From mech Thu Apr 21 21:12:02 1994 Received: (mech@localhost/mech) by eff.org (8.6.8.1/8.6.8) id VAA19846 for mech; Thu, 21 Apr 1994 21:12:02 -0400 From: Stanton McCandlish Message-Id: <199404220112.VAA19846@eff.org> Subject: Forwarded mail... To: mech (Stanton McCandlish) Date: Thu, 21 Apr 1994 21:12:02 -0400 (EDT) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Length: 5872 Status: RO Forwarded message: >From ssimpson@eff.org Fri Apr 8 14:21:11 1994 Date: Fri, 8 Apr 1994 14:21:09 -0400 Message-Id: <199404081821.OAA08111@eff.org> X-Sender: ssimpson@eff.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" To: info@eff.org, mech@eff.org From: STU388801940@WSC.COLORADO.EDU (by way of ssimpson@eff.org (Sarah Simpson)) Please enlist me as a member of EFF. My full name is Steven Dennis Peterson, my address is STU388801940@wsc.colorado.edu (e-mail) and 202 S.Main, Gunnison, Co, 81230. Currently, I am serving my first stint as Editor of I.C.S., an electro-zine published on the Western State Campus and distributed around the world via e-mail. We have about 1100 subscribers right now, and we are contemplating posting on the use-net. If you are interested in reviewing our work, send a message to org_zine@wsc.colorado.edu or contact me personally. Enclosed find a one-page manifesto highlighting some of the issues surrounding the Clipper proposal (curiously, I haven't seen these points brought up in the debate so far, but I'm just a Net neophyte). Feel free to redistribute this piece if you so desire. Thank You, and count me in as a strong supporter of your organization. Steve ************************************************************************* A Cautionary Note to Congress By Steven Peterson The Clipper Chip is doomed to fail miserably ... for many reasons. Our government's arrogance and ignorance shine through with a special luminosity on this piece of legislation. One of the first laws of the digital culture (if you can build it, we can hack it) will prevent the chip from serving its intended purpose. No matter how brilliantly you may design it, there are sixteen-year-old kids out there who *will* tear it apart, figure it out, and subvert it for their own purposes. Simply for the challenge it offers. The Clipper proposal makes as much sense as building a state-of-the-art safe, sticking a million dollars in it, and then putting it in a safe-cracker's living room. It will be broken, it's just a matter of time. The underlying arrogance of the NSA and the designers of this chip will prove to be their downfall; there is no way any team of individuals can stay ahead of the collective abilities of an entire sub- culture bent on maintaining its right to privacy. The second law of the digital culture (if it can be established, it can be subverted and/or compromised) will give the NSA more grief than the first law. Anyone bent on using the National Information Infrastucture (NII) for nefarious purposes is going to love the Clipper. Government agencies are not the only organizations which understand the value of dis-information. Anyone bright enough to use advanced tele-communications is bright enough to send anyone listening in on wild goose chases around the globe. Remote login and mirror commands will distract investigative agents, embedded or multiple layers of encryption will confuse the issue, and with 40 million plus users of e-mail, the sheer volume will prohibit any systematic efforts to isolate criminal or terrorist messages. The third law of the digital culture (knowledge cannot be suppressed) points out the "pandora's box" problem of attempting to control encryption; PGP and other encryption programs are already out there. The government can prohibit, proscribe, and prosecute, but it cannot put the djinni back in the bottle. Drawing battle-lines between the Constitution and the NSA's misguided, foolish attempt to maintain its ability to snoop at will only divides our nation and diverts everyone from the real issue - how can we use this tool to improve the state and quality of human civilization. Technology is rapidly changing the human condition; wasting grotesque amounts of money trying to prevent any undesirable elements from changing with it is as foolish as trying to stop the hands of time. I realize that we all must bow to the absurd from time to time; however, the price tag on the Clipper folly is just too high to quietly accept. Dissipating our time, money, and energy on a quixotic battle to contain the uncontainable will only slow progress. The Clinton White House and Congress must face the fact that the only way to achieve any real control of digital communication will be to: a) dismantle the Internet; b) confiscate all computers and modems (and the parts used to build them); and c) transform our nation into a totalitarian state. No power on Earth has managed to make that plan succeed (the first example that springs to mind is the underground 'Net distribution of reports from Chinese students during the Tianneman Square demonstrations). Indeed, no plan to grant a government that sort of power deserves to succeed - it's an open insult to the dignity and character of human beings. Please feel free to re-distribute this note to all who are involved in this debate. We must STOP and THINK before we set in motion any measure such as Clipper which threatens to rend the fabric of our society. Future generations of Americans will not forgive us for our ignorance and short-sightedness on this issue. Act Now! -- Stanton McCandlish * mech@eff.org * Electronic Frontier Found. OnlineActivist "In a Time/CNN poll of 1,000 Americans conducted last week by Yankelovich Partners, two-thirds said it was more important to protect the privacy of phone calls than to preserve the ability of police to conduct wiretaps. When informed about the Clipper Chip, 80% said they opposed it." - Philip Elmer-Dewitt, "Who Should Keep the Keys", TIME, Mar. 14 1994