Slide 33 Slide 34 Slide 35
Slide 33 - The eTRON Architecture In the Computing Everywhere world, all computers are connected over an open network, allowing a variety of services. At the same time, this is inseparable from fears of being spied on over the network while in your home, or from pranksters coming over the network to make your systems malfunction. The core of the Computing Everywhere environment must be a powerful security architecture. And so here I would like to touch upon eTRON, a new project recently announced by TRON. This is a total architecture for safe electronic transfer of data that must not be copied or tampered with, such as valuable information or encryption keys. From this standpoint as well, eTRON was the first in the world to advocate the proposal of a general-purpose security infrastructure architecture. In this way, the TRON project would like to continue research and development that can be accessed from around the world, in order to realize the Computing Everywhere environment. Slide 34 - Cooperative, Distributed-type Research and Development In my opinion, the feature common to the three Takeda award fields - information-electronics, life, and environment - is that they all involve research into systems that cannot be thought of in terms of their individual elements, but which must be thought of as a single system. In these fields, cooperative, distributed academic research and development should continue to grow in importance. Slide 35 - Cooperative distributed-type research and development Even while walking their own paths, people from around the world are cooperating, helping to establish the open infrastructure in true keeping with the Internet era; rather than being dogmatic, they are snapping up others' excellent technologies, and proposing their own concepts, ideas, and technologies - this is truly the ideal model of the TRON project. In this sense, it has been very encouraging as a sign of praise for the cooperative distributed research efforts carried out by the TRON project for nearly 20 years. I would now like to renew our commitment to keep from tarnishing the image of this award by establishing the ideal next-generation computing environment. I am confident that the Takeda Award will make a valuable contribution to the new century, by praising and encouraging a commitment to engineering intellect and knowledge. I would like to thank you all for listening to me today, and ask for your continued support. Thank you very much. Question and Answer Period TARUI: Thank you very much, professor Sakamura. That was a very impressive and interesting talk on TRON in general. Now I would like to allow for a few questions. If you have a question, please go ahead. STALLMAN: If all the appliances and all the things in our house have computers in them, does this mean that the police or whoever wishes to snoop on us will be able to check absolutely everything about our activities all the time? Now I have heard that paranoid people often say that they believe someone is trying to implant a computer chip in them. And they of course are imagining this. But I am afraid that we could have the same results if we get these TRON equipped personal appliances and pieces of our house. I won't carry a cellular phone most of the time because they can be tracked. I don't like my whereabouts to be recorded in a database perhaps permanently. What do you have to say to that? SAKAMURA: This question addresses the opinion that, for example, if everything that goes on in your house is captured on a computer, then there is a danger of always being monitored. Or if you have a cell phone, there is a risk that your whereabouts could be tracked at all times. And so, I don't want to carry a cell phone - I believe the speaker in fact probably does not have one - and I must say that technologically, there is a risk of what you say happening. And that is why, as I stated at the end of my talk, we must now put our greatest efforts into building the eTRON security architecture. But security is not just a technology issue. It is also a policy issue. In sum, being able to do anything with technology is probably just like a knife, which can be used for cooking, but which can also be used to commit murder; just because a knife can be used to commit murder doesn't mean that we should all give up using knives. We must always keep this issue in mind. The way it will probably turn out is that we think of architectures that have the strongest security technology possible, while leaving security policy decisions up to the individual, rather than the state. I think we should give people the opportunity to effectively protect the data that they want to protect. If you have a cell phone, the technology exists today to find out where it is. So if that doesn't sit with you, then when you go somewhere that you don't want people to know about you've got to turn off your cell phone. People can remove themselves from the network when they don't need to be on it. I don't think there is any other choice than for the people in the house to decide to disconnect themselves from the outside network. It is our jobs to devise architectures that strengthen security, but it is the right of the resident - or in other words, the user - to use it. In an environment where everything is networked, I think this is a problem that can't be avoided. TARUI: Yes, did that answer your question? SAKAMURA: It probably didn't. (laughs) TARUI: I think it is a matter of selection. Did that satisfy you? How about another question from over there? NISHIMURA: In the morning, the biotechnology person made an interesting discussion about the tense relationship between the public and private sectors, and the mutual - shall we say mutual exchange - the way they stimulate one another. Toward the end of your talk, professor Sakamura, you spoke about cooperative distributed research and development being common to the three fields. It seems that TRON has done a lot of things within a system that is not geared to the market economy, while today, it is being used in the market economy in many ways. I would like you to comment on how you see the relationship developing between the market-economy and non market-economy, "communities," if you will, over the long term. Is it a relationship of cooperation, or one of tension? SAKAMURA: The question is about the difference between an OS geared to the market economy, and one that is not. The aim of the TRON project is non-market economic system development. Today, hundreds of millions of TRON computers are used every year, but I do not see 1 yen out of that. However, companies that use TRON may take money from the end user. What I am saying is, they can do anything they want. You can also use TRON to conduct business. In this sense, TRON is not totally removed from the market economy. If you are living in a capitalist country, you can't tell people to make everything free. Therefore, while it is a fact that I am not making any money off of TRON, there is no need for companies using TRON to follow suit. Done this way, the biggest problem is where the funding for basic project research is going to come from. I think that is where my project actually differs with later ones like Linux and GNU.There is no problem with making it free, but if you make it free in Japan, you won't have much luck getting donations. That's because it's free. This might be a facet of national character, but in countries like America, donations make their way to the Free Software Federation (FSF); a lot of Americans have big hearts, and are always looking for somewhere to send their donations; but in Japan, perhaps in part because of problems with the tax system, if something is free people are apt to say, "well, it's free, who cares?" A lot of big companies don't join the TRON Association, even if they are using it a lot themselves. That's a tough problem, you know? There are a lot of difficulties trying to battle companies that are 100% fighting it out in the market economy. TARUI: I'm sure there are more questions, but I'm afraid we have run short of time, so we will have to end it here. Thank you very much, professor Sakamura. SAKAMURA: Thank you very much. (applause)