From: tcmay@netcom.com (Timothy C. May)
Date: Tue, 22 Feb 94 20:17:32 PST
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: Disinformation (or the Truth?) About Clipper
In-Reply-To: <199402222138.NAA14229@mail.netcom.com>
Message-ID: <199402230418.UAA22720@mail.netcom.com>
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My use of the term "disinformation" seems to have taken on a life of
its own as "lying," with several posters saying that the truth is
best, that lying is bad, and that if we have to lie we deserve to have
Clipper and Capstone!

What I urge--and others are free to do as they wish--is to "educate"
people by describing to them the implications as we see them. That is,
we who have thought about Clipper and have seen past government
depredations and abuses, have seen from the beginning how Clipper is
likely to be abused, how the very concept of key escrow is anathema to
basic rights, how Clipper and its Big Brethren (I just coined this)
are likely to be made mandatory, etc. We see truth, not the charade of
"voluntarism" and the "social need" cited by the authorities.

So, is it "truthful" to tell people Clipper is a purely voluntary
standard, which is the official position? Is it "disinformation" to
undermine public support for Clipper by pointing to the very likely
(but unprovable, until it happens) banning of alternatives?

(The difficulty of banning alternatives is another issue, of course.)

I don't advocate ever using out-and-out lies, which is why I said the
following in my post this morning:

> Briefly, "Tell X to Y," where X and Y are the following:
> 
> Tell them X:
> 
> - Clipper is a wiretapping system

Is there any doubt about this? 

> - Clipper has more than one back door

This is more speculative, but fits what folks as eminent as Whit
Diffie have discussed. Backdoors in the escrow system and in the
Skipjack algorithm must be assumed to exist until the algorithm has
been publically discussed, analyzed, tested, etc...and maybe still
even then.

I tell folks the history of other such algorithms, including the
speculations about DES. I point out that Skipjack is completely
secret, and the original key escorw procedure has been changed since
announcement, suggesting a more direct way in was planned from the gitgo.

> - Clipper keys have already been compromised by non-government
> entities

This I will concede is probably not the case. And I suppose I wouldn't
make this claim until more evidence comes out. But as soon as there
are hints that unauthorized wiretaps have occurred, or that foreign
phone calls mean the keys are revealed, etc., this will likely be a
true statement. I suspect it's close to being true.

> - Clipper is for spying on foreign-based corporations

No doubts.

> - Clipper will be used to monitor corporations

No doubts. Foreign subsidiaries mean the NSA can tap, without
warrants. The Criminal Enforcement division of the IRS does not
require warrants, I've been told by a fellow Cypherpunk (but I haven't
confirmed this). 

> - Clipper chip makers (Mykotronx, VLSI Tech, National, etc.) have had
> their security systems breached

Recall the "dumpster diving" episode? And there's some stuff about
National's PCMCIA card product that I'm not free to talk about, but it
indicates further leaks are happening.

> - Clipper is Big Brother

A polemical statement, but not a lie.

So, of 7 statements, 5 truths, 1 marginal truth, and 1 wild
speculation. 

> - journalists (e.g., I informed John Markoff of some of these things,
> which he mostly knew about--he knows more than I do!-- and the
> strategy of disinformation and sabotage....it made it into his Sunday
> article...and I'm talking to two other journalists now)
> 
> (I'm honest with journalists: I tell them upfront that a
> disinformation/sabotage campaign is underway and that they should thus
> take anything I say, or anyone else says, in this light. They're
> usually very bright and see these things anyway, so this clears the
> air. It is not a contradiction to tell them that a
> disinformation/sabotage campaign is underway and then to tell them
> about reports the Clipper chip manufacturers have had security
> compromises. And other such things.)

Disinformation does not necessarily mean outright lying...it often means
putting a twist on things to make a point and to undermine confidence
in the opponent's party line.

Call it counter-propaganda if you wish.

By all means, tell the truth. But be sure to tell what you expect to
be the long-term truth, not just the immediate, official truth.

I tell people the governments of the world are clearly planning for
bans on unapproved, unescrowed encryption. The governments would call
this a lie, saying the Clipper and its Big Brethren are purely
voluntary standards. So who is lying?

--Tim May

-- 
..........................................................................
Timothy C. May         | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,  
tcmay@netcom.com       | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
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"National borders are just speed bumps on the information superhighway."