From: Tim May <tcmay@got.net>
Date: Fri, 16 Jan 1998 04:15:36 +0800
To: "James A. Donald" <steve@tightrope.demon.co.uk>
Subject: Re: Crypto Kong penetration.
In-Reply-To: <199801151836.KAA13648@proxy3.ba.best.com>
Message-ID: <v03102802b0e41b78fa92@[207.167.93.63]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



At 10:36 AM -0800 1/15/98, James A. Donald wrote:

>Secondly, PGP simply is not being adopted by the masses.  Of
>course right now, two weeks after release, Crypto Kong is not
>being adopted by the masses either, but with very little
>identity management, it is far easier for the masses to use.
>
>If you try and shove that identity stuff onto people they
>will not do it.  Too much like hard work.  They will happily
>let the government licensed authorities do it for them.  The
>PGP model clearly has not flown yet, and it is not going to
>fly.

James Donald needs to be arrested.

Or at least be threatened with prosecution.

I am persuaded that a big, big reason for PGP's success was the threatened,
looming prosecution of Phil Zimmemann by forces of the Evil Empire. The
many news stories, favorable magazine profiles, and general publicity all
caused PGP to be adopted as a kind of "Blue Ribbon Campaign" (a la the CDA).

The fact is that most people don't see the need to either secure their
messages against eavesdroppers or to sign their messages. But PGP was
"cool" and rode the same wave that "Wired" rode.

The recent corporatization of PGP, with the mandatory voluntary inclusion
of key recovery features in 5.5, and the purchase of PGP, Inc. by Network
Associates all signal big changes in this "little guy" image.

How successful PGP will be in the future depends on a bunch of factors, but
the "coolness" factor has certainly disappeared almost completely.

If James Donald wants some similar publicity for Donkey Kong, er, Crypto
Kong, then he'll have to arrange some similar publicity stunts. Otherwise
it will languish in obscurity.

--Tim May

The Feds have shown their hand: they want a ban on domestic cryptography
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
ComSec 3DES:   408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA  | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
Higher Power: 2^2,976,221   | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."