ld231782@longs.lance.colostate.edu writes:

Who Has the Keys? -----------------

The evasion of `who stores the keys' makes me wonder. It suggests that the proposal was poorly crafted (which is true in any case), but, more likely, IMHO, the scheme is weak enough for the NSA (but maybe not cops) to break regardless, and hence their casual disregard for this seemingly monumentally crucial point.

It appears that the opposition is using the old rhetorical trick of "begging the question." Rather than stating the important question (which is "Should there be a key registration scheme?"), they jump right over it to "Who will register the keys?". The purpose is to focus debate on the latter issue without anyone stopping to examine the former. However, two can play at that game, as in: "Nobody seems to have thought about what will happen when Clipper is broken." "Developing a system that is "impervious" (to anyone but its developers) required at least four years." Sleazy? Yeah. Not that I'm advocating fighting fire with fire or anything.