[118182] in Cypherpunks
Re: Starium's phone encryption
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Eric Blossom)
Tue Sep 21 13:01:02 1999
Date: Tue, 21 Sep 1999 09:33:23 -0700
From: Eric Blossom <eb@starium.com>
To: Lazlo Toth <lazlototh@hempseed.com>
Cc: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>, cypherpunks@cyberpass.net
Message-ID: <19990921093323.B16937@starium.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
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In-Reply-To: <v04210113b40c7ec341c7@[192.168.0.2]>; from Lazlo Toth on Mon, Sep 20, 1999 at 08:31:56PM -0400
Reply-To: Eric Blossom <eb@starium.com>
On Mon, Sep 20, 1999 at 08:31:56PM -0400, Lazlo Toth wrote:
> On or about 3:23 PM -0400 9/20/99, Declan McCullagh wrote:
> >I wrote about Starium last month. Check out wired.com.
> >
> >-Declan
>
>
> I read your story; it doesn't seem to answer the question I'm asking.
>
> In light of the "modem effect" problem (which was Tim May's only
> complaint about his unit in a post to this list dated 7 July), I
> would think that the question "Can it become a multi-vendor
> standard?" is an obvious one. Perhaps you asked it and the answer
> didn't make it into the story?
>
> -Lazlo
>
>
> >At 13:25 9/18/1999 -0400, Lazlo Toth wrote:
> > >I read at <http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG19990423S0015> that, in
> > >addition to selling a sub-$100 hardware device, Eric Blossom's
> > >Starium <http://www.starium.com> intends to license their algorithm
> > >to digital phone manufacturers and is working on a single-chip
> > >solution which can be OEMed for analog phones.
> > >
> > >Does anyone know if Starium intends to release enough details of
> > >their algorithm that others could manufacture compatible devices? Or
> > >are they planning to use patents to enforce a monopoly or milk
> > >licensing revenue from their competitors? (I was unable to find any
> > >US patents assigned to Starium or Comsec, though I am not expert at
> > >patent searches.)
> > >
> > >It would be wonderful if this technology became ubiquitous. An open
> > >standard unencumbered by IP concerns would help a lot. I understand
> > >they use 3DES and Diffie-Hellman, which are both unencumbered,
> > >correct?
We will release enough details to allow others to implement an
interoperable solution. At present, the base system is unencumbered.
We are however looking at using some "non-free" vocoders. We'd use
free ones if they performed adequately at low bit rates, but we
haven't found any we're thrilled about. I'm open to suggestions about
suitable vocoders in the 4800 bit/second and below category. Yes, we
are aware of the FED-STD 1016 CELP coder and the LPC-10e 2400 bit
stuff. If anyone knows of a free MBE or IMBE type vocoder, I'd love
to hear about it.
Eric Blossom
Chief Technical Officer
Starium, Ltd.
