Re: Exporting crypto from Japan

[Tim May <tcmay@got.net>]

At 11:53 PM -0700 11/16/97, Joichi Ito wrote:


>> Get the RSA chip released widely and quickly. The drug trade in Asia could
>> use it right now.
>
>I am going to actively work on trying to get people like RSA to export
>their chip, but not necessarily for the drug trade.
>


I'll just focus on this one point for now....

The "but not necessarily for the drug trade" shows up what I think is a
common misconception: that "good users of crypto" can be distinguished from
"bad users of crypto."

("But not necessarily for" has another interpretation, that strong crypto
is not being developed _for_ the drug trade. This is really the same
point--who will use strong crypto is not something easily controlled.)

The thoughtful officials who decide crypto policy (there are some) actually
understand the fallacy of this notion. They understand that once
"unbreakable crypto" is widely available, that once secure phones are for
sale at every electronics store, their is no way to distinguish good users,
e.g., freedom fighters, from bad users, e.g., terrorists. Or Oceania users,
who are our allies, from Eastasia users, who are our enemy (this week).

Those of us who support liberty, personal choices, and freedom from state
control understand this, too. We understand that strong crypto will help
black marketeers keep secrets and avoid surveillance just as it will help
civil rights groups.

How else could it be?

I embrace the use of strong crypto by the "underworld" for the simple
reason that historically this has been a major vector for the spread of new
technologies. And it tends to undermine governments. And most of what is
declared to be contraband, or illegal to consume, is no violation of the
real rights of others.

(I have used the same sig, with only minor modifications, for more than
five years.  The inclusion of "black markets, collapse of governments" was
deliberate.)

--Tim May

The Feds have shown their hand: they want a ban on domestic cryptography
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
ComSec 3DES:   408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA  | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
Higher Power: 2^2,976,221   | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."