Super Phones?

[Clark Reynard <clark@metal.psu.edu>]

Excerpted from "Wired," August 1993 Playboy (Not THAT Wired)
Reprinted without Permission

Spread Spectrum technology was developed for the military to allow
for high-security communications with crystal-clear reception.  Now 
Cincinatti Microwave has introduced the Escort 9000 ($400), a cordless
digital phone with Spread Spectrum that operates on the recently
approved 900 MHz radio frequency (that's 20 times higher than the 
frequency conventional cordless phones use).  This marriage of 
technologies gives the Escort 9000 a remarkable range
of about a half maile, superior reception and complete privacy.
"Previous attempts to bring Spread Spectrum to the consumer market
have been too costly and too bulky for personal use," said
Cincinatti Microwave president Jacques Robinson, who sells the
phones directly to the public.  (Call 800-433-3487 for more
information or to order one.)  Another company, Cobra, incorporates
CM's Spread Spectrum technology into its latest 900 MHz model, and 
AT & T will introduce a 900 MHz Spread Spectrum phone in the fall.
Tropez and Panasonic also offer 900 MHz phones (without Spread
Spectrum).  It is rumored that the range for some 900 MHz phones
could be increased in the future to up to seven miles, which means 
that one could serve as an around-town alternative to a cellular
phone.

---END EXCERPT

Now, here's my problem with this nice-sounding product.  I called
the 800 number to ask for an explanation of this product, which
immediately aroused my suspicion.

From my conversation with the receptionist on the other end
of the phone, which was somewhat less than informative, the
idea of Spread Spectrum technology is that the signal is
spread out into individual packets on different wavelengths,
then reconstituted at the other end, using some sort of session
key generated at the beginning of each transaction.

Considering the rather lax security of high-ranking government
and military officials with phone technology, recent eavesdropping
on Air Force One and the White House most glaringly, I find
it difficult to accept as kosher any security scheme created
by the government and then offered to private industry.

More chillingly, the receptionist told me that no one would be
able to perform surveillance on me "except the government."

Alerted to this possibility, I immediately asked whether it 
had the Clipper Chip or the Capstone, or whether there was some
sort of key escrow involved.

This got me put on hold for a couple minutes.

Then the receptionist returned, and told me that the person from
the engineering department who took care of the phones had indicated
that not even the government had the technology to monitor these
phones.

Upon asking how and why the government might do this, I received
a rather chilly notification that the engineering department,
was, of course, unwilling to reveal these secrets.  Well, it was
worth a try.

I gave them my address so that they could send me further information.

More reports forthcoming.

You can contact Cincinatti Microwave by telephone at:
(800) 433-3487

or by snailmail at:

Cincinatti Microwave
1 Microwave Plaza             
Cincinatti, OH 45249
----
-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
Version: 2.3a

mQCNAiyKoFQAAAEEAL22Al/Xil0UER1V7AlS4+eJmOQ6ruIojmq1XCSE7mCqLw3Q
ILHBGlcCOl9S20N/8gdge2PfMS9BK794P2r/J3GUjwZw/emKuVm9SXDBpXfdgWax
7jdAGfohRthw/q1+x/z5nJ7gP2C7AZSlsa+XCYYRZbTR2fpaLXzs8jiGc9glAAUT
tClSb2JlcnQgVy4gRi4gQ2xhcmsgPHJjbGFya0BueXguY3MuZHUuZWR1Pg==
=vJ53
-----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----