Dismissal of reconsideration request comes with qualified endorsement of open-source systems.
Someone – let’s call him Bob – wants to secure a room.�But in Bob’s universe, there are no locks.�So Bob invents one, and installs it.�And realizes he has a huge advantage over would-be intruders.�Only Bob knows how the lock works.�So no one else knows how to pick it.�Bob sets about keeping his lock design a secret.
Alice also needs to secure a room, and she also invents a lock. �Unlike Bob, though, Alice publishes her design – not the set-up for a particular key, of course, but the details of the overall mechanism.
Bob thinks Alice is nuts.�Why tell people how your lock works?�They’ll just pick it more easily.
Fine, says Alice, good luck keeping your design a secret.�It’s going to get out, no matter what you do.�And frankly, Bob, your lock probably isn’t all that great.�Okay, neither is mine.�Not yet.�But now that it’s published, people will suggest improvements.�Students will do Ph.D. dissertations on making it better.�Companies will compete to develop stronger versions.�And long after your design has leaked, and instructions for picking it are all over the Internet, my vastly improved lock will be far more secure.�Even though everybody...
Source: CommLawBlog
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