From: m5@vail.tivoli.com (Mike McNally)
Date: Tue, 10 May 94 13:49:57 PDT
To: pcw@access.digex.net (Peter Wayner)
Subject: A CC of my letter to Gelernter@cs.yale.edu
In-Reply-To: <199405101917.AA21325@access1.digex.net>
Message-ID: <9405102049.AA08064@vail.tivoli.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



Peter Wayner writes:
 >         * Imagine that problems arise well after the chip is standardized.
 >         What will millions of Americans do? All of the digital phones,
 >         fax machines and modem cards will need to be replaced.

Not that I don't agree with the basic premise, of course, but there's
a similar risk to *any* consumer electronics implementation of a
cryptosystem.  Of course, in Clipper/Skipjack's case the problem is
magnified by the fact that the stuff is kept secret, but the potential
remains. 

 >         * Software, on the other hand, is very easy to change. In many
 >         cases, the anti-virus programs travel faster than the viruses.

However, a software-based consumer communicator will probably end up
implying at least as much weight in people's pockets, and as much
extra money, as Clipper.

I don't think an economic argument will really fly well, though I'd
love to be shown to be way wrong.  Seems to me that a mass-produced
chip whose production is subsidized by the government would probably
be pretty cheap.

--
| GOOD TIME FOR MOVIE - GOING ||| Mike McNally <m5@tivoli.com>       |
| TAKE TWA TO CAIRO.          ||| Tivoli Systems, Austin, TX:        |
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