[2779] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: The future of the Internet, a few further comments
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU ("Mark W. Eichin")
Mon Jun 1 17:01:49 1992
Date: Mon, 1 Jun 92 16:58:44 -0400
From: eichin@ATHENA.MIT.EDU ("Mark W. Eichin")
To: drw@BOURBAKI.MIT.EDU
Cc: com-priv@psi.com
In-Reply-To: [2777]
drw@BOURBAKI.MIT.EDU writes:
> ... For instance, people are much more paranoid about
> sending sensitive data over the Internet than they are about sending
> it over an ordinary phone connection. This isn't because the telco is
> intrinsiclly more secure, but because they believe that the telco is a
> "repuitable vendor" with relatively little incentive to spy on
> customers.
Actually, it's because there are Federal Laws against
wiretapping, which apply to the telephone. No such laws exist for the
Internet (the ECPA doesn't even come close.)
Of course, now that many "terminals" are really PC's, it's
practical to get end-to-end encryption and authentication, so trusting
in the security of the phone line is no longer necessary.
_Mark_ <eichin@athena.mit.edu>
MIT Student Information Processing Board
Cygnus Support <eichin@cygnus.com>
