Thursday, April 21, 1994 Refreshments at 4:00pm, Talk at 4:15pm in NE43-518
``WHICH KEY ESCROW, IF ANY?'' or ``Fair Cryptosystems vs. The Clipper Chip'' by Silvio Micali MIT
Wide-spread use of cryptography will greatly enhance our privacy, but will also make court-authorized line-tapping impossible. In an effort to make cryptography ``compatible'' with law enforcement, the Clinton Administration has been advocating the use of a new encryption technology: the Clipper Chip.
Whether cryptography should be regulated at all is an important question, one that should be debated at all possible levels of our society. This talk, however, focuses primarily on TECHNICAL points that are crucial to make an informed decision. In particular, we address the following questions:
* Does Clipper Chip really make cryptography and law enforcement compatible?
* Does Clipper Chip introduce unwanted and/or unforseen dangers?
* Are there better alternatives to making encryption and law enforcement compatible, if this is what we want?