[6193] in cryptography@c2.net mail archive
Re: Export control of Java VM ??
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Ben Laurie)
Thu Dec 2 17:31:38 1999
Message-ID: <3846EBFE.51FCD992@algroup.co.uk>
Date: Thu, 02 Dec 1999 22:00:30 +0000
From: Ben Laurie <ben@algroup.co.uk>
MIME-Version: 1.0
To: Ron Rivest <rivest@theory.lcs.mit.edu>
Cc: cryptography@c2.net
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Ron Rivest wrote:
>
> Here's a thought exercise:
>
> What happens if someone applies for an export license for a Java
> Virtual Machine, which he intends to use as an "encryption routine"?
> The idea (which is not new) is that a Java program (Java byte code)
> would be the "key" for the encryption. It specifies how to turn
> the input message into the output plaintext. Thus, the VM is doing
> the encryption work as specified by the byte-coded "key".
Of course, you can make the same argument for, say, a Pentium.
Also, anyone who has done their Turing machines 101 knows that any
Turing machine can be rewritten as data (i.e. "a key") for the universal
Turing machine...
Cheers,
Ben.
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