440 and then through an assembler that we get converted into 0:16:23.480 --> 0:16:26.320 machine code, and then the computer would ultimately quote unquote, 0:16:26.560 --> 0:16:31.160 understand what to do with your program. So you might 0:16:31.200 --> 0:16:33.960 write a program in a language like Python, and a 0:16:34.000 --> 0:16:37.200 compiler might take that and translate it into assembly language, 0:16:37.200 --> 0:16:39.840 and then through an assembler that gets converted into machine 0:16:39.880 --> 0:16:43.280 code and a computer actually uses that. So really we 0:16:43.320 --> 0:16:45.440 can think of all this as a general process by 0:16:45.440 --> 0:16:48.600 which we humans take stuff that we can work with 0:16:48.640 --> 0:16:51.880 easily and convert that into stuff that a machine can 0:16:51.960 --> 0:16:54.840 work with easily. There's a lot more to it than that, 0:16:55.040 --> 0:16:59.200 and I am oversimplifying, but you get the idea now. 0:16:59.680 --> 0:17:03.200 The reason why I went through all that rigamarole is 0:17:03.240 --> 0:17:06.800 one to talk about the actual types of information that 0:17:06.880 --> 0:17:10.320 machines work with and why that's important, and also to 0:17:10.320 --> 0:17:13.879 get across this idea that there are so many different 0:17:13.920 --> 0:17:17.240 ways that we can represent numbers, and there are different 0:17:17.240 --> 0:17:22.080 ways we can represent stuff in numerical form. And if 0:17:22.119 --> 0:17:24.919 we go back to a bide of information, those eight bits, 0:17:25.720 --> 0:17:28.320 we can describe that in several ways. Right. We can 0:17:28.359 --> 0:17:31.720 say eight bits represents two to the eight values, or 0:17:31.760 --> 0:17:34.200 we could say it represents two D fifty six values, 0:17:34.359 --> 0:17:37.240 or that we can say it represents values from zero 0:17:37.320 --> 0:17:39.920 to two D fifty five, and so on. All of 0:17:39.960 --> 0:17:41.880 those are essentially saying the same thing, but we're saying 0:17:41.880 --> 0:17:44.320 it in different ways. Right. Well, there are other ways 0:17:44.320 --> 0:17:48.200 to represent numbers as well. Another numeral system that's often 0:17:48.320 --> 0:17:52.760 used in computing is called hexadecimal. Hexadecimal is a base 0:17:53.119 --> 0:17:56.960 sixteen system. So the system that you and I count 0:17:57.040 --> 0:18:00.399 in is based ten. Right, you start at zero, you 0:18:00.440 --> 0:18:03.680 go to nine, then you move into the tens. So 0:18:03.840 --> 0:18:07.400 ten is just one zero, eleven is just one. One 0:18:07.520 --> 0:18:09.320 do you go up to nineteen? You move up to 0:18:09.359 --> 0:18:13.399 the twenties. That's to zero. So that's base ten. Right. Well, 0:18:13.480 --> 0:18:17.280 how the heck do you have a base sixteen? Right? 0:18:17.320 --> 0:18:18.840 How do you get up to a point where? How 0:18:18.840 --> 0:18:21.200 do you count in base sixteen? You only have ten 0:18:21.320 --> 0:18:25.040 single digit numerals from zero to nine. Well, the way 0:18:25.119 --> 0:18:28.240 you create base sixteen as you start to borrow from letters, 0:18:28.640 --> 0:18:32.240 hexadecimal designation goes from zero through nine, and then to 0:18:32.320 --> 0:18:36.080 represent values ten through fifteen, we switch to letters and 0:18:36.200 --> 0:18:40.960 use a through F. Now, in hexadecimal, a single digit 0:18:41.200 --> 0:18:46.119 represents four bits, so two hexadecimal digits are equal to 0:18:46.240 --> 0:18:49.760 a byte or eight bits. So we can go from 0:18:50.400 --> 0:18:54.679 eight zeros to eight ones for the full range of 0:18:55.160 --> 0:18:58.879 expression with bits right, eight zeros to eight ones, that 0:18:58.920 --> 0:19:01.000 would be zero to two hundred fifty five. If we 0:19:01.040 --> 0:19:04.320 thought about it numerically, in like the regular digits that 0:19:04.359 --> 0:19:08.679 we use today, but in hexadecimal, we would represent that 0:19:08.760 --> 0:19:11.320 as zero zero, which would be the same thing as 0:19:11.440 --> 0:19:14.520 eight zeros, or f f, which would be the same 0:19:14.520 --> 0:19:17.840 thing as eight ones. So hexadecimal creates a slightly easier 0:19:17.880 --> 0:19:21.119 way to represent binary data than just working with zeros 0:19:21.160 --> 0:19:24.199 and once. Now, the whole reason I brought all this 0:19:24.320 --> 0:19:26.800 up is that it really is important to understand there 0:19:26.840 --> 0:19:30.320 are so many different ways to represent numbers. You can 0:19:30.320 --> 0:19:34.280 convert one number system into another number system. You can 0:19:34.280 --> 0:19:37.200 convert numbers into other stuff too, like you could create 0:19:37.240 --> 0:19:40.800 an image based off numbers, or vice versa. You could 0:19:40.800 --> 0:19:44.840 take an image and reduce it to numerical data representing 0:19:44.880 --> 0:19:48.520 the image. If we couldn't do that, computers would not work, 0:19:48.680 --> 0:19:50.359 or at least they wouldn't be able to do anything 0:19:50.400 --> 0:19:54.000 other than perform operations on numbers like a very simple calculator. 0:19:54.600 --> 0:19:57.840 But Ada Lovelace had it right. We can use numbers 0:19:57.840 --> 0:20:01.199 to represent all sorts of incredible things, from images to 0:20:01.359 --> 0:20:05.280 music to sophisticated programs like the Curse of Monkey Island. 0:20:05.960 --> 0:20:08.840 All right, when we come back, we're gonna go back 0:20:08.840 --> 0:20:11.000 to the d m c A, and we're gonna combine 0:20:11.119 --> 0:20:13.320 the things we learned about the d m c A 0:20:13.520 --> 0:20:16.040 and the things we learned about using numbers to represent 0:20:16.080 --> 0:20:19.320 different things and figure out how a number can be 0:20:19.400 --> 0:20:29.959 illegal But first, let's take another quick break. All right, 0:20:30.200 --> 0:20:31.760 back to the d m c A. The d m 0:20:31.800 --> 0:20:35.080 c A makes it illegal to attempt to circumvent access 0:20:35.280 --> 0:20:39.800 controls on digital copyrighted works. That means it's illegal to 0:20:39.840 --> 0:20:43.320 develop tools expressly for the purposes of getting around digital 0:20:43.400 --> 0:20:46.480 rights management or d r M. So let's say that 0:20:46.600 --> 0:20:50.040 someone goes out and writes a program that is essentially 0:20:50.040 --> 0:20:53.560 a work around of d r M. That program is 0:20:53.680 --> 0:20:56.119 illegal unless it happens to be used in one of 0:20:56.160 --> 0:21:01.760 those very narrow exemptions I mentioned earlier. Distributing that program 0:21:01.840 --> 0:21:06.199 is also illegal. You could reduce the program to something 0:21:06.280 --> 0:21:09.840 like its source code, and you could represent that source 0:21:09.880 --> 0:21:13.520 code in some other format. You could then post that 0:21:13.640 --> 0:21:16.880 format on a web page for anyone to see, and 0:21:17.080 --> 0:21:21.040 someone could see that representation, they could copy the representation, 0:21:21.400 --> 0:21:24.760 they could reverse the process you use to arrive at 0:21:25.520 --> 0:21:28.720 that representation, and then they would have the source code, 0:21:28.880 --> 0:21:33.879 which means now that person has possession of the illegal material. So, 0:21:33.920 --> 0:21:38.360 in other words, by changing the representation of the program, 0:21:38.480 --> 0:21:43.840 you have created a different means of of displaying that information. 0:21:44.760 --> 0:21:49.640 Does that, in fact make that display itself illegal? If 0:21:49.680 --> 0:21:51.760 we follow the d m c A rules, to the letter, 0:21:52.240 --> 0:21:55.479 and we acknowledge that it is possible to share something 0:21:55.560 --> 0:21:58.960 that is illegal to possess if we just represent that 0:21:59.040 --> 0:22:02.640 thing in numerical value, well, by extension, the only logical 0:22:02.680 --> 0:22:05.920 thing we can say is that that number itself is illegal. 0:22:06.200 --> 0:22:07.919 And in fact, you could go a step further. You 0:22:07.920 --> 0:22:12.359 could break down illegal material such as an encryption key 0:22:12.440 --> 0:22:17.160 for example, convert that into hexadecimal code. Convert the hexadecimal 0:22:17.200 --> 0:22:21.119 code into an image, and use that image to distribute 0:22:21.200 --> 0:22:24.240 the code. This whole thing is still reversible, Like you 0:22:24.280 --> 0:22:26.040 have to know the steps that were used, but you 0:22:26.080 --> 0:22:29.680 could do those same steps in the reverse order and 0:22:29.720 --> 0:22:32.639 we're you know, arrive at that source code. This this 0:22:32.800 --> 0:22:35.840 could be a form of steganography, that's hiding a message 0:22:35.880 --> 0:22:39.800 inside something else, like an image. Doesn't have to be 0:22:39.840 --> 0:22:42.719 an image, but that's frequently what we think of when 0:22:42.760 --> 0:22:46.879 we think of steganography. Now, if we follow D M 0:22:46.960 --> 0:22:49.240 C A to the logical conclusion, we would say, well, 0:22:49.280 --> 0:22:52.200 that would mean the image itself would be illegal. So really, 0:22:52.200 --> 0:22:54.399 when you break it down, the concept of illegal numbers 0:22:54.480 --> 0:22:57.160 is meant to show how absurd it is to try 0:22:57.200 --> 0:23:02.879 and legislate information, because information is mutable. That is, you know, 0:23:02.920 --> 0:23:06.200 we can change it from one format into a different format, 0:23:06.400 --> 0:23:10.440 and the format that would seem innocent and definitely abstract 0:23:10.520 --> 0:23:14.000 from whatever it was representing, and any attempts to ban 0:23:14.160 --> 0:23:17.520 that information becomes absurd because how far do you go 0:23:17.640 --> 0:23:20.639 with that. Let's say, for example, that I cracked the 0:23:20.760 --> 0:23:23.960 encryption used by some software companies to protect their work. 0:23:24.160 --> 0:23:26.480 Right it limits the access to their work, And I've 0:23:26.480 --> 0:23:29.440 cracked it, and I create a program that lets other 0:23:29.480 --> 0:23:33.879 people circumvent this protection, and then I represent the program 0:23:33.920 --> 0:23:38.200 as a hexadecimal value, which, when you convert it over, 0:23:38.320 --> 0:23:41.720 becomes the source code for this program. But then I 0:23:41.760 --> 0:23:46.520 take that hexadecimal value and I use it to run 0:23:46.600 --> 0:23:50.879 through another program that creates a very very large number, 0:23:51.480 --> 0:23:53.760 and it's totally reversible. If you were to take that 0:23:53.840 --> 0:23:56.639 very very large number and run it through a similar program, 0:23:56.680 --> 0:23:59.600 you would arrive at the hexadecimal value, which you could 0:23:59.600 --> 0:24:02.560 then can vert into the source code, and you would 0:24:02.560 --> 0:24:06.160 be back where I started. So I post this very 0:24:06.280 --> 0:24:09.760 very large number, which by itself, without any other context, 0:24:10.000 --> 0:24:13.200 is just a number. Can the software company actually claim 0:24:13.560 --> 0:24:17.440 that that very large number is in violation of its 0:24:17.520 --> 0:24:21.119 intellectual property, because isn't that absurd, But because of the 0:24:21.160 --> 0:24:24.679 nature of digital information, all of this is entirely possible. 0:24:25.280 --> 0:24:30.159 Complicating matters is that sometimes once you do all these conversions, 0:24:30.280 --> 0:24:33.320 you end up with a prime number. Depends on what 0:24:33.440 --> 0:24:36.120