DRM at the network layer?

[Steve Bellovin <smb@research.att.com>]

Today's New York Times had an article on the so-called "broadcast 
flag", an indicator in over-the-air HDTV broadcasts designed to prevent 
copying or uploading of such broadcasts.  One sentence in the article 
is very IETF-relevant:

	An F.C.C. official said, for instance, that the broadcast
	flag could contain software code that was recognized by
	computer routers in a way that the program would self-destruct
	after passing through three routers while being e-mailed
	by a user.

I asked Mike Godwin, a technically-savvy lawyer who's been fighting
this issue, if they were referring to IP routers.  His response was
"I believe that is what they are talking about, and I believe one's 
mind should indeed boggle."


		--Steve Bellovin, http://www.research.att.com/~smb