I caught your piece on the Op-Ed page. Of course I agree with you about the fact that there is a need for wiretaps. But I think that there are serious problems with the Clipper chip. It is very expensive compared to software only solutions and it is also very, very brittle. First the cost: * Every extra chip adds to cost, battery usage and pocket bulge. This is a heavy price to pay for something that could be done in software. Many of the next generation digital phones, for instance, use a DSP. There are more than enough spare cycles available to do encryption. * The high cost is effectively a tax on privacy for the average person. It is easy to imagine clipper chips adding $100 to the cost of an already digital phone, fax machine or computer. The poor are just as much targets as the rich. In fact, they are often easier targets because no one wants to bother chasing down a fake credit card transaction or bank account withdrawl if it only amounts to $75. If a chip was necessary, then it would be a different story. Software could help all of America, not just the rich. Now the Fragility: * The first generation of Capstone chips is already obsolete. They're worthless. All of the money that went into fabbing and producing them is gone. Why? Because the NSA discovered a weakness in the Secure Hash ALgorithm. They've fixed it now, but all the old chips are worthless. * Imagine that problems arise well after the chip is standardized. What will millions of Americans do? All of the digital phones, fax machines and modem cards will need to be replaced. * Now imagine that a pair of turncoats sell out America and put both halves of the key escrow on the black market. If we're lucky enough to discover this leak, it could easily take 6 months to a year to replace our now worthless phone system. * Software, on the other hand, is very easy to change. In many cases, the anti-virus programs travel faster than the viruses. These are the main reasons why I think that the Clipper is a boondoggle. Software based solutions would solve all of these problems _except_ the government's desire for a firm grip on the world and technology. -Peter Wayner