GregAnderson wrote:I can see how easily some people could convince themselves that sharing it would be harmless (especially if they had a dear friend who was struggling with the nitty-gritty details of some church policy topic that affected them directly... like divorce).
I'll be honest, I don't know the reasons the Brethren have for keeping such close tabs on the CHI and I'm not questioning the policy to not reproduce or redistribute the CHI (except as directed in the CHI). However, I am not aware of a policy prohibiting the general membership from accessing/reading the CHI; one authorized to have the CHI simply should not redistribute it by loaning it to another.
I do not believe that it is possible to circumvent a screen reader; but a screen reader is only an electronic version of a copy machine. Someone that has access to the CHI now could break the binding and feed it through a sheet feed enabled scanner. It would only take a few minutes to create an unprotected copy.
The Adobe PDF format is an example of a technology that can do a lot to secure any document. Printing, saving, editing, and other functions can all be safe guarded against. The college I am attending distributes many text books in PDF format. When we open the PDF we must supply our college account credentials before any of the content is viewable.
Due diligence is necessary, but in the end the only way to absolutely ensure that no one misuses the CHI would be to not distribute it; which is of course contrary to the purpose of publishing it.
My point is that the technology exists to secure any electronic document as much as any paper document. In my opinion, having the CHI accessible via the CDOL or other Church controlled system requiring LDS Account access would not only make it more available to the proper leaders but would increase the security of the CHI. Bishoprics wouldn't leave the CHI laying on the table at home; instead it would probably be locked in the Clerks/Bishop's Office. Only those with leadership positions would be given access to the online version.