From: pgut001@cs.auckland.ac.nz (Peter Gutmann)
Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 02:45:42 +0800
To: aba@dcs.ex.ac.uk
Subject: Re:  GAK "service" charges (Re: EC refutes GAK)
Message-ID: <87745892226677@cs26.cs.auckland.ac.nz>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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Adam Back <aba@dcs.ex.ac.uk> writes:
>Peter Gutmann <pgut001@cs.auckland.ac.nz> writes:
>>[multiple terabyte CDrom based keying material]
>Reckon they'll twig, and charge you per megabyte to offer you the "service" 
>of allowing them to "recover" your communications in real time.
 
Yes, but how will they phrase the requirements?  A CD is a single key (in fact 
1,000 CD's are all part of a single key)... this leads to the same problem I 
heard of here a few years ago w.r.t. outlawing gangs: "It would be impossible 
to word any comprehensive anti-gang legislation in a manner which didn't also 
outlaw the police".  The same goes for certain aspects of escrowing, any 
escrow rules which are in any way practical and useable will also be open to 
all sorts of creative interpretation ("You must deposit a copy of your 
encryption key with the government" -> "Here's the key.  Where can I park the 
forklift that moves the container of CD's?").
 
Peter.