Re: Web TV with 128b exported

[Bill Stewart <bill.stewart@pobox.com>]

At 02:39 PM 10/7/98 -0500, Steve Bryan wrote:
> David Honig wrote:
> > I'd guess that the Export control puppets know that the Web-TV hubs will
> > be subpoena-able by the US even in these other "sovereign" nations.
> > The WebTV centralized infrastructure makes this easy.
>
> This announcement seems to be getting a lot of this sort of reaction but I
> don't see quite why the news is greeted with such animosity.  If a duly
> authorized search warrant is required in order to obtain information that
> represents a potential world of difference from having unrestricted ability
> to monitor all communications.

Who would you execute the search warrant _on_?  The web site and the
browser user?  (Then why not let Netscape and IE export 128-bit?)
Or some third party who has access to something in the middle
(and may not be picky about search warrants, and may not have as much
standing to resist a court order or subpoena) ?
Or is the WebTV 128-bit code crippleware, using some backdoor key
or other hole for police to break in?

Basically, it just sounds fishy.


				Thanks! 
					Bill
Bill Stewart, bill.stewart@pobox.com
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