Date: Mon, 15 Sep 1997 18:51:46 -0700 To: Asgaard <asgaard@cor.sos.sll.se>, cypherpunks@toad.com From: Martin Minow <minow@apple.com> Subject: Re: US dissident in Sweden Reply-to: Martin Minow <minow@apple.com>
At 2:06 AM +0200 9/16/97, Asgaard wrote:
The Dagens Nyheter reported yesterday that a US citizen, Mr Ritt Goldstein, is in Sweden asking for political asylum. ... The latest crypto policy news here says that Sweden will not go along will mandatory GAK. ...
I wouldn't count on Sweden as a haven for strong crypto or, in particular, untraceable anonymity. Also, the Swedish national police have quite a few skeletons in their closet with respect to personal integrity (look for references to IB, the "Information Bureau" or read the entire series of Sjovall/Wahloo "Martin Beck" novels.)
Martin Minow minow@apple.com
It's hard to call; the Swedes do have an independent streak, at least at the national level. They're not in NATO, and have an independent defence, like Switzerland. They maintained (with mixed success) neutrality during WW2. When I lived there (65-68', I was a kid), there was a strong and popular anti-American sentiment, mostly based in opposition to the Vietnam war. US deserters were given asylum, and I was taught to identify myself as Canadian if the situation seemed appropriate (the US embassy was bombed during my stay - made a mess of the front hallway). Peter Trei trei@process.com Peter Trei Senior Software Engineer Purveyor Development Team Process Software Corporation http://www.process.com trei@process.com