Re: Card Playing Protocol?

[tcmay@netcom.com (Timothy C. May)]

Kent Borg writes:

> It would be really nice if people had practical experiance *using*
> cryptography in a friendly, innocent, and non-threatening way.
>  
> Familiarity breeds comfort.
>  
> How to do this?  What about a multi-player game which requires
> cryptography to implement the play?  One possiblity would be a
> cryptographic implementation of playing cards.

By the way, someone was proposing a crypto game some months back. I
don't recall who it was (speak up!), but the notion was floated.

An obvious problem with crypto card games is this: what does it
provide that is worth the extra effort of doing encryption?

This simple question of benefits vs. costs is often the showstopper in
deployment of crypto. The nonuse of Magic Money/Tacky Tokens lies, I
think, in the hassles of using it not providing tangible benefits over
ordinary cash.

When I play cards--which I admit has not been for many years--I play
to play, not to do crypto. I suspect most ardent card-players would be
even more adamant about this.

Find a _reason_ to use crypto in games, and you may have something.
(What might this be? Illegal gambling is an obvious possibility that
could "incentivize" folks. A lot of infrastructure would be
needed...digital money, much better remailer security than anything we
now have, etc.)

Until a reason exists, few people will jump through hoops imposed by
someone else. Give them a reason to use crypto, not just an excuse.

--Tim May


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