From: dlv@bwalk.dm.com (Dr.Dimitri Vulis KOTM)
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 1997 07:40:40 -0800 (PST)
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: Clipper Chip Banking
In-Reply-To: <3316B0E6.3AE9@sk.sympatico.ca>
Message-ID: <Lm7T3D94w165w@bwalk.dm.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


Toto <toto@sk.sympatico.ca> writes:

> KALLISTE@delphi.com wrote:
>
> >       Just  as  the "Clipper"  proposal
> > (the Escrowed Encryption Standard) is a
> > system of encrypted communication  with
> > a Big Brother peephole, so is Sandia e-
> > cash  a  system of digital cash with  a
> > Big  Brother peephole.  It was designed
> > that way.
> >        Why  is  Sandia  interested   in
> > digital cash systems?  Well, Sandia  is
> > responsible    for   all    non-nuclear
> > components  of  nuclear  weapons.   The
> > security  of  nuclear  weapons  depends
> > partly   on   cryptology.   The   code-
> > breaking   National   Security   Agency
> > (NSA), for example, is responsible  for
> > the   communication  security  of   the
> > Minuteman missile, as well as the codes
> > by  which  the President must  identify
> > himself to authorize a nuclear strike.
>
>   The main benefit of the proposed Sadia system is that it will
> allow the President to do his banking while nuking the commies.
>   Sound reasonable to me.

They do a lot of crypto at Sandia, and digital cash is an important
application of crypto.

This reminds me how about 10 years ago I and one guy from Sandia labs
wrote a very nice app for converting HP soft fonts into TeX fonts.
We posted it all over the Internet with source code (the only way I
distribute my apps).  Well, a few months later I discovered that
some dandruff-covered sovok has been uploaing our app with our source
code, our comments, and the only change he made was to replace our
names by his filthy sovok name. (No, it wasn't Sameer Parekh -
Sameer is just as unethical, but he's an "Arab terrorist from
connecticut", not a sovok.)

---

Dr.Dimitri Vulis KOTM
Brighton Beach Boardwalk BBS, Forest Hills, N.Y.: +1-718-261-2013, 14.4Kbps