From: "Vladimir Z. Nuri" <vznuri@netcom.com>
Date: Mon, 27 May 1996 06:40:46 +0800
To: tcmay@got.net (Timothy C. May)
Subject: Re: [SCARE]: "If you only knew what we know..."
In-Reply-To: <adca03eb020210043329@[205.199.118.202]>
Message-ID: <199605252014.NAA25450@netcom7.netcom.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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>Paraphrasing the "Wired" item, "No person who has ever received "The
>Briefing" has ever again argued forcefully for the rights of citizens to
>use strong cryptography."
>
>I surmise that either Sen. Burns has not yet been given The Briefing, or he
>is for some reason more resistant than most other burrowcrats to the scare
>tactics used in The Briefing.
>
>I sure would like to know what's in this briefing.

perhaps the "four horsemen of the infocalypse" (terrorists, child
pornographers, drug dealers, money launderers) only scratches the
surface.

seriously though, it's possible to imagine some things.

1. there could be some info on how the NSA foiled various horrible
james-bond like plots for governments to destroy the world

2. information on terrorists using cryptography, to create a kind
of link in the mind of the feebleminded

3. nuclear secrets. defense secrets. information on state-of-the-art
weapons systems that are subject to spying and espionage. creating
the impression that any private crypto would tend to totally destabilize
the "stability" of the world, upheld by the NSA of course

4. another classic NSA/secret society trick is 
to say, "you are a special person. we can't
tell everyone what we are going to tell you now, but you have reached
a position wherein you have earned this privilege. you are going to
become a warrior in the fight against world tyranny. few know about 
us. we are the few, the proud."


in short, I think the Briefing probably has a lot of psychological
theater going on to create an aura of reverence even if the info
is not all that substantial. things like talking about who else
knows the info, how private it is, what the huge stakes involved
are of defying the plan, etc.