[OLPC Security] Application bundles and delegation

[David Hopwood]

xuan wu wrote:
>Ivan Krstić wrote:
>> xuan wu wrote:
>> > Actually I didn't find how to disfunction the laptop after it's lost
>> > from the spec
>>
>> Section 8.19.
> 
> Simply shutdown the laptops after the expiration date seems to me a rude
> and reckless idea. This gives an excuse to those who don't want the pupils
> to waste time on the laptops.

Perhaps more worryingly, there have been several historical instances of
governments that have come to hold anti-technology, anti-universal-education,
and/or radically isolationist ideologies, to the extreme detriment of
their citizens: the Taleban in Afghanistan, the Khmer-Rouge in Cambodia,
or the Burmese government, for example. Such a goverment could easily view
the existence of the laptops in their country as a threat. I don't think
that this possibility can be dismissed as unrealistic, given the number
of countries involved and the probable lifespan of the laptop design.

It would be unfortunate if a feature that was intended as an anti-theft
measure could instead aid a government in imposing some oppressive regime.

-- 
David Hopwood <david.nospam.hopwood at blueyonder.co.uk>