-- On 23 May 2002 at 10:57, Meyer Wolfsheim wrote:

3. The people who might use it if it is easy.

This is Joe Sixpack. This is who you are worrying about, wanting S/MIME to deliver on its promises. This is Templeton is worrying about, wanting opportunistic mail encryption.

Joe sixpack is willing and able to make the necessary mental effort if there is money at stake -- which of course there is not. The first recorded use of envelopes in mail was in financial transactions. People would create a clay tablet containing marks representing so many goods of this type, so many goods of another type, bake it, then wrap in another clay envelope, and bake that. Right now Joe Sixpack relies on the widely shared secret of his credit card number, and that sharing worries him more than somewhat. Problems resulting from that sharing are dealt with by the credit card company's arbitration facitilities, which cost him, the card company, and the merchant dearly. The big lack of demand for encryption by Joe Sixpack is a result of the lack of financial transactions using the internet between Joe sixpack and Bob sixpack. --digsig James A. Donald 6YeGpsZR+nOTh/cGwvITnSR3TdzclVpR0+pr3YYQdkG GLOU6WqBTbh5/1XBintStENCsUIWt7tnZNUrmtbZ 4ydGcwGiWOaRxYAIjlkIr8jUnEMBYpo4PElVUT14t