I have tried to think of a positive use for key escrow. The only thing that I have come up with so far is kind of like having local key escrow within one company, or something like that. Kind of like having a master key that fits all the offices in one wing of a building, or something like that. That could be good in some business uses, provided you could pick your own trusted master key holder. I don't think that is what Al Gore has in mind.
Actually, I can think of one major use. If I encrypt my personal files, I might want my heirs to be able to recover them after my death. For example, I might keep my electronically-encrypted will in escrow, such that upon my death the keys can be obtained and the document opened. This does not mean that I implicitly trust the government to escrow my keys. However it does mean that there are legitimate uses for escrowed technology. I just think that the government shouldn't be in charge of it, and that citizens have the right to choose the level of privacy and security that they desire for themselves. Just to quickly change the topic, and answer someone's question for earlier today or yesterday (sorry, I've been really hosed and haven't had a chance to really delve into the flurry of email that I've received recently)... Not everyone on this list is an anarchist. For example, I do not consider myself an arachist. I think some leadership is needed, since not everyone is capable of being a leader, and I wouldn't trust just anyone to make decisions for me. I'm on this list because I value electronic privacy and encryption technologies, and I believe that the power of encryption will better enable the common man to hold his (or her) privacy in the electronic information world. Anyways, enough spewing. Enjoy! -derek Derek Atkins, SB '93 MIT EE, G MIT Media Laboratory Member, MIT Student Information Processing Board (SIPB) Home page: http://www.mit.edu:8001/people/warlord/home_page.html warlord@MIT.EDU PP-ASEL N1NWH PGP key available