At 10:28 PM 5/24/97 -0400, Dave Emery wrote:
A three way encrypted handshake between an encrypted agent that was part of the OS and a smart card and software at an ISP could be used to enforce an internet drivers license law for example, with no packets being forwarded by the ISP without hard authentication (even up to biometrics) of the user. And it would be rather trivial to disallow use of "unapproved" software to communicate over the net, making enforcement of GAK much more complete. One could even use such a mechanism to forbid use of any uncertified software on a net connected machine, thus making it rather hard to use such rogue applications as PGP.
I strongly agree with you. While the motivation that lead to the development of such processors stems probably from the desire to thwart software piracy, it will make implementation of the "Internet Driver License" that much easier. [For those new to Cypherpunks, I consider the requirement for an Internet Driver License as inevitable as the sun raising tomorrow morning. While the event is technically in the future, it will occur with a certainty that it may just as well have already happened in the past. Read the graphic novel "Watchmen" if you don't understand what I am talking about. Sure, there is a small but no-zero probability that the Earth will be vaporized before sunrise by a timebomb left by aliens 3.5 million years ago. That's why I wrote "as inevitable", as opposed to "inevitable".] Smartcard readers and processors with encrypted instruction sets are just a first step to the ultimate goal, requiring biometric authentication to the applications on your machine. Some will claim they won't use such machines and stick to their old Pentium Pro's. I just threw out an old 286, because I couldn't find a single person that wanted it for free. Your 200 MHz Pentium Pro will be just as useful as that old 286 a few years hence. Sure, it will still operate and you can even run some old programs on it. But it simply will be unsuitable as your primary machine. Instead, you will find yourself using a box that runs code you can't possible figure out what it does and requires biometric authentication for login. Have fun, --Lucky Green <shamrock@netcom.com> PGP encrypted mail preferred. Put a stake through the heart of DES! Join the quest at http://www.frii.com/~rcv/deschall.htm