[103942] in Cypherpunks
Re: Web TV with 128b exported
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Information Security)
Tue Oct 6 21:46:25 1998
From: Information Security <guy@panix.com>
Date: Tue, 6 Oct 1998 21:19:30 -0400 (EDT)
To: cypherpunks@cyberpass.net
Reply-To: Information Security <guy@panix.com>
> From: SDN <sdn@divcom.slimy.com>
> William H. Geiger III wrote:
> > David Honig said:
> > >http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/981005/ca_microso_1.html
> >
> > >MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Oct. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Microsoft Corp.'s (Nasdaq:
> > >MSFT - news) WebTV Networks today announced it is the first U.S. company
> > >to obtain government approval to export nonkey recovery-based
> > >128-bit-strength encryption for general commercial use. WebTV Networks
> > >pioneered low-cost access to the Internet, e-mail, financial services and
> > >electronic shopping through a television set and a standard phone line.
> >
> > I have my doubts on this. I find it highly unlikely that the FEDs would
> > approve this without some form of GAK built in even if it is not in the
> > form of "key recovery".
>
> It's probably a lot closer to the "private doorbell" scenario. The only
> thing that a WebTV unit will communicate with is the WebTV service (or
> the Japanese variant thereof).
>
> Since all traffic goes through a point that will likely cooperate with
> law enforcement (and has remote control of the boxes, too.), this doesn't
> represent much of a loosening in the export controls.
Hmmm...
# http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/981005/ca_microso_1.html
#
# ...without fear of interception by unauthorized parties.
Said with a lawyer's precision.
# http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/981005/ca_microso_1.html
#
# William Reinsch, U.S. undersecretary for export administration:
# ``The WebTV Network provides secure communications for its
# customers and partners without posing undue risks to
# national security and law enforcement.''
Either it is interceptable and decodable or it isn't.
If it isn't, then software browsers (Netscape/IE) should
be allowed to do it too.
Perhaps Declan could investigate and get a story out of it.
----
Can someone with control of a 128-bit HTTP server see if
it can identify 128-bit keys from WebTV terminals?
---guy
