Interesting People mailing list archives
IP: 30 or more flavors
From: David Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>
Date: Mon, 02 Jun 1997 08:04:21 -0400
Date: Sun, 01 Jun 1997 19:40:40 -0400 To: farber () central cis upenn edu (David Farber) From: Jock Gill <jgill () penfield-gill com> Subject: 30 or more flavors Dave, An executive at a Federal agency involved with security issues recently explained at a not for attribution public meeting - a squirrelly deal if ever there was one - that the government no longer plans to ask for a monolithic escrow/recovery system. It would not work. The changes from the 1993 Clipper proposal, which was agreed did not pass the King George test [the colonials would have rejected it if George had mandated it] are substantial. As this knowledgeable person allowed, Clipper was the Bosnia of the crypto debate. The current position of at least one of the interested Federal agencies appears to have evolved to one where any one is free to use, or not use, any of the 30 plus flavors of escrow/recovery currently on the market. The exception is U. S. government workers who would be required to use USG approved escrow/recovery to insure the ability to abide by the legal requirements of document record management regulations. You might want to ask Scott Armstrong, the investigative reporter, about what he would think of government records paid for with public monies encrypted with lost keys and no way of recovery. Think of your favorite political 'bad guy' and ask yourself if you want their emails etc recoverable and readable or should they be able to hide them away for ever. I think the story of the evolution of Federal Government thinking and policy development over the last 4 years is remarkably under-reported and generally mis-understood. Not to say that the Feds have done such a good job with their press relations. Plenty of opportunity, it would seem, for the press and the USG to get this story told right and widely disseminated. The question, of course, that begs to be explored is "jointness" - just how much cooperation and coordination should there be amongst all of the Federal agencies with respect to Information Warfare and domestic security? Should agencies who are currently NOT allowed to participate in domestic security issues be allowed, under the rubric of "jointness", to now engage in domestic intelligence operations? Do we get to use the encryption of our choice at the price of allowing formerly prohibited agencies engaging in domestic surveillance? What a deal. Regards, Jock ________________________________________________________________________ Jock Gill Penfield Gill, Inc. Boston, MA jgill () penfield-gill com <http://www.penfield-gill.com> ________________________________________________________________________
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