Tim May wrote... "I predict we'll soon be seeing a new thought control campaign with this theme, that "if you use encryption, you help the terrorists win."" Well, I'm dubious. Right now I'm thinking their strategy has been to pull encryption down off of the social radar, and that's worked better than any frontol assault. Also watch carefully for hole-pokers...I'd bet their's also been disinfo campaigns to get the public to think that no crypto is secure (every ask anyone if they believed there was such a thing as effectively 'unbreakable' encryption? Reglar folks always believe SOMEBODY'S got the technology to break what scheme you use, so "why bother"). Let's also remember that 'terrorists' are only terrorists when their guns are small. Once they start winning a few battles they're no longer "terrorists" (eg: Mao and that whole gang). So let's beat them to the punch: "Use strong crypto in order to keep America free from the terrorists." -TD
From: Tim May <timcmay@got.net> To: cypherpunks@lne.com Subject: "If you use encryption, you help the terrorists win" Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2003 14:52:02 -0700
I predict we'll soon be seeing a new thought control campaign with this theme, that "if you use encryption, you help the terrorists win."
Similar to the heavy advertising (paid for by Big Brother, and hence by money stolen from taxpayers) with the theme that lighting up a doobie helps Osama, that taking an Oxycontin (sorry, Rush!) is equivalent to flying a plane into the World Trade Center.
Why encryption? Why now?
Perhaps Eric B. can comment on the status of encrypted cellphones, of whichever flavor, but it occurs to me that some people in Iraq desperately need them. I refer of course to those trying to expell the American soldiers occupying their cities and, as Anne Coulter put it and as senior Army officials agree, "occupy their country, take their oil, and convert them all to Christianity."
You see, the landlines and central offices were largely wiped out in the War for Oil. So what is now going in is what makes sense for nearly all developing--or flattened--countries: cellphones. The U.S. had plans for the contracts to deploy cellphones to go to American companies, but the local puppets must have had no fear of the Americans, as they went with a better bribe: mostly Arabic cellphone providers will deploy the initial system.
And of course this is why there are a lot of subcontractors with ties to the NSA, DIA, ASA, etc. now in Iraq monitoring communications. (Partly to track down Saddam's whereabouts, as he may use a cellphone, if he's careless. Recall the tale of Pablo Escobar.)
So, what would happen if even 5% of the cellphones were encrypted with a sufficiently-strong system (Eric's 3DES would presumably be enough)?
And if not encrypted cellphones, encryption of the usual sort, over networks.
I wonder what would happen to someone found carrying copies of PGP into Iraq?
(Which is not to say copies are not already widely circulating, or readily downloadable, etc.)
It seems clear to me that the puppet state of Iraq (maybe we could dub it "The Puppet Republic of Iraq"?) will not allow significant use of encrypted cellphones, or perhaps even encryption over networks. If the daily attacks on the crusaders continue to rise, and there appears to be some kind of coordination, the intelligence agencies will be called to task on why they are not intercepting (or jamming) the coordination channels.
If the expected attacks in Saudi Arabia and other soft targets happen on schedule in the next few weeks, we might even see reintroduction of crypto ban proposals inside the U.S.
We should not assume the war for crypto is won.
--Tim May "A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the Public Treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits from the Public Treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy always followed by dictatorship." --Alexander Fraser Tyler
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