From: Lyle Seaman <lws+@transarc.com>
Date: Tue, 22 Aug 95 08:19:01 PDT
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: Partial Key Escrow
In-Reply-To: <Pine.PMDF.3.91.950821214634.620943633A-100000@umiami.ir.miami.edu>
Message-ID: <kkCSvLKSMUw8M93fZt@transarc.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


Michael Froomkin <mfroomki@umiami.ir.miami.edu> writes:
> A disadvantage of this ingenious proposal is that it makes it
> even more difficult to spot rogue key-cracking efforts.  If you are an
> honest government employee and you come across a key cracking program
> today, and you work for a domestic TLA you know something funny is going
> on.  "Just routine" will be line henceforth...

Yeah, but that _doesn't matter_.
The domestic TLA can't afford to embark on massive, wholesale fixing
expeditions this way, even _with_ the escrowed part.  The point is to
fix the unescrowed part at such a size that they can afford to crack a
limited number of keys in a reasonable interval.  Say, at a cost of
about $10000 / key.  That's peanuts for an OKBomb or WTC bomb case,
but it gets to be expensive (hard to hide the expense) if you're
fishing for dirt on members of the opposition party, or investigating
14 year-old Black Panthers.

It also suggests some interesting (and admittedly, abusable) TV shows.
"type this number into your ``America's Most Wanted'' official Screen
Saver key finder..."