At 02:52 PM 10/24/03 -0700, Tim May wrote:

The U.S. had plans for the contracts to deploy cellphones to go to American companies, but

the local puppets must have had no fear of the Americans, as they went with a better bribe: mostly Arabic cellphone providers will deploy the initial system.

Yes, but who makes their equiptment? How do you say backdoor in Arabic?

So, what would happen if even 5% of the cellphones were encrypted with a sufficiently-strong system (Eric's 3DES would presumably be enough)?

Those 5% get a special visit from the Colonial Eye for the Arabic Guy, (a Fox production) where they get to wear a nifty black hood complemented by a spiffy nylon bracelet for both hands. And then they get some special counseling from the friendly boys from interrogation. Its amazing how far a cell phone will go up a rectum when you really want an answer... What they need is good stego.