Trina, You might want to read Stephen Levy's "Crypto", which is an excellent account of the birth and troubled childhood of the RSA encryption and public key technologies, as well as how our government (U.S.) strove - and finally succeeded in part - to control it's distribution. A very good read... It will give you an excellent starting point.
Our government controls encryption out of NSA because they insist on having the upper hand in the business of knowing what's going on. Releasing strong encryption to the public would endanger this, as it would instantly wind up in the hands of other governments... When PGP was released, it was done so from Germany, I think, to "get around" the problem, and was immediately picked up all over the place. Anyhoo, that might be a good start for you... dd -----Original Message----- From: Williams, Larry [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Thursday, April 25, 2002 8:58 PM To: '[EMAIL PROTECTED]'; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: strong encryption - governments denying individuals the right to use I think I would start the project by jotting down all the reasons one might want strong encryption, then try to come up with a reason why they're bad for government. Think in terms of surveillance or control - what you, as government, might lose. Did you side with the government just to pick a side, or was there some influence? No need to answer me, but do write down your answers and see if they can be used for your paper. -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, April 25, 2002 11:44 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: strong encryption - governments denying individuals the right to use Hi all I am hoping that someone out there may be able to assist me with my assignment. I am having to write a position paper on - should our government (Australian) deny individuals the use of strong encryption? Unfortunately I have challenged myself and decided that I would support the idea of the Government denying individuals the right to use strong encryption. Only problem is I can't find any information that explicitly supports this argument, nor am I sure what I should put in this 'Position Paper'. Any ideas, any at all? Sincerely, Trina ____________________________________________________________________________ ___ Unencrypted electronic mail is not secure and may not be authentic. If you have any doubts as to the contents please telephone to confirm. This electronic transmission is intended only for those to whom it is addressed. It may contain information that is confidential, privileged or exempt from disclosure by law. Any claim to privilege is not waived or lost by reason of mistaken transmission of this information. If you are not the intended recipient you must not distribute or copy this transmission and should please notify the sender. Your costs for doing this will be reimbursed by the sender. ____________________________________________________________________________ ___
