[Anti-strong, nonescrowed crypto, at least. There's never enough space in Subject: lines. Previous messages: http://www.politechbot.com/cgi-bin/politech.cgi?name=sudia --DBM] ********** From: "Frank Sudia" <frankat_private> To: "Carl Ellison" <cmeat_private> Cc: "Declan McCullagh" <declanat_private> Subject: The Razor Blade Genie is Out of the Bottle Date: Sat, 22 Sep 2001 14:37:55 -0700 > I was talking about the nature of strong cryptography itself and > the reasons that it is ubiquitous and can not be controlled. I > notice that you chose not to address that issue, so I am forced > to assume you cannot. Carl, It is ludicrous to argue that because crypto is widely available it cannot (or should not) be regulated. Razor blades and box cutters are also widely available, and in fact it is easy to make sharp instruments by grinding pieces of metal. Basement factories would be trivial to set up. This does not mean we cannot outlaw assault, robbery, or other crimes committed using such weapons. As I make more clear in today's edits (not a lot new) as a matter of control systems theory, ALL your freedoms that are worth anything are 100% derived from the presence of a strong and effective government, to enforce them against your local warlord. To impede reasonable law enforcement and investigation is an "insult," in the medical sense, to our government. This was certainly grasped in the 1600s (think 30 Years War), but has been forgotten by those blinded by the affluence of our exuberant era. The time sequence is (1) effective government formed, (2) meaningful guarantees of liberty go into effect. If reverse the time ordering, you wind up with nothing. The legislative power of the people (not me, the crypto guys are the megalo maniacs) could disable every existing copy of PGP. However until you decide that you are on the side of preserving civilization, I see little benefit to be gained from public discussion of this and many other potentially effective measures. Not just you, but everyone it seems, is in denial about just how serious and fundamental of a problem this is. Also you might want to read de Tocqueville, where he notes that in a democracy if you can get 51% you can go after anyone. When you mess around with sovereign power, it's not a walk in the park. Declan, what about you? Are you an objective policy analyst, or a creature of your dot-com readership? Feel free to repost this, with its title intact please. Cheers, Frank www.sudialab.com/sov-eppc.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/ To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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