I agree with what Mike Duvos says here: (other points I also agree with elided)
I don't think we have very much time left to save our precious encryption rights from Big Brother. Revoking rights is like frog boiling. As long as it is done slowly enough, it goes relatively unnoticed.
That's right. And the essay I just posted on "Corporations and Encryption" is apropos. If, for example, Cypherpunks go along with (or, worse, _advocate_) laws regulating crypto use in corporations, then this is part of turning up the temperature on the frog.
Remember when civil forfeiture started? First only profits from illegal activities were seized. They quickly moved to seizing all of a suspects assets. Now cops can stop you on the road, empty your pockets, and take your money using only the justification that possession of more than a certain amount is evidence of wrongdoing.
It's worth noting again for any newcomers in the last half year or so that Whit Diffie said at a Cypherpunks meeting that he think _civil forfeiture_ will be used to suppress noncomplying crypto: corporations will be told that only certain types of crypto are allowable, and noncomplying crypto will be grounds for forfeiture of corporate assets. ...
attempt to thwart the federal agenda. Attacks on Denning's character, the Clipper algorithm, and the LEAF field, while interesting, do nothing to help our cause. What will we do when the government presents us with an escrowed, publicly reviewed, unbreakable strong encryption algorithm which is mandatory? We need to concentrate on the basic issues here and state them clearly many times in language the public can understand.
I agree...the focus on the "weaknesses" of EES, rather than the deeply flawed ethical, Constitutional, and practical issues, is mistaken. But if folks want to put effort into this, fine. I don't. They can.
The public slap in the face our agenda received the other day on the crypto export issue should be proof enough that our enemies will accept nothing less than the total surrender of our right to personal privacy. It's time to stop being nice. When you go after the King, you shoot to kill.
I'm sure there are those scanning this list who view such metaphorical comments more literally, as a death threat against Bill Clinton and his minions. They have no appreciation of irony. Pushing strong crypto to the "tipping point," the point of no return, is within our grasp. --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."