Puzzle 10: October 16, 2019

A proposal was once made to enable copyright holders to use special-purpose hardware to prevent piracy. The proposed legislation would have required a “kill switch” in PCs that could destroy hardware by sending a secret command to the remote computer. A copyright holder would have to warn a violator twice before triggering the switch, destroying the computer.

1. What are the arguments in favor of this proposal?
2. What are the arguments against ths proposal?
3. If this proposal had been adopted, what safeguards should be put into place to prevent unauthorized activation of the kill switch?

Matt Bishop Office: 2209 Watershed Sciences Phone: +1 (530) 752-8060 Email: mabishop@ucdavis.edu

ECS 153, Computer Security Version of October 15, 2019 at 5:47PM

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