From: Michael Wilson <0005514706@mcimail.com>
To: Cypherpunks <cypherpunks@toad.com>
Message Hash: 54d3a7199df7d9e8e546a7d7a464f3f4a55fb90b2dfad3855a0370c6444e64d9
Message ID: <21940626043912/0005514706NA5EM@mcimail.com>
Reply To: N/A
UTC Datetime: 1994-06-26 04:41:13 UTC
Raw Date: Sat, 25 Jun 94 21:41:13 PDT
From: Michael Wilson <0005514706@mcimail.com>
Date: Sat, 25 Jun 94 21:41:13 PDT
To: Cypherpunks <cypherpunks@toad.com>
Subject: One man's view on Clipper...
Message-ID: <21940626043912/0005514706NA5EM@mcimail.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain
Cypherpunks... just thought I would contribute my two cents on the recent
developments, by showing you a response I wrote to a friend on the issue
recently. I've been building anti-Clipper sentiment in some 'old school'
businessmen friends of mine, since my belief is in free markets and money
trails...
===
>Many thanks for the messages -- Clipper is still bothering a bunch of
>people including me, and I hope the cyberworld will do something organized
>about it. If I were more competant in computers than I am I would be
>willing to lead the charge.
The politics of Clipper are insidious. If it actually gets passed off as the
standard, it will show up in pretty much any standard product that will hook
into the grid. Most people, since there is already encryption built into the
products they use, won't advocate the use of anything else, and more
importantly, won't PAY for anything additional. I can tell you from experience,
people won't buy security products, there is no security market; security is
something that people expect to get built in to a system. The only reason that
there is any market to speak of at all is a symptom of just how bad the current
security situation is--essentially, most systems, including critical ones, are
wide open, and you can certainly say that secure communications make up less
than 1% of the total amount of traffic on the grid.
So what happens when Clipper gets in? People once again abdicate responsibility
for handling their own security and secure communications. Why pay more (money,
time, effort) when it is already taken care of? The market for competing
products dries up; interest dies. If there is no money, how can you expect to
pursue a product or create a market? There is no perceived need to address.
And so Big Brother wins; they once again become the only experts in the field,
since they are the only ones with the money to continue playing the game.
Direct outlawing of the technology would only make martyrs of the people trying
to present it. Instead, the government is striking in a much more intelligent
and, from my viewpoint, dangerous strategy. Their [govt] encryption scheme is
good enough... Yes, there are holes, but only to 'hackers'... People who want
to have secrets must have something to hide... Only criminals will need to
protect themselves, and have additional security and cryptography.... The folks
at NSA have struck a blow from a very advanced PsyOps perspective, rather than a
cryptographic one. They destroy the marketplace, and also attack any popular
support that could be put to good use by the opposition [cypherpunks]. Does
this outlaw other cryptographic methods? Not at all; there is the fiction of
choice still available (the old game of "let them hold free elections as long as
we get to choose the candidates"). Cypherpunks and others who are concerned
will be the 'lunatic fringe.' And their more secure traffic will stand out like
a sore thumb; somebody somewhere will be making lists.
So at this stage, I am increasingly convinced that the solution, actually the
groundrules of the game, are not technical at all, but belong solidly in the
realm of political warfare. It just so happens that I know more than a little
about that game.
===
The rest of the communication is confidential, but I thought you folks would
appreciate some additional thoughts.
Michael Wilson
Managing Director, The Nemesis Group
An old hand at political warfare...
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1994-06-26 (Sat, 25 Jun 94 21:41:13 PDT) - One man’s view on Clipper… - Michael Wilson <0005514706@mcimail.com>