[mikorym]

That's why there were those "illegal" t-shirts with the RSA algorithm printed out in Perl.

But I have a more pragmatic approach. If nuclear launch codes were written out on t-shirts I wouldn't be happy about it either. I think the real problem is ignorance. The US's main role after 1945, and the role of the UN, was and is to prevent another world war. Whether by virtue or by ignorance they have been successful, with the notable exception of a partial world war in the Middle East.

Having said that, the problem is ignorance towards technology and knowledge and resentment towards talent or individual ability. It's more general fear towards things they cannot understand, or rather, things they understand that they cannot subvert. But, I don't like to reduce myself to a protagonist's syndrome and I can more or less understand why the US government does what they do.

The only real node of certainty in the whole equation is that individual freedom is where the line should be drawn. And unfortunately for the obnoxious prescriptive types, any human can invent cryptography on their own whilst living in a cave.

[dane-pgp]

> If nuclear launch codes were written out on t-shirts I wouldn't be happy about it either.

If the government only found out that its nuclear launch codes were leaked because it saw them written on someone's t-shirt, I would be unhappy about the government, not the t-shirt.

Also, if the government decided to ban the t-shirts rather than changing the codes, I would be even more unhappy.