Re: Info on Netscape's key escrow position

[blancw@accessone.com]

From: "James M. Cobb"  
 
Blanc, 
  
On 12 02 95 you pointed to: 
 
   ...an underlying problem, which is of not having a sense 
   of freedom to stand up to the Dark Side. 
 
 You have put your finger on perhaps THE problem: Why did 
we cast aside our sense of freedom?  How may we re-ignite 
the spirit of freedom? 
.........................................................

Yes, I think it's a pretty important element to ponder, this lack of the sense 
of freedom.  I don't think that "we" all (especially on this list!) have cast 
it aside.  

I do notice that it seems to dissipitate the closer that one gets to govmt 
agencies (or vice versa).  I have often heard people say "well, if it becomes a 
law, we'll have to uphold it".  That seems to be the end of all effort towards 
reality, as though no further advancements toward truth were possible.  It's a 
continual problem, fostered from being in the lower rungs of the pecking order 
of "authority" and then beginning to think that one rightly belongs there.

Yet how often, especially lately, does technological progress make obsolete 
what yesterday was an "important" social/political issue requiring "offical 
intervention" from higher authorities to impose the lowest standards of 
functioning so that everyone could "get along".

Sometimes the issue just goes away from atrophy or obsolescence, once certain 
talented individuals discover new, improved ways of getting things done.  Of 
course, there's still always another social fear to overcome, and the more that 
inventors & scientists & techonologists push back the envelope of what is 
possible (especially in the field of electronics & communication), the closer 
they get to the gist of the problem with people's attitudes & behavior toward 
each other, and the closer also to the governing agencies which were created to 
deal with these concerns.
 
Some things I know which inspire the sense of freedom to stand up to the Dark 
Side is to have definite knowledge, integrity, a personal vision of the future 
(an ideal), and some really useful tools (be they hardware or software).  

This list is intended to focus on the tools of cryptography in relation to 
privacy, James, and far-off digressions are discouraged because of the volume 
of mail which this would result in.  So do try to focus on that, won't you, or 
you'll continue to hear from Perry, who works tirelessly to keep everyone in 
line.  :>)

  ..
Blanc