Re: "Key Escrow" --- the very idea

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

Mike_Spreitzer writes:

> (1) I'm not an anarchist.  Does that make me out of place here?  I'm willing to

Yes, you are out of place. We took a vote a while back and the
anarchists won by 173 votes. The detailed rules of discourse we
adopted can be found at the csua.berkeley.edu site.

> (2) I think crimes can be committed in cyberspace.  Substantially, if not
> entirely, in cyberspace.  Maybe not so many now.  But I think it's

I know of no one who disagrees. Of course crimes can be committed in
cyberspace, whatever one's definition may be of crime. From forwarding
copyrighted material to posting GIFs of children being raped to
contracting for hits on one's enemies.  (Personally, I treat very few
things as being criminal, and thus see few things in cyberspace that
could possibly be criminal.)

> intellectually dishonest of us who understand the growing importance of
> cyberspace to claim there won't be any social contracts there that could be
> violated.  I accept the terms of the 4th ammendment: search and siezure allowed
> when due process followed.  "Key escrow" is an attempt to implement the
> cyberspatial analog of search.

Nope. "Key escrow" is far broader. It is telling people they must
"escrow" their house keys with the cops, just in case the cops have a
need to enter.

It is the requirement that all photographs be "escrowed" with the
cops, just in case some dirty pictures need to be looked at. It is the
requirement that diaries and journals be written in "approved
languages," in case authorities need or want to read them.

(By the way, your tacit assumption, that key escrow will become
mandatory, is probably accurate, but is in fact not the Administration's
proposal. They claim it will forever remain voluntary, though they are
then silent on just how this will help with the criminals they seek to
catch this way.)

The remaining points I'll leave for others to critique.

Mandatory key escrow is like telling people they have to use special
curtains that can be made transparent if the cops think they need to
aim their cameras in our houses.

Not exactly what I have in mind for my future.

--Tim May


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