-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Dear Editor, Most everybody I know puts almost all mail in an envelope before dropping it in the mailbox. The only time we do otherwise is when sending a postcard that says, "I'm here, wish you were fine." So why does everybody send all email in a way that's just as easy to read as a postcard? Why, then, all the fuss over ASU officials reading electronic postcards? If you don't trust the various system operators through whose computer your message might pass, put your email in an envelope--by encrypting it. If you use the most popular email encryption software on the Internet, PGP--Pretty Good Privacy, written by Philip Zimmerman and now maintained and distributed by MIT--then even the National Security Agency, the super-secret government agency entrusted with electronic surveillance, would resort to a beating with a rubber hose before expending the computer power necessary to decrypt your messages. And that's making the rather doubtful assumption that such power even exists. In other words, only my friend John could tell you that - -----BEGIN PGP MESSAGE----- Version: 2.6 hIwCHxG346w4ZyEBBACo5V85syKa2oJ+TpgR5/NFqiSlFLXxSTFQghLb0owAHHqN 9cAmaJB7kvMWq3vKIP/p9s+DCFtuPLe2FF3UFYc9iOibd4LrxWPZpHzHN0DvqiCm 1M8HxJ+DgUpWHZ2jwTTZL/2XR3sfbqw6NyGgDrMspNLXsPu4WN9jctumUfyS/KYA AADRbSMnDQQZFC040LykyL783+ezN8EnLlBRZeXxqSs1fjULqybj0t9x9Sb4EGKG S3KvFUuGfvSBmrx/IKsDyAZ/5LZuFk0KhdGI/a3zP8/Bt4umQQOtIlwh3Kl/qV7I 42sh8Cx1tgXnDrfDav3pXOjlCwcjp8ChvHy79YUcUMuCGnm80fs+I7YjMKeHHlm0 qPcYE3AZRkfu8dRqisD+raXn8bpgzvyvEaFs5IMJjIhb9n3i5UaU3C3HmsvNrAps 3MTgfhDTN+XkrsaJygTvva67/5Q= =FQw9 - -----END PGP MESSAGE----- Really means, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." Since I've deleted the original, even I couldn't tell you what it says except from my own fading memory. Because of an obscure code of laws known as the International Trafficking in Arms Regulations, strong cryptography, including PGP, is classified right up there with anti-tank missiles. Never mind that any program that is readily available in the States is also readily available abroad, there are stiff fines and prison sentences for those who export cryptography from the US or Canada. Thus, if you wish to get a copy of PGP for yourself--absolutely free--you must get it directly from MIT. Use anonymous FTP--which you can do from any computing site on campus--to connect to net-dist.mit.edu, and get the file /pub/PGP/README. It contains instructions on how to get the software. While a technical description of how PGP works is beyond a letter to the Editor, I would be more than happy to provide such via email to those who ask. Just write to me at Ben.Goren@asu.edu And, of course, PGP-encrypted messages are most welcome. Yours truly, Ben Goren Faculty Associate School of Music 5-0429 -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6 Comment: My key is not 'escrowed' with any government agency. iQCVAgUBLlrPMkNl71nP8jvVAQGyVAP9HyYZcmhssvvtFMrZ6kISvs4jXsgvx5ZT UHJYzcmtMXoQOP+xYZeLh31ILiX8glJXUeq1n49HNIRh10YPxAeAj3zVQCWlBIbX SjMEQpYDdNpE8sTULL0nmKlGq5P9q89KEfHlT8C8CZyS0+0ZaY2dFs4uYGaFdDq4 zyCVVTrEyUk= =lbBs -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- Note to those receiving this message as a Cc: This letter is in response to a front-page article and an editorial in Arizona State University's student newspaper, the _State Press._ The one described and the other decried a draft resolution which would formalize the current policy of allowing administrators to examine any account on any university computer for no cause other than "reasonable suspicion." b& -- Ben.Goren@asu.edu, Arizona State University School of Music net.proselytizing (write for info): The battle is over; Clipper is dead. But the war against Government Access to Keys (GAK) goes on. Finger ben@tux.music.asu.edu for PGP 2.6 public key ID 0xCFF23BD5.