From: Lucky Green <shamrock@netcom.com>
Date: Sun, 25 May 1997 04:26:54 +0800
To: Tim May <cypherpunks@cyberpass.net
Subject: Re: V-Chips for the Internet
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970524125311.006ff714@netcom13.netcom.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


At 02:16 PM 5/23/97 -0700, Tim May wrote:
>There are three main dimensions to this "V-chip for the Internet," just as
>there are for the original V-chip for televisions:
[...]
>3. Economics. How long will it take before even 5% of the nation's
>computers have this V-chip installed? How much will it cost? Who will
>bother with it?

You may recall that the US mandated the use of V-chips in future
televisions. By the same token, the US could mandate the use of I-chips in
future modems.

[...]
>Could hardware-based chips be coming? At a recent meeting, John Markoff
>asked me if I'd heard anything about Intel's rumored contract to buy 20
>million (yes, 20 _million_) keyboards with crypto features built in. I had
>not heard this rumor.
>
>(Since then, though, there have been rumblings that Intel is preparing to
>offer such keyboards, possibly with "user authentication" features (don't
>know what kind). 

Actually, it is 10 million keyboards with smartcard readers. Unless Intel
increased the lot size. I talked with a person at Intel attempting to
purchase the devices back in October, 1996. He expressed the difficulties
they were having finding a keyboard vendor who understood that the CPU
should not be directly involved in the smartcard operation. From this
discussion, I assumed the purpose of the devices is authentication.

The keyboards might be for an ecommerce solution or they might be used in
conjunction with Intel's P7, which will support encrypted instruction sets.


--Lucky Green <shamrock@netcom.com> PGP encrypted mail preferred.

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