Jim Bell asks about Macintosh exportability. There appears to be no problem using a non-tappable authentication in the AppleShare client (but this does not mean that the actual data is secure). The PowerTalk module (available with System 7.5 and later, but to be replaced in the future for reasons not having to do with crypto) supports additional crypto-related functions, including MD5, RSA digital signatures and 40-bit encrypted (and, hence, exportable) data streams. Apple did negotiate with the export control people in order to fashion a technology that could be exported. There are also country-specific kits in order to meet import requirements. The actual strong encryption capabilities are not accessable to developers or end users. MD5 and RSA signing API's are published and, as part of my work at Apple, I wrote and distributed sample code that shows how to use them to sign and verify arbitrary data areas. At the poorly-attended June physical c-punks meeting in Palo Alto, I gave a very brief overview of Apple's "crypto-related" capabilities and could repeat it at a future meeting.
I haven't bought a new VCR in a few years. Is this real? What prevented them from doing this 10 years ago?
This is fairly recent. It requires a cooperating (generally, PBS) station that broadcasts the timecode in one of the retrace lines. Martin. minow@apple.com