RFC 3751 (rfc3751) - Page 2 of 9

Omniscience Protocol Requirements

RFC 3751           Omniscience Protocol Requirements        1 April 2004


   The attitude of some of the copyright holders may be that it's OK for
   a few honest people to have their computers or networks executed as
   long as the machines and networks of the dishonest are killed.  But
   it is not likely that any measurable error rate would be acceptable
   to the public.  Clearly, anyone implementing laws of this type need
   some way to reduce the error rate and be sure that they are dealing
   with a real bad guy and not an innocent bystander.

   Part of determining if someone is a "bad guy" is determining his or
   her intent.  Historically, western jurisprudence has required that
   prosecutors show that a person intended to commit a crime before that
   person could be convicted of committing that crime.  [Holdsworth,
   Restatement, Prosser, United States v. Wise, Garratt v. Dailey]
   Because it can be quite difficult to establish a person's intent
   lawmakers have, in some cases, reduced the requirement for
   prosecutors to establish intent and mere possession is now proof
   enough of intent.

   This memo proposes a set of requirements for a new protocol to be
   used by prosecutors to determine a person's intent, thus reducing the
   need to dilute the historical legal requirement to show intent and by
   groups such as the MPAA and RIAA to be sure they are dealing with
   lawbreakers and not 60 year old non computer users.

2.  Omniscience Protocol Requirements

   For the purpose of these requirements, I will assume that the OP is
   implemented using a client-server model, where the OP client is
   installed on the user's computer and the server is installed on a
   computer run by a law or copyright enforcement organization.  OP
   Clients would register with all OP Servers that pertain to the legal
   jurisdiction in which the client is located each time the computer is
   started.  OP Servers would then, on whatever schedule they have been
   configured to use, send OP Queries to OP Clients to find out if the
   computer operator has engaged in an illegal act of interest to the
   operator of the OP Server.  Future versions of the OP might operate
   using a peer-to-peer model if the copyright enforcement people can
   ever get over their visceral disgust at the very concept of peer-to-
   peer networks.

   For the purpose of this memo, I will use copyright infringement as an
   example of an illegal act that the OP protocol could be used to
   expose.  The OP has numerous possible applications beyond ferreting
   out copyright infringement.  For example, the OP would be of great
   assistance to instructors trying to determine if their students are
   producing original work or engaging in plagiarism.  The same function
   would be invaluable to newspaper editors checking up on reporter's
   dispatches.



Bradner                      Informational