From: Michael Froomkin <mfroomki@umiami.ir.miami.edu>
Date: Fri, 18 Aug 95 18:29:00 PDT
To: "Timothy C. May" <tcmay@got.net>
Subject: Re: Certificates/Anonymity/Policy/True Names
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Message-ID: <Pine.3.89.9508182135.A620886391-0100000@umiami.ir.miami.edu>
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Tim May says that having govt == root is a step down the slippery slope.
If we say that others can set themselves up as root too, and that
web-of-trust is not prohibited, but that CAs which take part in the
govt-as-root hierarchy get some advantages (liability caps, primarily),
what are the dangers? 

National ID cards is one possibility (key becomes a functional ID).
Others?

A. Michael Froomkin        | +1 (305) 284-4285; +1 (305) 284-6506 (fax)
Associate Professor of Law | mfroomki@umiami.ir.miami.edu
U. Miami School of Law     | 
P.O. Box 248087            | It's hot here.  And humid.
Coral Gables, FL 33124 USA |
See http://www-swiss.ai.mit.edu/6095/articles/froomkin-metaphor/text.html
and http://www.law.cornell.edu/jol/froomkin.htm