First off, it already is "open source." The only part of the client not publically available is the buffer handling and the key server communications code.
All the cores are available to anyone who wants them. There is nothing stoping anyone from building their own client and finding the solution themselves.
As for the comments of people "hijacking" the correct solution, go read the rules for the contest as per RSA. They are going to want full disclosure of how you got the correct answer. I'd like to see how someone would get a hijacked answer past RSA.
The hashing/crc ideas have been around for a long time. Yes, it would eat some processing time -- how much is open for debate. But someone would still have to go back and verify the results at some point. That's about the only way to make sure everything is on the up-and-up. (It also adds a little extra verification to make sure the actual core(s) are working correctly. It's happened before.)
For the record, I know of no one ever braking the RSA public key verification ("blessing") for any nettrek client. (In theory, it's not that difficult. And every line of that source code has been public for ever.)
While I am, by no means, "poor", I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth. I grew up on a family farm in Eastern North Carolina (chickens and beef cattle, fwiw.) Unlike some in the area, and even some of my friends, I never had to worry about having food on the table, clothes on my back, and so forth. The necessities of life were always taken care of; the "fluff" was my own responsibility.
If I wanted some widget, I had to buy it with my own money -- from various odd jobs (farm work, etc.), a weekly allowance, rewards for good grades, etc. I think that was _very_ good parenting. I learned to manage my money, a respect for hard work, and an appreciation for things of value. These are things people dont' teach their children anymore -- and in some cases, it's something they don't know themselves.
While I don't know what you mean by "truely poor", I was a college student for several years. My parents would help make sure money was there for my tuition, but beyond that, my living expenses were my problem. It was my responsiblity to manage my own money. [I'm sure my parents would have helped me if the situation ever arose, but I never asked even when things got tight.]
$17/month may seem like a small thing to you and me, but to those with marginal incomes, debts, and little to no money managing skills, that's a big commitment -- esp. for three years. Add to that, the fact they may not know what to do with a computer, or the net. For someone with little computer experience and even less net experience, why should they "waste" their money on something they don't know how to effectively use? (Yes, they can learn to use it, but would you buy a car with a manual transmission if you didn't know how to drive it?)
Ah, but CD-ROMs don't "download" or "store" anything -- you have to put a CD in there. While, yes, the drive does have to read the digital data and hold it in memory to play it; no one is going to call that "downloading".
CR-R's on the other hand are fair game:-)
Note: this whole thing's about as silly as the Wang "Save As" thing.
Your soundcard would almost definately qualify as a "digital audio player" in this light. The GUS (for one) can store and playback MODs (for one format) all by itself -- of course it takes the computer it's plugged into to load ("download") the MOD to the card and provide power, but it definately fits the claims of the patent.
So, when was the GUS first made? Heck, even the Soundblaster (.voc) fits those claims.
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First off, it already is "open source." The only part of the client not publically available is the buffer handling and the key server communications code.
All the cores are available to anyone who wants them. There is nothing stoping anyone from building their own client and finding the solution themselves.
As for the comments of people "hijacking" the correct solution, go read the rules for the contest as per RSA. They are going to want full disclosure of how you got the correct answer. I'd like to see how someone would get a hijacked answer past RSA.
The hashing/crc ideas have been around for a long time. Yes, it would eat some processing time -- how much is open for debate. But someone would still have to go back and verify the results at some point. That's about the only way to make sure everything is on the up-and-up. (It also adds a little extra verification to make sure the actual core(s) are working correctly. It's happened before.)
For the record, I know of no one ever braking the RSA public key verification ("blessing") for any nettrek client. (In theory, it's not that difficult. And every line of that source code has been public for ever.)
Rule #1: There is no such thing as "secure."
While I am, by no means, "poor", I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth. I grew up on a family farm in Eastern North Carolina (chickens and beef cattle, fwiw.) Unlike some in the area, and even some of my friends, I never had to worry about having food on the table, clothes on my back, and so forth. The necessities of life were always taken care of; the "fluff" was my own responsibility.
If I wanted some widget, I had to buy it with my own money -- from various odd jobs (farm work, etc.), a weekly allowance, rewards for good grades, etc. I think that was _very_ good parenting. I learned to manage my money, a respect for hard work, and an appreciation for things of value. These are things people dont' teach their children anymore -- and in some cases, it's something they don't know themselves.
While I don't know what you mean by "truely poor", I was a college student for several years. My parents would help make sure money was there for my tuition, but beyond that, my living expenses were my problem. It was my responsiblity to manage my own money. [I'm sure my parents would have helped me if the situation ever arose, but I never asked even when things got tight.]
$17/month may seem like a small thing to you and me, but to those with marginal incomes, debts, and little to no money managing skills, that's a big commitment -- esp. for three years. Add to that, the fact they may not know what to do with a computer, or the net. For someone with little computer experience and even less net experience, why should they "waste" their money on something they don't know how to effectively use? (Yes, they can learn to use it, but would you buy a car with a manual transmission if you didn't know how to drive it?)
Ah, but CD-ROMs don't "download" or "store" anything -- you have to put a CD in there. While, yes, the drive does have to read the digital data and hold it in memory to play it; no one is going to call that "downloading".
:-)
CR-R's on the other hand are fair game
Note: this whole thing's about as silly as the Wang "Save As" thing.
Your soundcard would almost definately qualify as a "digital audio player" in this light. The GUS (for one) can store and playback MODs (for one format) all by itself -- of course it takes the computer it's plugged into to load ("download") the MOD to the card and provide power, but it definately fits the claims of the patent.
So, when was the GUS first made? Heck, even the Soundblaster (.voc) fits those claims.