At 11:57 AM 4/5/96 -0800, Timothy C. May wrote:

If the secrets or assets _cannot_ be retrieved--a scenario which is possible, if the protocol is so written (clauses for court action)--then contempt charges are meaningless and would not stand, IMNALO.

The Black Unicorn indicates that if the reason the secrets _cannot_ be retrieved is because they are in a jurisdiction which refuses to reveal them when the owner is under compulsion, the owner can still be punished for contempt (A contractual situation). I don't know what would happen if they _cannot_ be retrieved for technical reasons. If a communication key was aggreeded to be DH exchange and then discarded, I would think this would be analogous to asking for a document that was destroyed (before the subpoena) as part of a policy of destroying obsolete documents. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Bill Frantz | The CDA means | Periwinkle -- Computer Consulting (408)356-8506 | lost jobs and | 16345 Englewood Ave. frantz@netcom.com | dead teenagers | Los Gatos, CA 95032, USA