[45044] in Cypherpunks
Re: Netscape announces position against GAK
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Futplex)
Sat Dec 9 05:05:07 1995
To: cypherpunks@toad.com (Cypherpunks Mailing List)
Date: Sat, 9 Dec 1995 05:01:00 -0500 (EST)
Reply-To: cypherpunks@toad.com (Cypherpunks Mailing List)
In-Reply-To: <30C953EC.28BA@netscape.com> from "Jeff Weinstein" at Dec 9, 95 01:16:28 am
From: futplex@pseudonym.com (Futplex)
(Thanks, Jeff)
http://home.netscape.com/newsref/ref/encryption_export.html says (via JW):
> This week Netscape representatives attending a government presentation
> of the administration's proposed Key Escrow Policy for Export detailed
> the company's firm opposition to the proposed policy. Netscape is
> opposed to this type of proposal for a number of reasons including
[...]
> significant personal privacy concerns,
[...]
> consumers inside the United States would be forced to use a
> government-approved key-escrow product if they value the ability to
> communicate with others outside the United States.
[...]
> 3. Corporate and individual rights to privacy are placed in question
> by the current U.S. Government escrow proposal and process. This
> is so because of the mandatory nature of the proposal resulting
> from the key escrow requirement itself
[...]
This is pretty weak w.r.t. GAK ("rights to privacy are placed in question by
the current [...] proposal"). Most of the position statement really
addresses the key length limit. But as far as I'm concerned, it falls clearly
on the anti-GAK side of the line.
(The phrasing "the mandatory nature of the proposal resulting from the
key escrow requirement itself" is a bit ambiguous. I'm taking it to refer to
the mandatory nature of Clipper etc.)
-Futplex <futplex@pseudonym.com>
