Re: The GAK Momentum is Building...

[azur@netcom.com (Steve Schear)]

>On Tue, 17 Sep 1996 21:02:03 -0700, Lucky Green wrote:
>>On Tue, 17 Sep 1996, Timothy C. May wrote:
>> However, making the government a _required_ part of such plans implies a
>> motive that is not at all the same as what companies wish (mostly, disaster
>> recovery).
>
>The required part will come later. Meanwhile, many big players in the
>industry are volunteering to include GAK for you.

It seems that in order for this to work Net consumers must be
convinced/coerced into accepting the GAK security features.  What if, due
to a grassroots uprising, Neters refuse to use products which require GAK
or Net services which will only operate via GAK?  Isn't there an great
opportunity being created for S/Wan, Apache and its ilk and third-party
(especially off-shore, non-COCOM, produced) security plug-ins?

>
>When I asked the fellow from HP that proposed the CommerceNet position
>paper how the "voluntary key recovery" he was proposing on his slides
>could possibly aid law enforcement against criminals who obviously
>wouldn't "escrow" their keys, he said, and I am not kidding:
>
>"There are many possible interpretations of the words voluntary and
>mandatory." I was the *only* person in a room full of people working in the
>industry that seemed bothered by this.
>
>> Furthermore, the main worry (for me, at least) is that the government hopes
>> to get its Clipper IV scheme accepted (by means of export laws) at some
>> large fraction of important corporate accounts, not the least of which will
>> be Netscape, Microsoft, IBM, Oracle, Qualcomm, and suchlike major players
>> in the "infrastructure" business. Once most of these have "bought off" on
>> GAK, pressure will be intense to universalize the process, to make it a
>> felony _not_ to use a "Key Authority."
>
>That's exactly how it will be.

Enacting laws which make criminals out otherwise upstanding citizens is the
surest path to civil disobedience/unrest, disrespect for duly constituted
government and more serious criminal behavior.  I guess I and many friends
will be on posters in the Post Office.

-- Steve


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