Re: Netscape gives in to key escrow

[tcmay@got.net (Timothy C. May)]

At 6:44 AM 11/30/95, sameer wrote:
>http://www.cnet.com/Central/News/govt.html
>
>        Bad. Very Bad. And I was almost starting to like Netscape.

Thank you Sameer for pointing this out.

Jim Clark is actively working for the enemies of liberty and freedom.
Consider this quote:

"To secure Net communications, the government will need to have access to
private data exchanges using what is known as a key escrow security system,
said Clark. He added that an invincible security system for the Net is
possible, but such a system won't be built unless the government has a
stake in it. "That's where key escrow comes in," said Clark."

Note that this is beyond the "watered down" forms of "commercial key
escrow" that many advocates of forms of key escrow often like to talk about
(such as the nominally voluntary schemes espoused by TIS). This speech by
Clark is actually closer to the real truth of key escrow that we normally
here from public speakers: the government will need to have access,
therefore the key escrow will be mandatory, not voluntary.

Can Netscape continue to prosper? This latest issue won't kill it,
naturally, but I doubt a $5 billion market capitalization can persist when
a company has no technology that cannot be duplicated or bettered by
others. As an example, I use Netscape to do certain things, Eudora to do
other things, and Newswatcher to do still other things...I will switch to
an improved Web browser _much_ faster than I will switch to a new word
processor. I don't see much "staying power" inherent in Netscape's browser,
so I can't see how the company can maintain a market capitalization greater
than that of General Dynamics, CBS, and Apple.

I wonder what discussions Jim Clark has been having with the Feds?

--Tim May

Views here are not the views of my Internet Service Provider or Government.
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
tcmay@got.net  408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
Corralitos, CA              | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
Higher Power: 2^756839      | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders are just speed bumps on the information superhighway."