From: paul@fatmans.demon.co.uk
Date: Fri, 6 Dec 1996 07:56:18 -0800 (PST)
To: "Dr.Dimitri Vulis KOTM" <dlv@bwalk.dm.com>
Subject: Re: Intellectual dishonesty
Message-ID: <849884540.522598.0@fatmans.demon.co.uk>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



> Paul tries to suppress the discussion of crypto on this list. Before I gave up
> on this list completely, I used to think that it's a veru evil thing to do.

I very much doubt you have anyone whatsoever to agree with you on 
this. I very rarely post anything that is not crypto-relevant to this 
list, apart from my occasional indulgance in flaming people.

> Even if there are problems with Don Wood's IPG cryptoscheme (something I don't
> know to be true until I find the time to look at it myself), it's outright
> evil to harrass Don the way Paul did. It's clear that Don knows more about the
> field of cryptography than most people remaining on this mailing list. 

Don has a record of creating noise and flames on this list because he 
incites them, when someone refuses for example, to admit that a 
software generated random number stream is not a one time pad there 
is very little one can do to maintain a sensible discussion on the 
matter. Once Don conceded his system was not a one time pad I stopped 
protesting. As for Dons knowledge about cryptography I seem to 
remember him once promising to sell his company for $1 if his 
previous cryptosystem was broken which it summarily was. True, my 
flames of Don have maybe been a little more vitriolic than strictly 
necessary but he did ask for it..

> to on this list. Would you submit the authors of the knapsack scheme to the
> same kind of abuse because it was broken? In fact, how many people are there
> still on this list who know what the knapsack scheme is?

No, because they would not for example initially claim the scheme 
was a one time pad then rant endlessly about QED and proofs of 
security based on statistical analysis of output data.
And as to your last question I for one do know what the knapsack 
scheme is, its a pity there were weaknesses as it was an elegant 
cryptosystem.

> The work of this list appears to be character assassination. If people like
> Paul Bradley and Tim May insist on slandering people and trying to harm their
> professional reputations (see the thread on "don't hire" lists), I will do my
> best to defend them and their freedom of speech, and to expose the likes of
> Paul Bradley - an ignorant buffoon out to silence anyone who knows more about
> the field than he does.

I am neither ignorant nor out to silence people. My knowledge of 
cryptography as compared to yours is not the issue, I post 
information and answers to questions that are of worth to the other 
members of the list, your knowledge of cryptography may be better or 
worse than my own, however, you have posted nothing crypto-relevant 
so we must assume you know very little.


  Datacomms Technologies web authoring and data security
       Paul Bradley, Paul@fatmans.demon.co.uk
  Paul@crypto.uk.eu.org, Paul@cryptography.uk.eu.org    
       Http://www.cryptography.home.ml.org/
      Email for PGP public key, ID: 5BBFAEB1
     "Don`t forget to mount a scratch monkey"