Re: CRYPTO-GRAM, December 15, 1998

[Anonymous <nobody@replay.com>]

> Okay, I finally got the story right about Network Associates Inc. and the
> Key Recovery Alliance.  (Last month I pointed to a Wired News story that
> they quietly rejoined.)  The story is wrong.  They never left the KRA.
> Since its inception, Trusted Information Systems was a big mover and shaker
> in the KRA.  When NAI bought TIS in May 1998, TIS's membership transferred
> to NAI.  NAI resigned the leadership posts that TIS had held in the
> Alliance and stopped attending its meetings, but never left the KRA.  So,
> NAI is a member of the KRA, and has been since it bought TIS.
> http://www.wired.com/news/print_version/technology/story/16219.html

As a further clarification, it is incorrect to say that NAI "never left
the KRA."

Network Associates Inc. (NAI) was formed out of McAfee and Network
General.  McAfee was a member of the KRA, so at the time NAI was formed,
it was a member of the KRA.

When NAI bought PGP, in late 1997, Phil Zimmermann found out about NAI's
membership, and he was able to persuade management to withdraw from
the KRA.  This is why it is wrong to say that NAI never left the KRA.
See http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,17112,00.html.

NAI bought TIS a few months later.  TIS was a member and in fact a leading
member of the KRA.  By purchasing TIS, NAI inherited its membership in
the KRA, and so NAI was once again a member.

It's not clear whether Phil Zimmermann or anyone else tried to get NAI to
again withdraw from the KRA, but if they did, they were not successful.
NAI renewed its membership later in 1998 and is still a member of the KRA,
although it has reduced its level of participation.