Why escrow? (was Re: How would Leahy bill affect crypto

[JonWienke at aol.com]

In a message dated 96-03-15 02:56:56 EST, Jim Bell cites Deranged Mutant:

>And if you recall the requirements the government wanted to put on 
>telephones equipped with Clipper, one thing they eventually admitted was 
>that they were insisting that such phones be designed to be inoperable with 
>a telephone that had its "key-escrow" not "enabled".  And they still wanted
>to 
>call it "voluntary!  That's a laugh!
>
>
>>Of course that depends how you give your key to an escrow agent. If 
>>it's already escrowed when you buy a phone, for instance...
>
>That's the real danger with any such legislation.  Individuals can generally

>only get things that are manufactured for sale.  (You can't buy a car with a

>7-cylinder engine, for instance...)  If manufacturers are dissuaded from 
>building a good crypto telephone, then key-escrow can be as "voluntary" as 
>you want and you still won't be able to exercise your rights. 

Of course, you could always hack up a direct-dial version of PGPfone or
Nautilus to turn your multimedia computer into a crypto phone...

Jonathan Wienke