Re: Interesting news note.

["Pierre Omidyar" <pierre@eshop.com>]

        Reply to:   RE>>Interesting news note.
Actually, someone asked about Clipper at the CommerceNet launch yesterday. The
question was (paraphrasing):

   "I noticed you've decided to go with RSA for cryptography. How does Clipper
fit into this? [as in, what's your position on Clipper?]"

To which Allan Schiffman, CTO of EIT (the main technical architects of the
CommerceNet system), replied (paraphrasing):

   "Apparently, Clipper is only for voice-encryption, so it has absolutely no
relevance to this system [secure Mosaic]."

This response received a nice smattering of applause from the participants.

Pierre

--------------------------------------
Date: 4/13/94 12:53 PM
To: Pierre Omidyar
From: Timothy C. May
> 
> Dear Colleagues;
> This came off the business wire yesterday. I wonder if they truly understand
> how vulnerable they really are without strong crypto for their transactions?
> 
> -THE INTERNET SHOPPING Network, the nation's first electronic superstore
> -available on the worldwide Internet, was formally announced Tuesday at an
> -event at Techmart in conjunction with the launch of CommerceNet, the
> -first large-scale trial of electronic commerce on the Internet.
> -[Business Wire, 516 words, 450813#]

Except that the full version of this announcement--which has been
posted several places, possibly even here in Cypherpunks--explicitly
mentions the use of RSA via a business relationship with RSA Data
Security Inc.

Though many Cypherpunks have various problems with RSADSI and the RSA
patents, a topic I'll not go into further, it is a hopeful sign for
Internet commerce that a strong crypto system is being built in from
the git go.

Remember, the alternative is Crippler! (Actually, what with the
announcement of Crippler being built in to some television-top
boxes--cf. the Harry Hawk posts--I would guess these Internet Commerce
folks will soon be "visited" by Crippler advocates and "suitably
incentivized" to replace RSA with EES technology.)


--Tim May

-- 
..........................................................................
Timothy C. May         | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,  
tcmay@netcom.com       | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
408-688-5409           | knowledge, reputations, information markets, 
W.A.S.T.E.: Aptos, CA  | black markets, collapse of governments.
Higher Power: 2^859433 | Public Key: PGP and MailSafe available.
"National borders are just speed bumps on the information superhighway."

------------------ RFC822 Header Follows ------------------