Why is cryptoanarchy irreversible?

[Daniel T. Hagan]

On Thu, 7 Nov 1996, Peter Hendrickson wrote:

> It appears to be widely believed that cryptoanarchy is irreversible.
> Everybody believes that the race to deploy or forbid strong cryptography
> will define the outcome for a long time.
> 
> I can't think of a reason why this should be so.
> 
> If the wide use of strong cryptography results in widely unpopular
> activities such as sarin attacks and political assassinations, it
> would not be all that hard to forbid it, even after deployment.
> 
> I am curious why many people believe this is not true.
> 
> Peter Hendrickson
> ph at netcom.com

If I understand the reasoning, people beleive it is easier to prevent the
release of strong crypto. techiniques than to remove them once they are
released.  

Once a terrorist has strong crypto, why should they stop using it if it
becomes illegal?

Daniel

---
Daniel Hagan                 http://acm.vt.edu/~dhagan                CS Major 
dhagan at vt.edu 	       http://acm.vt.edu/~dhagan/PGPkey.html     Virginia Tech
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