It seems to me that a cryptographic key is property in the same sense that the formula for Coca Cola is property. A cryptographic key is intellectual property. This intellectual property is typically protected as a trade secret.
Intellectual property need not be brought into being by a creative act. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_property A key has value that includes the value of the resources expended in its care and feeding. Monetary losses including the value of the key and the value of the assets that the key protects may be suffered if they fall into unauthorized hands. Liability accrues unauthorized possession of a key both to the possessor and to the entity charged with ensuring that unauthorized possession did not occur. In summary, it seems to me that the assertion that one owns a key has commonly understood meaning and thus some nature of property rights do attach to a cryptographic key. Cheers, Scott --------------------------------------------------------------------- The Cryptography Mailing List Unsubscribe by sending "unsubscribe cryptography" to [email protected]
