> I think there were two major factors that motivated the choice of RSA. First
> BSAFE was existing code that could just be used. In a startup, it's very
> important that you not waste time reinventing wheels that you can buy off the
> shelf. Finally, the most popular piece of crypto software at the time was PGP,
> which also used RSA.
I share Tom's opinion that the decision at Netscape was not
nearly as complex as Vin alludes to. I doubt there was a "conspiracy"
but simple issues such as PGP, the existence of BSAFE, and perhaps an
existing friendly relationship between Netscape and RSA senior
management affected the decision much more than complex security
policy concerns involving the NSA.
--
sameer
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