ok, so the nsa looked at commercial cryptography and said, `we need to control it'. and out pops clipper (quite an ugly baby, eh?) this makes me wonder. i bet that they see that announcement by visa for `digital cash' and go crazy. they are already thinking of how to put clipper into a nationwide digital cash system, don't you think? this brings up some serious issues. i doubt it will be long before there are some official government agencies developing the official u.s. digital cash system. in fact, it wouldn't surprise me if there are divisions in the nsa dedicated to doing it *this moment*. if there are any non-nsa agencies, too, the nsa will probably `pull an nist' and dominate their development. how? send in a few austere-looking spooks and speak in phrases like `imperative to national security' and `presidential directive' and *boom* the flimsy bureacrats are putty in their hands. so would anyone like to wager? i'd say that we have an official government group dedicated to digital cash standards in say, 4 years, with an official agency in say, 7 years. cpunks, are you going to be ready by then with your own cash? <g> btw, could someone tell me how the proposed visa cash system is different than debit cards (which exists today)?