Author: Justus Ranvier 2014-05-19 21:18:54
Published on: 2014-05-19T21:18:54+00:00
In this message, Gregory Maxwell talks about the limitations of social contracts in cases where individuals are coerced or threatened with violence. He suggests that even if developers make public statements promising to resist coercion, they may not be able to follow through when faced with a life-threatening situation. Maxwell argues that commitments like these are not as effective as warrant canaries, which are used to signal that an organization has not received a secret government subpoena. By contrast, social contracts can be difficult to enforce and may not prevent attackers from carrying out their plans. Maxwell concludes that social contracts do have some value because they make it harder for attackers to conceal their activities, but he emphasizes that they are not a panacea.
Updated on: 2023-06-08T23:10:16.007507+00:00