Big Bubba's Wiretapping Directive

[wcs@anchor.ho.att.com]

While I don't share Sandy Sandfort's wild optimism, at least steganography
becomes a bit easier - the default assumption is about encrypted material 
becomes "Oh, it's just encrypted with the Tapper Chip, we can break it later"
rather than "Oh, boy, it's encrypted, we can confiscate his computer!",
and if it gets taken to court, and the wiretap approved by the Rubber Stamp 
Agency and then isn't able to be decrypted, the average person can say
"I don't understand how the Secret Government Wiretapping Chip works, 
so I can't tell you what's wrong here!"

On the more technical side, what precisely does the Mykotoxin chip *do*?
Does it generate random keys for DES/etc., saving a copy for later?
Or does it actually *do* the encryption with some classified algorithm?
If it's the former, the user could presumably replace it with a pin-compatible
non-wiretapping random number generator, unless there's some requirement
that export-approved systems have soldered-in chips, and a foreign-made
version might be compatible with US phones while not being tappable.

On the other hand, if the MicroToker chip actually *does* encryption,
whether secret-key or RSA or other public-key, or some other essential
part of the encryption process, then you *have* to use it to be compatible.
Assuming the US approves it for widespread use in phones, etc.,
it provides an incentive for everybody in the world to use it,
especially if the Feds agree to share keys with their fellow governments
who can wiretap their own citizens, and gives a boost to the 
balance of trade by being one product that you've got to buy from the US.

Some questions that Clinton's Q&A blatantly stepped around are
"When the Two Agencies approve the wiretap, *what* conversations become 
	tappable?  Everything they've recorded?  The last N conversations?
	Future conversations only?"
"Once one government group has YOUR phone wiretap key from the Two Agencies,
	can they pass it around to the IRS, FBI, local cops, and everyone else?
"What if they make a mistake on a tap - do you have to buy a new phone
	now that they've spread YOUR phone wiretap key around?"

We *do* have to try to control the language here - the Clintonistas
are referring to the subjects of a hypothetical wiretap as
	"the drug smugglers"
but we ought to redirect it to
	"YOUR phone's wiretap key"
so people remember we're talking about them and their privacy.
It might also be good for us to give examples like
"The IRS suspects you're cheating on your income tax so they want to 
	wiretap your phone calls to your accountant, so they do XXXXX."
because it feels like something that might happen to THEM.

Sigh.

			Bill Stewart