Am I missing the point? - sinclair44

No, you should use a better protection system than PDF's weak builtin encryption. Breaking it really isn't that hard.

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Sunday, March 13 2005 @ 06:39 PM PST

Am I missing the point? - talaga

There are plenty of reasons to want to have access to a protected copyrighted PDF that are non-infringing.

Wouldn't you rather know that the encryption used by PDF is this weak before you rely on it to protect your intellectual property?

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Sunday, July 17 2005 @ 02:50 PM PDT

Am I missing the point? - Gene van Troyer

There are any number of ways to copy your protected stuff, whether it is produced electronically or issued in print. Copyright does not (and was never intended to) protect anything from being COPIED. It merely protects you from others profiting from your work without giving you compensation by making it possible for you to sue the violator(s) for damages.

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Sunday, March 26 2006 @ 10:55 PM PST

Am I missing the point? - rcfa

The answer is: YES, you are.
Copyright is a legal construct, it's not a technical hurdle.
If you can VIEW PDF content, you can steal it, in any number of ways. Heck, you could zoom in to 500%, screen-grab it piecewise, stitch it back together in Photoshop, and then run OCR over the text elements if you're so inclined.

Shall we stop selling guns because they can be used to kill people? Shall we stop selling ice picks? How about screwdrivers, which can be used to pick locks and stab someone? How about chicken, you could leave it unrefidgerate for days before you serve it undercooked to someone to give them food poisoning.

You get the drift: if you try to stop products from being distributed that could be used in an unethical way, you can sell absolutely NOTHING.

Laws and technical implements will never be a substitute for ethical behavior, but they will bring the days of Big Brother closer. Take your pick.

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Monday, March 27 2006 @ 12:21 AM PST