Enormous investment has already been made. Furthermore, the EES design has provisions in the processor for only a 128 bit LEAF. Its hardly clear that they can just "patch" this in a few weeks.
Perry
I wonder if companies and individuals out there can seek damages for the costs and delays of having to redesign systems? Assuming EES gets redesigned, companies ranging from AT&T to MIPS to Tim's Clipjack Consulting will presumably face product introduction delays, redesign efforts, etc. I know suing the government is generally hard, so this may be futile. But the redesign costs and delays may certainly piss off a lot of folks. AT&T has several camps opposed to EES (as we all know, from the comments of Blaze, Stewart, Bellovin, and others) and some camps supporting EES (AT&T Surety Systems, North Carolina, etc.), but this latest black eye may certainly tilt things further against the EES. And what happens if folks who've already _bought_ Clipper phones are not able to use them to communicate? What happens to the chips already shipped? It seems the Feds lose any way you cut it. If EES goes out as presently designed, workarounds will proliferate (not that EES ever looked like an especially economical scheme--costs were high). If EES gets replaced by EES II, delays and costs will mount. And so will bad will. I'm overjoyed. --Tim May -- .......................................................................... Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@netcom.com | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero 408-688-5409 | knowledge, reputations, information markets, W.A.S.T.E.: Aptos, CA | black markets, collapse of governments. Higher Power: 2^859433 | Public Key: PGP and MailSafe available. "National borders are just speed bumps on the information superhighway."