Re: puff pieces vs tough crypto issues (Re: Singapore TOILETALERT)

[Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>]

Adam,

Sometimes it's useful to inject a bit of humor in every serious discussion.

The relevance? Another example of Singapore's loony politics. Strict social
controls and relative economic freedom. I find it fascinating in light of
Net-filtering and other attempts at restricting information flow; if you
don't, well, you can always delete it. :)

As for CMR... I was travelling when the discussion started on cypherpunks
so I haven't been following it very closely.

My position is something along these lines: corporations have a right to go
down the CMR path; it is unwise to restrict them through the coercive power
of the state. At the same time, we need to speak out against crypto-foolish
practices. If corporations start building CMR products, the political
consequences could be devestating. It's like building a gallows for your
own hanging.

>From my perch in Washington, I see PGP 5.5/CMR as an existence proof that
key recovery can be done. So far the crypto-advocates have been able to
wave around the Blaze et al white paper that says we don't know how to do
it. Even Dorothy Denning agreed. But now when a mandatory GAK bill goes to
the House floor, all Rep. Solomon etc. have to do is wave around a
shrinkwrapped copy of PGP and say: "I bought this for $19 at the Egghead
shop at 21st and L." Details will be lost in the fearmongering.

I suspect that there's not that substantial a market for CMR. The apparent
market demand now is an artificial one created by the Clinton
administration.

-Declan