Timothy C. May wrote:
At 12:41 AM 11/7/95, Stephen Whitaker wrote:
just might have a prayer of doing it right, whatever that is. What would it look like if secure communications and anonomynity were designed in from the start? Is this what Sameer is doing in Bezerkeley?
What machines are considered minimum requirements to use these tools? What are the essential reference works?
"Security and anonymity" are not matters for government to ensure.
[...]
I urge you, Stephen, to read up on encryption and the benefits contained therein. Looking to your state capital to secure your communications is a lose.
Tim - I think your libertarian side is showing here.... Not that this is a bad thing, but I think there are some things that state governments can and/or should do. First off - avoid trying to legislate minute details of any encryption or signature scheme. Bureaucrats trying to understand, much less control technical things is doomed to fail. (take GOSIP as a prime example) Second - push for legal acceptance of digital signatures and acceptance of privacy through encryption. I believe Utah has taken a strong step in this direction. Most people, businesses, and courts won't accept digital contracts and the like until there is more of a sound set of laws behind them. Strong laws against government snooping or against anti-encryption or anti-anonymous laws are a good thing IMO. Besides - laws like that will let the bureaucrats drown themselves in their own paperwork making sure then follow their own rules - and keep them out of our hair. ;-) Third - provide services to the citizenry. For example - provide a public key server. Or how about a digital time-stamping service. If the crap was kept out of these services, and they were free for anyone to use, then it would advance the idea of encouraging people to use crypto in their daily lives. Warning - Although I think there are some good things that governments can do, it is also very important to watch out for "sabotage" by the government. Governments tend to like control too much and by trying to maintain control, reverse a useful service to one that is a dis-service to the people. In general, if governments get out of the way, people will take care of problems themselves. Dan ------------------------------------------------------------------ Dan Oelke Alcatel Network Systems droelke@aud.alcatel.com Richardson, TX