-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- On Sun, 22 Sep 1996, Dale Thorn wrote:
Maybe I shouldn't have tried to (slightly) change the subject. It was my thought that someone could encourage the person(s) who wanted to do a Snake-Oil product list to generalize the list, to be a more scholarly reference, and not just a blacklist. Since the original(?) proposal concerned actual products, and not just techniques which fit into neatly identifiable categories, that might justify a Consumer Reports type of review list for these products.
One of the goals of a "Snake-Oil FAQ" as proposed is to gain as wide a distribution as possible. If a "blacklist" of products is put into the FAQ, or if actual existing products are referred to a negative light, the distribution of this FAQ will be severely limited. I also think that as a whole, this project is a good idea and a good mini-project. As crypto continues to spread, it is inevitable that "bad" crypto will spread as well. While these products will surely come and go with the phases of the moon, some people will be undoubtedly be suckered and soured towards crypto-technology in general. (sarcasm) "If it saves just one...." (\sarcasm) It has been said before that the best way to counter noise is with signal. If one of the primary goals of cypherpunks is to encourage the widespread use of strong crypto, then, by extension, it is important to discourage the spread of "crappy crypto." _______________________________________________________________ Omegaman <mailto: omega@bigeasy.com> PGP Key fingerprint = 6D 31 C3 00 77 8C D1 C2 59 0A 01 E3 AF 81 94 63 Send e-mail with "get key" in the "Subject:" field to get a copy of my public key _______________________________________________________________ -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.3ia Charset: latin1 iQCVAwUBMkc7Gab3EfJTqNC9AQGBywP+M037TzDBjy/F5MgmKv+x/9lhQrnQsMQ6 xlOB3ApjLHZvoKI//PyHoCKiuCw9BVnTskAE16iu19yWZmUWNL3S6hsOFxex1MMU pf6YQSajpE4mOSsih8j+b2T60ERXx/jz2BAwGEjtf4azCuGUxObUgX75ydmLoNft Po4HbyimOtY= =Yg1d -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----