From the keyboard of: rittle@comm.mot.com (Loren James Rittle) in an open letter to our Gorewellian vice president: I also support completely voluntary (i.e. no outside government coercion) encryption key escrow for all private individuals and private-sector companies, if they themselves so chose it. There is, however, no reasonable reason what-so-ever for government to be involved in this escrow. Just as with escrow of funds during property transactions, those involved will choose their own non-governmental escrow agents. A simple analogy may serve to illustrate this crucial concept for Gore: If I wish to leave a spare house key with my neighbor while I'm on vacation, there's no reason I have to also leave a spare key with the cops. Rich -- Loudyellnet: Richard Johnson | Sneakernet: ECNT1-6, CB 429, CU Boulder Phonenet: +1.303.492.0590 | Internet: Richard.Johnson@Colorado.EDU RIPEM and PGP public keys available by server, finger or request Speaker to avalanche dragons. Do you really think they listen?