A CC of my letter to Gelernter@cs.yale.edu

[pcw@access.digex.net (Peter Wayner)]

I caught your piece on the Op-Ed page. Of course I agree with you about
the fact that there is a need for wiretaps. But I think that there are
serious problems with the Clipper chip. It is very expensive compared
to software only solutions and it is also very, very brittle. 

First the cost:

        * Every extra chip adds to cost, battery usage and pocket bulge.
        This is a heavy price to pay for something that could be done
        in software. Many of the next generation digital phones, for instance,
        use a DSP. There are more than enough spare cycles available to 
        do encryption.

        * The high cost is effectively a tax on privacy for the average
        person. It is easy to imagine clipper chips adding $100 to the
        cost of an already digital phone, fax machine or computer. The
        poor are just as much targets as the rich. In fact, they are often
        easier targets because no one wants to bother chasing down a
        fake credit card transaction or bank account withdrawl if it
        only amounts to $75. If a chip was necessary, then it would 
        be a different story. Software could help all of America,
        not just the rich.


Now the Fragility:

        * The first generation of Capstone chips is already obsolete.
        They're worthless. All of the money that went into fabbing
        and producing them is gone. Why? Because the NSA discovered
        a weakness in the Secure Hash ALgorithm. They've fixed it
        now, but all the old chips are worthless.

        * Imagine that problems arise well after the chip is standardized.
        What will millions of Americans do? All of the digital phones,
        fax machines and modem cards will need to be replaced.

        * Now imagine that a pair of turncoats sell out America and
        put both halves of the key escrow on the black market. If we're
        lucky enough to discover this leak, it could easily take 6 months
        to a year to replace our now worthless phone system. 

        * Software, on the other hand, is very easy to change. In many
        cases, the anti-virus programs travel faster than the viruses.

These are the main reasons why I think that the Clipper is a boondoggle.
Software based solutions would solve all of these problems _except_ the
government's desire for a firm grip on the world and technology. 

-Peter Wayner