The Illogic of Clipper

[hughes@ah.com (Eric Hughes)]

   No criminal is going to use a system that would allow the feds to 
   eavesdrop - that's worse than sending messages "en clair".  

Who is the opponent?  For a criminal enterprise, I see two: law
enforcement and the other competing criminal enterpriss.  Clipper
protects against the competition, but not against law enforcement.
Therefore use of Clipper as such is not irrational.

On the other hand, if a secure phone at the same cost is available
which doesn't use Clipper, it is not rational to use that instead of
Clipper.

What you are seeing is the overweening arrogance of the spies that the
only individuals who can make secure phones will be in league with the
government.  The product announcements are not out yet, however.

Eric