Talk:Illegal prime

2020 comments
This article does not make a whole lot of sense to me. The only examples mentioned in the article is the DeCSS prime, and the general topic is poorly distinguished from that specific example. It would be very helpful if another example of an illegal prime was added. There are also some sentences that don't make a whole lot of sense mathematically. For example, the article says "The primality of a number is a fundamental property of number theory and is therefore not dependent on legal definitions of any particular jurisdiction." While this is factually true, there are many other fundamental properties in number theory and its unclear why the legal status (or lack thereof) of primality in particular is important. If Carmody had converted the program into a number that was the sum of two squares, what would change? Stellaathena (talk) 22:48, 17 November 2020 (UTC)

I agree with this objection; the article barely discusses the concept of an illegal prime, simply zeroing in on one particular case. In a different way, some of the text makes no sense to me. Examples: (1) "Protests against the indictment of DeCSS author Jon Lech Johansen and legislation prohibiting publication of DeCSS code took many forms." has no context; it's like jumping into the middle of a film with no idea what it's about. (2) "Thus, if the number were large enough and proved prime using ECPP, it would be published." I can't tell what "would be published" means (does it mean this fact constitutes publication? If so, it's nonsensical), nor how ECPP or the size of the number has any connection with publication. (3) What makes a number "too small to be mentioned"? And more. As it stands, this article is worthless, IMO.

My suggestion: Merge whatever is worthwhile into Illegal number. There seems to be nothing much about an "illegal prime" that deserves a separate article. Zaslav (talk) 01:25, 19 January 2021 (UTC)


 * -- I have proposed a merge. -- Rockstone  [Send me a message!]  06:58, 29 October 2021 (UTC)

As per discussion; went ahead and boldly merged this with Illegal number. -- Rockstone  [Send me a message!]  23:14, 29 October 2021 (UTC)