Re: Netscape gives in to key escrow

[liberty@gate.net (Jim Ray)]

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[Warning: More linguistic than crypto relevance follows.]

Tim wrote:

<snips>

>At 10:45 AM 12/1/95, JR@ns.cnb.uam.es wrote:
>>With regard to all this waving about Netscape giving in to key scrow...
>
>Key _escrow_, though "scrow" is perhaps just as accurate as the
>improperly-named "key escrow"

Indeed. One of the main libertarian objections to the term "key escrow"
is the "it's Newspeak" objection. "Escrow" [from the Hypertext Webster 
Interface at http://c.gp.cs.cmu.edu:5103/prog/webster?escrow ] means:
__________
1. es.crow \'es-.kro-, es-'\ n [MF escroue scroll] 1: a deed, a bond,
money, or a piece of property delivered to a third person to be delivered
                                             ^^^^^^^^^^^^
by him to the grantee only upon the fulfillment of a condition 2: a fund
or deposit designed to serve as an escrow 
2. es.crow \es-'kro-, 'es-.\ vt : to place in escrow 
__________ [emphasis added.]

The number of cases that begin: "US v. ___," or that end: "___ v. US,"
puts the lie to the idea that the government could somehow be *any
sort* of a "third person" in many of the cases that come before the
(government employees, albeit with some autonomy, known as) judges.
Mine is, of course, the libertarian view of "the government as one
giant blob," as opposed to various contrary views of "the government
as many wonderful-but-separate agencies who are all just trying to
do their best." My view, while certainly not the majority view, is
pervasive enough that [IMO] the current government terminology of
"key escrow" *should* change to a less Orwellian term.

> (hint: escrow is something done voluntarily, not the situation here
> with GAK).

I liked the term "FUCKED" better, but I guess I can settle for "GAK."
JMR

Regards, Jim Ray --  http://www.shopmiami.com/prs/jimray

Al Gore's mission is to reinvent government. He seems to have started
with the office of the vice president. His staff is 48 percent larger
than Dan Quayle's was. -- Reason "Brickbats" October, 1995 issue.

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