Is it the patterns themselves or how, what the patterns represent, are put to use that should be illegal?

I'd always argue the latter; as I can kill someone with a rock, but making rocks illegal seems unreasonable.

contents of his harddrive is "jUsT aN iNtEgEr" and no integers are secret.

Right, but the pattern is secret right? If someone happens to derive it by brute-force then, well, secret's out.