on 12-14-04 1:27 PM, Bruce Johnson at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > the whole 'Clipper' government-mandated encryption thing blew up in their > faces, and they realized that the genie was well out of the bottle, and that > further suppression was only going to harm the US economy and security.
If nothing else, it's comforting that economics is usually a key factor in deciding these things. I dimly recall that there was a group of companies involved in encryption technology that went to the feds and basically said, "Please don't go through with the Clipper scheme. If you do, our products will be viewed as 'crippled' and no one will want to buy them, particularly when other countries won't be hampered by this." > Now, though, they've pretty well convinced the Public that Only > Terrorists and Drug Dealers use encryption; Well, I remember that there was a bit of a tiff over whether or not the Americans were using intelligence systems for economic advantage. Somehow, I was not surprised to read: > But former CIA director James Woolsey, in an article in March for the Wall > Street Journal, acknowledged that the US did conduct economic espionage > against its European allies, though he did not specify if Echelon was > involved. However, he poured scorn on the Campbell allegations that the US was > using its technological edge to gain unfair advantage in international > business. > > "We have spied on you because you bribe," the ex-CIA boss wrote. > > "(European) products are often more costly, less technically advanced or both, > than (their) American competitors'. As a result (they) bribe a lot." What an amazing justification for doing something illegal. Even the possibility of such activity would seem to make a good case for legitimate businesses to use encryption technology, too. >the relative handful of privacy cranks who do merely stick out as weird and >possibly dangerous. Sad, really. When asked, "Why is privacy so important to you?" a good reply might be: "Why is it so *unimportant* to you?" The old saw that only the Bad Guys want/need privacy just doesn't hold water when examined critically. > I'd be surprised, though, if the NSA had found a way to easily break > PGP; it still requires a simple method of factoring very large numbers. > A LOT of very bright people are working on that one, and while the NSA > hires some of the very brightest, they've not got a lock on them. Let's hope not. At one time, though, the NSA apparently accounted for 50 percent of the world's IC market. Now, of course, they make all their own in-house. With the kind of computing power they have, it must be a heck of a place to play Doom 3. <g> Best, James Fraser -- G-List is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- We have Apple Refurbished Monitors in stock! | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> G-List list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/g-list%40mail.maclaunch.com/> iPod Accessories for Less at 1-800-iPOD.COM Fast Delivery, Low Price, Good Deal www.1800ipod.com
