Cory Doctorow, author and internet activist, held an “Ask me anything” on Reddit last week. I took the opportunity to ask him two questions, which he answered. I’m reproducing them below, but you can read the entirety of the ama on reddit.

I asked:

I understand and agree with your arguments against Trusted Computing.
I also know that with the government taking an increasing role in underwriting viruses, and the looming specter of evolutionary viruses, it seems like maintain a secure computing environment may become more and more difficult.
Is there any chance Trusted Computer could have a role to play in protecting us against a future onslaught of semi-sentient computer viruses, and if so, is it worth it?

He answered:

Yeah — I cover that in my Defcon talk:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ogmy8XRXvo

I also asked:

Hi Cory, I love your work. How do you decide what level of technical detail to get into when you’re writing fiction? Do you get pushback from editors on the way you handle more complicated issues (e.g. what’s the right level of detail to include when discussing copyright law in Pirate Cinema), and if so, how do you handle that?

He answered:

Naw. I’ve got an AWESOME editor at Tor, Patrick Nielsen Hayden, who makes my books better. He got me to rewrite the dual-key crypto stuff in LB a couple times, but only to make it clearer, not less nerdy.