From: Rich Graves <llurch@networking.stanford.edu>
Date: Sat, 1 Jun 1996 11:14:43 +0800
To: "Timothy C. May" <tcmay@got.net>
Subject: Re: Optimism re NRC Cryptography Report
In-Reply-To: <add44f8502021004f975@[205.199.118.202]>
Message-ID: <Pine.GUL.3.93.960531155935.11396G-100000@Networking.Stanford.EDU>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


I agree. As a political matter, which is often what really counts, the NRC
report is almost unambiguously positive. It pays at least lip service to
everything that civil libertarians and coders who'd like to be able to
export crypto have been saying for years, thereby legitimizing them. 

The fact that the technical details -- 56-bit encryption, suggestions that
surveilance within the US might be a good idea -- betray the supposed
conclusions of the report is largely irrelevant. The general public/
politicians aren't going to understand the technical details. They're
going to see the headline, "NRC Report Backs Crypto Exports and *Real*
Security."

Work the headline, claim that they agree with you 100% (even though you
know that they don't), and continue to say what you believe. It's called
politics.

-rich