Re: Questions for Magaziner?

[Michael Motyka <mmotyka@lsil.com>]

Tim May wrote:
> My view is that my writings are mine. They can try to get them with a
> search warrant or a court order, but they'd better not threaten me with
> imprisonment if I choose to write in some language they can't read. And
> that's all crypto really is, of course. Just another language.
> 
My gut feeling is that if a search turns up an encrypted file then, by
golly, what you see is what there is, make a bit-accurate copy and be on
your way, what's in my head belongs to me. But is that what the courts,
scared shitless of hordes of child molesters and terrorists conspiring
via secure e-mail and phones, will say? 

They'll probably avoid attacking the 1st and 4th( already weakened by
the war on drugs ) and attack the 5th with a 'greater good' argument and
the analogy of the locked safe. This requires an explanation of how the
stored documents are the modern-day .equivalent. of physical paper and
should be treated as such. It's only spitting distance from there to the
idea that a memorized key is the same as a physical key in which case
its owner doesn't enjoy the protections of the 5th. Hand it over Jack.
The law has to adapt to the changing technology. No need to outlaw
cryptography; just redefine the boundaries of the power to destroy.

Mike 

PS - How does a grant of limited immunity work?