E. ALLEN SMITH wrote:
I believe that the central question at hand is whether Netscape will incorporate mandatory GAK into any of its products if you have an economic (governmental purchase) rather than physical (governmental threat of violence) reason to do so. I would hope that the upcoming statement will clarify this position, and in the proper direction. -Allen
If the government wants to purchase software for its own use that implements key escrow, why it that bad? The whole point of our anti-GAK position is that government mandated key escrow is bad. If individuals, companies, or government agencies want to escrow their own keys, with the escrow agents of their own choosing, I have not problem. Its only when the government make the escrow and the agent mandatory that I've got a problem. I don't believe that Netscape will ship a product that mandates GAK unless it was required by law to do so. As long as it is legal to sell non-escrowed crypto products in this country or elsewhere, I think we will keep doing it, because that is what our customers want. --Jeff -- Jeff Weinstein - Electronic Munitions Specialist Netscape Communication Corporation jsw@netscape.com - http://home.netscape.com/people/jsw Any opinions expressed above are mine.