The Illogic of Clipper

No criminal is going to use a system that would allow the feds to eavesdrop - that's worse than sending messages "en clair". Who is the opponent? For a criminal enterprise, I see two: law enforcement and the other competing criminal enterpriss. Clipper protects against the competition, but not against law enforcement. Therefore use of Clipper as such is not irrational. On the other hand, if a secure phone at the same cost is available which doesn't use Clipper, it is not rational to use that instead of Clipper. What you are seeing is the overweening arrogance of the spies that the only individuals who can make secure phones will be in league with the government. The product announcements are not out yet, however. Eric