Re: AW: tlug: Japanese filenames (was: EUC & SJIS)

["Stephen J. Turnbull" <turnbull@example.com>]

Sorry about the erroneously sent mail.

>>>>> "jb" == Jonathan Byrne <- 3Web <jq@example.com>> writes:

    jb> On Fri, 11 Sep 1998, Scott Stone wrote:

    >> 2.  You're SURE that nobody with a computer that's not set up
    >> to decode the language in question will ever need/want the
    >> files.

    jb> Anybody who covers number 1 is pretty likely to be using
    jb> either a Japanese-capable or Japanese-localized operating
    jb> system.

Kobe earthquake, January 1995.  NHK refused to provide or permit
translation to romaji of the lists of casualties which were uploaded
to the NTT server.  I know for a fact that in at least one company
shutchosho in Seattle, the files were downloaded by FTP to a vanilla
US PC (an American employee's home computer), then sneakernetted to a
wapuro.  So without romaji file names, even the native Japanese
couldn't have found them.

Until Jeff Friedl and Seiichiro Araki and others decided that this was
BS, and (eventually) NHK's lawyers realized they were completely in
the wrong (they were withholding "life and death" information).

Scott's right.  Don't make any bets; make SURE.

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