Timed-release crypto and information economics

[Michael Shields]

In article <199511091852.NAA01172 at bioanalytical.com>,
Beavis B. Thoopit <beavis at bioanalytical.com> wrote:
> initialize buffer to '12#fjKL3_*(ASDdj1ll3_13 asdfasd-1-3!#!23'
> do forever      /* actually until the plaintext spews out */
>   sleep 1 unit
>   for each element in the buffer
>     buffer[ element ] = magictransform( buffer[ element ] )

But the "sleep one unit" part is vulnerable, unless (a) the whole device
is physically armored, which is probably not easier than armoring a
memory chip; or (b) the process -- the whole device, not just a clock --
is based on some basic principle of physics that has time in the equation.
-- 
Shields.