pgp, edi, s/mime

[Jeff Ubois <jubois@netcom.com>]

Interesting comments from a member of the IETF EDI-INT group, which is
developing standards for secure EDI over the net, and managing a Commercenet
pilot project:

- S/MIME and PGP are the two leading candidates for encrypting EDI messages,
S/MIME inside the US, and PGP outside the US where S/MIME is unavailable.  

- If PGP 3.0 comes out on time with promised features, it could gain
adoption by large companies as a standard means of encrypting EDI messages;
that would pull smaller companies along, but it has a narrow window of
opportunity and could lose to S/MIME products like those from Deming. 

- The G7 governments will impose key escrow on large companies trading over
the net, and while non-escrowed systems will continue to be available, they
are likely to be illegal, and certainly will be marginalized.