From: droelke@rdxsunhost.aud.alcatel.com (Daniel R. Oelke)
Date: Tue, 23 Jan 1996 23:00:30 +0800
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: Crippled Notes export encryption
Message-ID: <9601231439.AA19088@spirit.aud.alcatel.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


Herb Sutter wrote:
> At 20:32 01.17.1996 -0500, Perry E. Metzger wrote:
> >
> >Alan Pugh writes:
> >> infoMCI (sm)
> >> Lotus-Security - Lotus Announces Compromise for Export of Strong
> >> Encryption
> >
> >So, Lotus thinks they can fool people by back-dooring in key escrow, eh?
> >
> >Time to break out the artillery.
> >
> >Perry
> 
> Careful... what would YOU have done, with your customers demanding stronger
> crypto today and you unable to legally give it to them?
> 
> Again, folks, try to remember that this is NOT key escrow... international
> Notes customers are no worse off than before, and a darn sight better off
> against everyone besides Uncle Sam.
> 
> Herb

Not key escrow - WHAT?!?!?  Then, what do you call giving government 
access to 24 out of 64 bits of the key.  This reduces the keyspace
to a measly 40 bits.  As we have seen - 40 bits is trivial to crack 
without a multi-billion dollar budget.  

I think that Lotus did what all corporations do - it thought 
was best for it's bottom line, and so chose the limited keyspace 
with key-escrow approach.  It is our job (as cypherpunks and US citizens)
to show Lotus and the world that this is NOT a good approach.

Dan
------------------------------------------------------------------
Dan Oelke                                  Alcatel Network Systems
droelke@aud.alcatel.com                             Richardson, TX