Subject:      Re: Is there a way to hide the source code of a webpage?
From:         moshman@wam.umd.edu (LoneWolf)
Date:         1997/07/22
Message-ID:   <5r1e0m$5jk@winter.news.erols.com>
Newsgroups:   comp.infosystems.www.authoring.html,comp.lang.javascript

Philip Baker  wrote:
> Of course HTML pages cannot be hidden, therefore the only solution is
> not to use HTML if this is a problem.  I am proposing that HTML web
> pages could be automatically converted into a medium where content,
> structure and mechanism can be hidden.  The best thing we have at the
> moment for this is Java. Java is also designed to work across a wide
> variety of platforms. Even with Java the content could be dug out, even
> if it were encrypted, but it would take a lot of effort and expertise.

Not really.  Remember, somehwere, whether published or compiled (into JAVA
bytecode perhaps) is a method of translating this "medium" into a rendered
display.  This means that the method by whch this "medium" can be cracked
would be readily available somewhere.

If it were in a JAVA applet, you could just decompile the applet.  Even if
it's been obfuscated, JAVA is so strongly typed that the code is in there...
just a pain-in-the-neck to read.  But not really all that difficult to
decipher with a few good text processing tools.

If it were published, well... then the method would be right out in the open.

Basically, you're talking about creating a whole new document format such as
Adobe PDFs or Corel Envoy files, only with a JAVA enabled decoder.  Take it a
step further... embed the decoder in the document.  Now it sounds a lot like
Corel Barista "technology."

Further, if you don't publish the file format, you'd be the only person, so to
speak, capable of creating the reader.  Doesn't sound like it would be all
that popular a sell, just so that you could pass around PDF-like files.

> Remember the original poster was concerned about the stealing of his
> HTML pages not the hiding as such. Hiding does not prevent wholesale
> copying; but it places severe obstacles to copying and modifying, which
> can be extremely pernicious, and is a legitimate concern of web authors.

The plain fact is, there's nothing that any web author can do, that can not be
done by someone else, even without looking at the code.  You don't need to
"steal" the code in order to "steal" the design.  Further, does there exist a
design out there (on the web) that is so incredibly awesome and unique that
anyone would want to "steal" it?  Please, no "look at my page... I rather like
it" responses.  I'm talking about a design that has not been reproduced
elsewhere and that someone would actually *want* to reproduce.

Look... design is important and nice but I would think it's your content that
you should worry about others stealing and not your design.  But if you're
worried about the content being stolen (like the design) you can't put it on
the web.

Later,
LoneWolf
moshman@wam.umd.edu

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