AT&T Press Release on Clipper

[hkhenson at cup.portal.com]

On Sun, 18 Apr 1993 09:49:35 -0500 Dave Banisar 
<banisar at washofc.cpsr.org> posted: 

>Subject: AT&T Press Release on Clipper
>
>Here's AT&T's announcement on the Clipper.
>
>
> AT&T TO INCORPORATE NEW 'CLIPPER' CHIP INTO SECURE COMMUNICATIONS
>PRODUCT LINE
>
>GREENSBORO, N.C., April 16
>
>    AT&T (NYSE: T) said today it is moving to improve the security and privacy
>of telephone communications by incorporating a just-announced new U.S.
>government technology for voice  encryption  into its secure communications
>product line.
>
>   AT&T will use the Clipper chip, announced today by President Clinton as a 

[mucho deleted]

>    AT&T Secure Communications Systems is headquartered in Greensboro.
>    For more information about the AT&T Telephone Security Device 3600
>and other AT&T Secure Communications Products, call David Arneke at
>919-279-7680.
>     CONTACT: David Arneke of AT&T Secure Communications Systems, 919-279-
>7680,or after hours, 919-273-5687, or Herb Linnen of AT&T Media Relations,
>202-457-3933, or after hours, 202-333-9162
             
Expecting to get a recording or something of the like, I called the 
last of these numbers, and got a considerably agitated Herb Lennen--at 
home--who had already been the recipient of a call or two.  He was not 
happy, to put it mildly!  I kindly informed him that his home phone 
number had been posted all over the computer nets by someone posting 
an official ATT press release, and that the government's universal 
wiretap chip, er Clipper chip, was fast becoming a controversial 
topic.  He accused me of being with an "organized hacker group," and 
stated that he only talks to people from news organizations of the NYT 
and Wall Street Journal size.  I offered to send him a sample of the 
comments, but he declined to give me his email address.  (Though I 
suspect that Herb_Lennen at att.com might work.) 

Most interesting though, he told me that John Markoff had written the 
definitive (and he implied positive) story on the chip.  Yo John!  If 
you are not reading the cypherpunks list for the "other side" of this 
story, you might want to. 

Keith Henson