[548] in libertarians
Re: PGP Creator needs your help
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Kevin THEOBALD)
Fri Jan 6 15:30:22 1995
From: theobald@duke.cs.mcgill.ca (Kevin THEOBALD)
Date: Fri, 6 Jan 1995 15:28:39 -0500
In-Reply-To: Vernon Imrich's message [PGP Creator needs your help] as of Jan 6, 14:05
To: Vernon Imrich <vimrich@MIT.EDU>, libertarians@MIT.EDU
| There is a law prohibiting the export of encryption software from the US.
Yes, even the unix "crypt" command can't be exported. A German in our lab
just told me that "crypt" is unavailable on unix machines exported to
Germany, which is really silly considering the origin of crypt:
crypt implements a one-rotor machine designed along the
lines of the German Enigma, but with a 256-element rotor.
Methods of attack on such machines are widely known, thus
crypt provides minimal security.
[from the crypt man page]
(The German Enigma was a mechanical coder used by the Nazis [the originals,
not their imitators in the US government] during WWII and broken by Alan
Turing.)
Kevin
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| Well, like they say: Live and learn -- die and teach the gene pool. |
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