[6063] in cryptography@c2.net mail archive
The government's role in intrusion detection. (was Re: TBTF Log,
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Robert Hettinga)
Mon Nov 15 12:15:15 1999
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Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1999 08:51:34 -0500
To: cypherpunks@cyberpass.net, cryptography@c2.net
From: Robert Hettinga <rah@shipwright.com>
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At 5:06 PM -0500 on 11/14/99, Keith Dawson wrote:
> ++ The government's role in intrusion detection.
> 10:43:12 am
>
> Tuesday evening I attended a forum [1] at Stanford sponsored by the Law
> Department and the ACM: "The government's role in computer surveillance
> and the Federal Intrusion Detection Network, FIDNet." Panelists were
> Whit Diffie (Sum Microsystems, co-inventor of public-key crypto),
> Marc Rotenberg (director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center),
> and Scott Charney (until recently chief prosecutor in the DoJ computer
> crimes unit). Moderating was John Markoff, the NY Times's man in Silicon
> Valley. The tone was consistently polite and cordial; no one engaged in
> games of bait-the-Fed (well, ex-Fed).
>
> Diffie engaged the audience with humor. When asked a question about the
> liklihood of UKUSA member states swapping Echelon data to evade
> domestic proscriptions on eavesdroping on their own citizens, Diffie
> became George Smiley from Le Carre's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy [2].
> He folded his hands over his belly, leaned back, and roundly
> proclaimed,
>
> > Well that's the thing about secrets, Roddy. You don't know.
>
> Markoff took questions in writing from the audience. I watched him open
> mine and smile slightly. He asked the panelists on my behalf:
>
> > Do citizens have the right to communicate privately?
> > - or -
> > Does the government have the right to know the content of any
> > communication?
> > Each panelist, please craft a reply of 50 words or fewer.
>
> Each panelist ignored the bit about the 50 words. Here is the essense
> of their answers.
>
> - Scott Charney: yes, and yes.
>
> - Whit Diffie: citizens have the right to make any effort they wish to
> keep their conversations private.
>
> - Marc Rotenberg: answered from the Libertarian camp, where he "visits
> but doesn't live." Doesn't think governments have rights. The
> government has authority to conduct a search, but doesn't have the
> right to get what they seek. We recognize the government's interests,
> but the rights go to the people.
>
> [1] http://tbtf.com/blog/1999-10-24.html#2
> [2] http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0671042734/tbtf
> TBTF home and archive at http://tbtf.com/ . To unsubscribe send
> the message "unsubscribe" to tbtf-request@tbtf.com, or visit
> http://tbtf.com/#autosub . TBTF is Copyright 1994-1999 by Keith
> Dawson, <dawson@world.std.com>. Commercial use prohibited. For
> non-commercial purposes please forward, post, and link as you
> see fit.
> _______________________________________________
> Keith Dawson dawson@world.std.com
> Layer of ash separates morning and evening milk.
-----------------
Robert A. Hettinga <mailto: rah@ibuc.com>
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'
