I am working on articles and article proposals for some local media outlets. I need to get some specific information regarding the Clipper Chip (aka Wiretap Chip) proposal: Questions: 1) What is a rough estimate of how long it would take a brute-force attack on an 80-bit key using a parallel architecture system costing less than, say, $25,000 two to three years from now. 2) How, in your opinion, would this affect the creation of international standards for encryption? Would this help or hinder development of the global economy? 3) I understand that the scheme relies on the secrecy of the encryption algorithm to protect the transmission of keys at the beginning of a session. (It uses a system key to encyrpt the keys for the two devices). If the algorithm is successfully reverse-engineered, does this compromise the entire system? 4) I am assuming that this system would be just as vulnerable to a "known plaintext attack" as other schemes. Is this correct? Please identify yourself and your credentials, and indicate whether or not you wish to be quoted in any articles on this subject. Thanks, Douglas Barnes gumby@wixer.bga.com