Re: Clipper III analysis

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

At 12:37 AM 5/29/96, Bill Frantz wrote:

>Carl is right.  They want to GAK all keys including signature keys.  Now
>think, to whom in your life are you willing to grant unlimited power of
>attorney?  Your spouse?  Your lawyer?  Your banker?  Your employer?  Your
>government?
>
>Giving away your signature key is worse.  Not only can any key holder act
>FOR you, he can act AS you.  "We've got you cold perp.  You signed this
>child porn that was posted to alt.binary.etc.  You can make your calls from
>jail."  Who needs entrapment.

But, though things have gotten pretty bad these last 40 years, there are
still courts, expert witnesses, and standards for signature verification.
Experts are called upon to give testimony about the likelihood that a
signature is that of the person claimed (by one side or the other). Though
there have been few tests of digital signatures that I know of (I think
Utah has a law...), this government access to identities (GAI) will throw a
spanner in efforts to get digital signatures widely accepted.

Once it gets shown in open court that Joe Blow can claim he did not sign a
document and the government will have to admit that this is a possibility,
and admits that anyone in government with access to the escrowed data base
could have done the signing....well, digital signatures will lose much of
their value immediately.

Inasmuch as unforgeable digital signatures are critical for electronic
commerce, a fact even Clinton cannot ignore, I expect this weakness to help
sink Clipper III.

As Carl noted, Cypherpunk Deep Cover Agent Micali has been doing a good job
in planting logic bombs in these schemes...I urge we approve his bonus.


--Tim May

Boycott "Big Brother Inside" software!
We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, we know that that ain't allowed.
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
tcmay@got.net  408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA  | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
Licensed Ontologist         | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."