From: Dale Thorn <dthorn@gte.net>
Date: Sat, 5 Oct 1996 15:04:20 +0800
To: "Vladimir Z. Nuri" <vznuri@netcom.com>
Subject: Re: gack vs. key escrow vs. key recovery
In-Reply-To: <199610040033.RAA18660@netcom19.netcom.com>
Message-ID: <3255CC23.2029@gte.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


Vladimir Z. Nuri wrote:
> cpunks, a note about recent developments in "key recovery" initiative.
> I think cpunks as a group should reconsider very seriously their
> own positions on cryptography and come up with something more
> sophisticated than "any government bill or plan associated with
> crypto is evil" which is the functional equivalent of the ideology
> behind many recent posts.

[some text deleted]

> personally I am leaning toward (2), because I feel that we already
> live in such a society, and that it is not orwellian. companies are
> going to lean toward (2). I do agree

[more text deleted; (2) is a reference to a legal warrant or subpoena 
for "information"]

I think you will find ultimately that personal communication is just 
that, i.e., personal.  OTOH, the means by which that communication are 
effected (phones, computers, with or without encryption) are the things 
that the government wants to control, presumably to get at information 
that you and I couldn't conveniently communicate in person, in private.

The very idea that people don't have the right to hide their private 
conversations from *anyone*, including police, is ludicrous, and can't 
possibly be enforced, but the devices (if any) that are used, that's 
another matter.

I hope someone understands what I'm getting at, and can add to this.