---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sat, 8 May 1993 01:57:56 +0800 From: John Perry Barlow <barlow@eff.org> To: Steve Jackson <sjackson@tic.com>, eff-austin@tic.com, eff-austin-directors@tic.com Cc: thesegroups@tic.com Subject: Re: An end to the PGP quarrel? At 2:13 AM 5/7/93 -0500, Steve Jackson wrote:

The creator of PGP has proposed to Jim Bidzos of RSA that RSA approve a new, already-written version of PGP which uses "RSAREF," an unprotected version of the PGP algorithm. I propose that EFF-Austin write to Bidzos endorsing the suggestion.

While I don't necessarily want to us to stampede at ol' Jim I wrote him the following yesterday: Jim, John Gilmore passed on to me Phil Zimmerman's recent peace overture to you. I expect I am joined by nearly everyone who cares about the issue of cryptography in the hope that you will bury an understandable sense of rancor and accept his offer. Further, if there is anything which the Electronic Frontier Foundation can do to introduce light and good will into the area between you and Phil, be assured we are ready and willing. While I realize that PGP has been a burr under your saddle for the last two years...growing steadily more irritating as it proliferated like a virus around the planet...one could argue that it has actually done PK Partners more good that harm. By introducing thousands to both public key cryptography and the RSA approach to it, it has gone a long way toward establishing RSA as the de facto international standard for personal encryption. This can only work to your long term benefit. On the other hand, if the current course of things remains fixed and no resolution is made between PK Partners and Phil, then PGP will continue to be modified and improved by many international volunteers and will eventually become seriously competitive to your own products. To me, it appears you have a choice between a position where everybody loses and one where everybody wins. Perhaps I'm wrong, but the only factor which supports the former course is an emotional sense of violated principle. As I say, I could hardly fault you for feeling bitter after all that's happened, but I sincerely hope you'll be able to rise above it. And please let me know if we can help in any way. Thanks, John Perry Barlow