[TARGET ACQUIRED] Cryptography in France

[Thomas Hennes]

Timothy C. May wrote:
> 
> I gave a talk a couple of years ago in France (well, Monte Carlo, actually,
> but the conference was heavily francocentric), and it was clear to me that
> France is in the Dark Ages on these issues.

Not all issues.. France is not in the Dark ages in matters of computer
smarts or network connectivity, but...

> Sure, they've got "Minitel," an ostensibly ubiquitous network. But Minitel
> is actually a primitive, sub-Prodigy-class system, controlled by the
> government of France and associated special interests (France Telecom,
> etc.).

...but yeah, we suffered from the Minitel at the same time that BBSes
were flourishing in the US. Calling the Minitel a sub-Prodigy-class
system is, believe me, an insult to Prodigy. The Minitel transmitted at
75 bps in one direction and 300 bps in the other, and -you had guessed
it- it was only a matter of state-monopoly France Telecom wanting to
make more money whereas they had the technical knowledge to implement a
much better system. The Minitel did nothing but delay the arrival of the
Internet and other PC-based networks, setting networking in France
several years back in terms of technicality and economic opportunity.

> The number of French persons actively on the Internet is fairly low--ask
> yourself how many ".fr" domain names you've seen lately, and when you last
> saw one on Cypherpunks? I see many more Finnish and even New Zealand domain
> names.

Don't let this fool you.. A LOT of net users in France do not have the
dreaded
".fr" domain. There is quite a number of ".com" and ".net" French users
on the Internet. And I am a living example of the fact (this is my real
address up there, not a US-based remailer).

> Further, encryption is heavily restricted in France. As one French friend
> put it, "You can apply for a license to use crypto--the same way you would
> apply for a license to buy your own Exocet missile."

This is sad, because this is true. Which was all the reason why I wrote
the original message in that thread.

> So, France is somewhere near the bottom of my list of fertile grounds for
> crypto anarchy.

Why? It is probably easier to implement crypto anarchy in other, more
fertile grounds, but the question is, is it more _useful_ ?

Thomas Hennes
aie-rd at pobox.oleane.com