Re: "Key Escrow" --- the very idea
Mike_Spreitzer writes:
(1) I'm not an anarchist. Does that make me out of place here? I'm willing to
Yes, you are out of place. We took a vote a while back and the anarchists won by 173 votes. The detailed rules of discourse we adopted can be found at the csua.berkeley.edu site.
(2) I think crimes can be committed in cyberspace. Substantially, if not entirely, in cyberspace. Maybe not so many now. But I think it's
I know of no one who disagrees. Of course crimes can be committed in cyberspace, whatever one's definition may be of crime. From forwarding copyrighted material to posting GIFs of children being raped to contracting for hits on one's enemies. (Personally, I treat very few things as being criminal, and thus see few things in cyberspace that could possibly be criminal.)
intellectually dishonest of us who understand the growing importance of cyberspace to claim there won't be any social contracts there that could be violated. I accept the terms of the 4th ammendment: search and siezure allowed when due process followed. "Key escrow" is an attempt to implement the cyberspatial analog of search.
Nope. "Key escrow" is far broader. It is telling people they must "escrow" their house keys with the cops, just in case the cops have a need to enter. It is the requirement that all photographs be "escrowed" with the cops, just in case some dirty pictures need to be looked at. It is the requirement that diaries and journals be written in "approved languages," in case authorities need or want to read them. (By the way, your tacit assumption, that key escrow will become mandatory, is probably accurate, but is in fact not the Administration's proposal. They claim it will forever remain voluntary, though they are then silent on just how this will help with the criminals they seek to catch this way.) The remaining points I'll leave for others to critique. Mandatory key escrow is like telling people they have to use special curtains that can be made transparent if the cops think they need to aim their cameras in our houses. Not exactly what I have in mind for my future. --Tim May -- .......................................................................... Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@netcom.com | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero 408-688-5409 | knowledge, reputations, information markets, W.A.S.T.E.: Aptos, CA | black markets, collapse of governments. Higher Power: 2^859433 | Public Key: PGP and MailSafe available. "National borders are just speed bumps on the information superhighway."
"Key escrow" is an attempt to implement the cyberspatial analog of search.
Nope. "Key escrow" is far broader...
The result is certainly broader. Arguably too broad. I was simply trying to say that someone with the narrower motive of trying to implement warranted searches in cyberspace might reach for key escrow as a solution. Mainly for lack of a narrower mechansim. As I tried to say in paragraph (3), I don't think key escrow has to be mandatory to have some value (whether it's enough to make it worthwhile is the essence of the debate). Nor do I think there's any point in outlawing unbreakable cryptography --- your worst outlaws would use it anyway. Also, outlawing it would be more intrusive than required to implement warranted searches --- aren't there some relationships (doctor/patient, lawyer/client, priest/churchgoer) that the courts recognize as sacrosanct? The only arguable strategy, I think, would be for society to say "we're going to subsidize the escrowed key infrastructure so that it will be enough cheaper and more available that most criminals will opt for it for most usage" --- and rely on the power of human stupidity to make it pay off. This requires a comparison of the cost of that public subsidy against the law enforcement payoff (and a design for the distribution of who pays how much of that subsidy). And depends on being able to make a price and/or availability difference that's significant. And while Heinlein warns against underestimating the power of human stupidity, I must say I wonder how long we could expect that most criminals will remain insufficiently funded, educated, or motivated to avoid using the escrowed key infrastructure for incriminating activities. I'm not sure how to evaluate any of these.
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