-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- There's an announcement in the latest comp.risks digest about a new book on public key law & policy. I've reproduced parts of the abstract below. It sounds pretty interesting. - -Paul

Date: Sun, 31 Jul 1994 08:51:33 -0400 (EDT) From: Michael S Baum <baum@world.std.com> Subject: Report Released on Public Key Law and Policy

**NEW INFO. SECURITY BOOK ON PUBLIC KEY LAW & POLICY** TITLE: FEDERAL CERTIFICATION AUTHORITY LIABILITY AND POLICY -- Law and Policy of Certificate-Based Public Key and Digital Signatures AUTHOR: MICHAEL S. BAUM, J.D., M.B.A. Independent Monitoring Report No. NIST-GCR-94-654 450+ pages, highly annotated; multiple appendices; indexed. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Institute of Standards and Technology Produced in support of the Federal Government's public key infrastructure study, this book identifies diverse technical, legal and policy issues affecting a certificate-based public key cryptographic infrastructure utilizing digital signatures supported by "trusted entities." It examines potential legal implications, surveys existing legal paradigms and the structures and roles of relevant governmental agencies and presents various institutional approaches to controlling liability. It considers the underpinnings of a legal and policy framework which might serve as a foundation for security policies and their implementation and concludes with a series of recommendations, both general and specific concerning certificate-based public key. Both public and private sector issues are addressed. [ .. elided .. ] SUMMARY OF CONTENTS: - - PREFACE - - ACKNOWLEDGMENTS - - TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION II. SCOPE III. DEFINITIONS IV. ASSUMPTIONS V. SURVEY OF FCA ACTIVITIES CREATING LIABILITY EXPOSURE VI. LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS VII. FCA INFRASTRUCTURE - PROPOSALS AND PARADIGMS VIII. SURVEY OF, AND APPROACHES TO, TRUSTED ENTITY LIABILITY IX. OTHER APPROACHES TO MITIGATE LIABILITY X. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS XI. APPENDICES XII. GLOSSARY XIII. INDEX OBTAINING COPIES: Copies may be purchased through the National Technical Information Service, Springfield, Virginia 22161, U.S.A., Phone +1 (703) 487-4650 or 1-800-553-6847. Request NTIS Document No: PB94-191-202. Cost: $61.00 [ .. ABOUT THE AUTHOR elided .. ] - -- Paul Robichaux, KD4JZG | "Information is the currency of democracy." perobich@ingr.com | - some old guy named Thomas Jefferson Of course I don't speak for Intergraph. - -- Paul Robichaux, KD4JZG | "Information is the currency of democracy." perobich@ingr.com | - some old guy named Thomas Jefferson Of course I don't speak for Intergraph. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6 iQCVAgUBLkDl46fb4pLe9tolAQFMgQQAvjuMgOxXArhyu3GXZHdpNf3ZgZpQMI4H E/DXESVRsK0adydt3cexOXMVxlzEPYM7IEqnumAx2qX3Mx0l0xAKtPnn9f09BS92 dwG/hOInI6dekvkB/4xJOGLWYfM0z3k+QuyzK+xyhEhNHspHDJIvpc7Yo3jr0GJz 1p5A0OZYa1o= =j4Qb -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----