Python obfuscation

[Ben Sizer]

Mike Meyer wrote:
> Yu-Xi Lim <yuxi at ece.gatech.edu> writes:
> > Ben's analogy of the house is not a perfect example, but it's still a
> > fair one. You know that if some one really wants to break into your
> > house, he will get in, regardless of your sophisticated laser trip
> > wire system, ex-SAS guards, and genetically-engineered guard dogs. But
> > as long as the cost of protection is less than the cost of the item
> > you're protecting (multiplied by the relevant probabilities, factoring
> > recurring costs, etc), it's worthwhile to spend money on
> > protection. If that fails, then you will of course fall back on the
> > law, but you still try to prevent it from happening in the first place.
>
> Sounds like you just said that manufacturers should improve their
> protection until they aren't making any profit on the product. That's
> silly. The goal isn't to maximize protection, it's to maximize
> profit. That means it only makes sense to spend money on better
> protection if the cost of the protection is less than the expected
> profit from adding it.

I agree with what you're saying, but it seems like you're arguing
against what was said rather than what was intended. Without wishing to
put words into anybody's mouths, I'm pretty sure what Yu-Xi Lim meant
was just that even imperfect protection is worthwhile if you estimate
that it will benefit you more than it will cost you. This is in
contrast to the opinion that any protection is useless because someone
will break it if they want to.

> A recent, heavily
> publicized case where Sony added copy protection to a product cost
> them sales, and from what I've heard, even legal fees.

I think that's a poor example - the cost hasn't come from the mere act
of adding protection, but the method in which that protection operates.
I don't think anybody here - certainly not me - is talking about
infecting a user's system to protect our property, or taking any other
intrusive steps. I'd just like to make it non-trivial to make or use
additional copies.

-- 
Ben Sizer.