[118097] in Cypherpunks
Re: more re Encryption Technology Limits Eased
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (John Young)
Sun Sep 19 20:27:08 1999
Message-Id: <199909192355.TAA09684@smtp7.atl.mindspring.net>
Date: Sun, 19 Sep 1999 19:44:51 -0400
To: Charlie_Kaufman@iris.com
From: John Young <jya@pipeline.com>
Cc: duncan@gn.apc.org, cypherpunks@toad.com
In-Reply-To: <OFE5CF566E.DC10CB89-ON852567F1.007A6656@iris.com>
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Reply-To: John Young <jya@pipeline.com>
Charlie,
Thanks for that note which accurately recalls your post of
the '96 press release to cpunks. There was much discussion
about it then as well. I've passed your note along to Duncan
Campbell, author of the EU report, and copied him this in case
there's a need for a clarification of Lotus Notes foreign usage.
Would you have information on whether NSA has used the
public key required of Lotus Notes?
Has Lotus experienced a dip in foreign sales with each publication
of the "secret key"?
These questions are not meant to be offensive, for it would be
helpful to other producers if more was learned about the
consequences of Lotus' compact with NSA, especially if Lotus
could reveal whether the price paid has turned out to be greater
than expected. If that has been the case, Lotus might have good
reason to lead a campaign for relief from a NSA public key, based
on your precedent-setting experience.
With the latest administration encryption policy "update: it appears
that pressure will continue to be exerted on US producers to cripple
products for foreign export. Lotus Notes (and IBM) might reclaim its
unblemished reputation if it could help get rid of this.
I suppose most operators of Web sites NSA surveils know that
the Agency is a heavy user of Lotus Notes. Why the guys download
two copies of every file accessed by Notes is peculiar, or is that
a double-check counterintel feature?
John
