From: jwarren@well.com (Jim Warren)
Date: Mon, 22 Jan 1996 07:33:13 +0800
To: Alex Strasheim <cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: Netscape and NSA
Message-ID: <v02120d0ead2879117875@[206.15.66.121]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


At 11:02 AM 01/19/96, Alex Strasheim wrote:
>...
>
>I'm personally a little frustrated by the timidity of industry's
>response.  I don't understand it.  Netscape's interests are clear, their
>voice is loud, and their resources are vast.  Where's John D. Rockefeller
>when you need him?

Having served on the Board of a half-billion-buck revenue software for half
a decade, I will tell you -- from having once been on "the inside" -- that
there is one and only one focus for almost all publicly-traded corporations
... optimization of profits in the next quarter.

This *often* involves a broad range of cooperation with government agencies
-- especially if/when the corporation is trying to peddle its products to
the guv'ment.  Corp management *know* how helpful -- or foot-dragging
harmful -- bureaucrats can be ... and our current administration has been
*hot* to have crypto suppression and wiretap expansion, big time!

(The [unproven] word I've gotten from inside of Washington legal circles is
that when Clinton hit the White House, the spooks and enforcers were there
with endless horror stories about how the sky will fall and vile terrorists
will bomb every building if they don't have unfettered electronic snooping
freedom.  And Clinton, never having dealt with national security issues
before and having a total non-record re enforcement or int'l affairs, was
totally cowed by the very effective bureau and agency terrorists ... uh,
fear peddlers.

--jim

There is no safety this side of the grave.  Never was; never will be.