Re: Netscape gives in to key escrow

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

At 7:26 PM 11/30/95, Ravi Pandya wrote:
>If you're looking for an alternative Web browser for Windows, we just made
>ours available for free at www.netmanage.com. It's fast and reliable, and
>supports HTML 3.0, inline video, software distribution, VRML (NT version),
>Real Audio, TrueSpeech, etc.

This shows the price Netscape could pay for taking a pro-surveillance,
anti-privacy stance.

Various alternatives to Netscape exist (even on the Mac), despite attempts
to make "Netscape-enhanced-encoding" (or whatever it's called) the
standard. I expect alternative browsers will catch up fairly quickly.

(As an aside, and based on my past experiences at Intel during its
rapid-growth phase, it may be tough for Netscape to keep people motivated
and focused on development, what with all the "distractions" of a stock
price of $140 when it was expected to go public at $14. CNBC reported
yesterday that several _secretaries_ at Netscape have cashed in $600K stock
options....I can imagine a lot of folks are eager to leave to enjoy their
new wealth, but will stick around for the future stock options. This
becomes a real drag on productivity, based on my experiences and those of
my friends at various other start up companies.)

I also expect that this pro-surveillance, anti-privacy "stumble" by Jim
Clark will either be quickly "clarified" (but perhaps nothing really
changed), or Netscape will suffer a black eye in public relations, with
many "Cypherpunk"-type people adopting a "Just Say No to Netscape!" stance.

--Tim May

Views here are not the views of my Internet Service Provider or Government.
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Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
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