Eugene wrote:
> Should strong crypto be outlawed, my mail traffic will consist mostly
> of Pretty Goofy Pictures, and snowy video feed from the webcam. Most
> of them will be really just pretty goofy pictures, with a wee bit of
> nondeterministic noise added.
Such means of stego communication are not open to industry or the masses.
More importantly, stego is unsuitable for communications outside an existing
circle of conspirators.
Governments don't care so much about the fringe using strong crypto.
Government however greatly care about the average industrial espionage
target not using crypto. They couldn't care less what, Eugene Leitl, as an
individual or member of a small group uses. Which is not to say that
governments won't outlaw your use of crypto. But controlling the fringe is
just gravy compared to the billions in revenue and positions of power such
as Chancellor, Minister, Governor, President, Duce, Senator, and
Representative, all of which can be achieved exclusively by controlling the
mainstream.
> Besides, you can control buddy-to-buddy software distribution exactly
> as well as prevent people from swapping mp3 warez among friends. What
> next, outlaw compilers? Outlaw hardware? Outlaw people? Don't think so.
Can one prevent the use of strong crypto completely? Of course not. Which,
not coincidentally, was not my claim. Can one prevent the near universal use
of strong end-to-end encryption? Of course one can. It has been successfully
prevented for many years now. It will continue to be prevented.
I see you are emailing from Germany. Do you have a Handy? Do you know just
how bad the voice privacy features of your Handy really are? If so, do you
believe the next generation Handys will offer significantly better voice
privacy features? If you do not believe that the next generation will be
much better (you would be correct), ask yourself why you do not believe
this. And then ask yourself that given the reasons why you do not believe
that the next generation of Handys will be better, if you truly believe that
strong crypto will become ubiquitous in even the medium term future.
To just briefly address outlawing hardware, that's already here. Has been
for years. "Unauthorized Access Devices", DVD controllers that output the
raw data stream, AMPS kits, a complete list would require pages. As for
outlawing people, examples are legion throughout human history up to the
present day.
--Lucky
