1996-02-21 - Re: Internet Privacy Guaranteed ad (POTP Jr.)

Header Data

From: “Perry E. Metzger” <perry@piermont.com>
To: IPG Sales <ipgsales@cyberstation.net>
Message Hash: f0c4ff3b111bbfd4d3e39a76ba54c88c9337e6d0a0ce12ab10a5a63062c87e7c
Message ID: <199602211553.KAA09492@jekyll.piermont.com>
Reply To: <Pine.BSD/.3.91.960220205816.21251A-100000@citrine.cyberstation.net>
UTC Datetime: 1996-02-21 17:34:59 UTC
Raw Date: Thu, 22 Feb 1996 01:34:59 +0800

Raw message

From: "Perry E. Metzger" <perry@piermont.com>
Date: Thu, 22 Feb 1996 01:34:59 +0800
To: IPG Sales <ipgsales@cyberstation.net>
Subject: Re: Internet Privacy Guaranteed ad (POTP Jr.)
In-Reply-To: <Pine.BSD/.3.91.960220205816.21251A-100000@citrine.cyberstation.net>
Message-ID: <199602211553.KAA09492@jekyll.piermont.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



IPG Sales writes:
[garbage about what a one time pad is]

Er, you guys redefine the word "Oxygen" to mean "A brown liquid
produced by fermenting barley and hops", too?

A one time pad crypto system requires that the length of the
completely random key (not "practically random", not "nearly random")
is equal to the length of the plaintext, and that which said key is
used once and *only once*. Using a key to produce a pseudo-random
sequence which is used to encrypt is *NOT* a one-time pad, and any
claim that it is constitutes fraud, pure and simple, just like a claim
that sugar water pills are antibiotics or that drops of red dye in a
mixture of grain alchohol and water are French red wine.

> this is also my answer to Mr. Metzger - do as you like, I have
> absolutely no ability to force you to do anything,

Of course not. However, I'll point out that you've annoyed me by
peddling merchandise that can potentially harm your clients and bring
a bad name to the field of cryptography.  People do have the ability
to go to your state's Attorney General, you know. Keep marketing this
crap and believe me, someone will -- very possibly even me. I am
almost sure that defrauding customers continues to be against the law
everywhere in the United States.

Perry





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