From: Anonymous <anon@anon.efga.org>
Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 15:19:57 +0800
To: cypherpunks@cyberpass.net
Subject: Re: Unicorn an NSA agent?  WAS: New PGP "Everything the FBI ever dre
Message-ID: <c94615d8fb532f9dfbe22be6c53a5139@anon.efga.org>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



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Lucky Green wrote:
>Meanwhile, I can understand the desire of a company to be able to
>read old outgoing email even after the employee quit or forgot their
>passphrase.  After all, it might contain valuable information about
>details surrounding past negotiations with clients. Information that
>I would not want to be without.

I have never seen or even heard of an instance where it was necessary
to go through an employee's electronic mail.  Has anybody else ever
witnessed such a situation?  While we can construct hypothetical
circumstances, in practice the need for this feature is rare.

What, then, are some sources of the (alleged) demand?

1. PGP is preparing to compromise with The Great Satan, and to have a
viable company after The Fall.

2. Secure software is becoming perceived as naughty.  Given the
insecure legal and regulatory environment in which companies operate,
a perception as a naughty company can be expensive.

2.1 Drug testing is an example of similar behavior.  In practice, few
companies implement an effective drug testing program.  External
image, then, is the likely motivation.

3. Many companies have a corporate culture of dominance over their
employees.  This is yet another way of expressing their perceived
position.  (Perceived, that is, by the employees and the employers,
but not perhaps by outsiders.)

3.1 Common drug testing techniques have sado-sexual overtones.

4. Companies may not wish to have their right to read employee mail
challenged.  (Were employees to commonly protect their mail from
employers, the common practice could, in time, be transformed into a
right, regardless of contractual agreements.)

Monty Cantsin
Editor in Chief
Smile Magazine
http://www.neoism.org/squares/smile_index.html
http://www.neoism.org/squares/cantsin_10.html


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