From: cme@ellisun.sw.stratus.com (Carl Ellison)
Newsgroups: sci.crypt,alt.security.pgp
Subject: Re: PKP/RSA comments on PGP legality
Date: 15 Dec 1992 20:34:57 GMT
Organization: Stratus Computer, Software Engineering
NNTP-Posting-Host: ellisun.sw.stratus.com

In article <hmiller.724397340@lucpul.it.luc.edu> hmiller@lucpul.it.luc.edu (Hugh Miller) writes:
>    Mr. Bidzos gives the appearance of being a very effective lawyer,
>representing the interests of his company, RSADSI/PKP, well.
>    Consider the post via Carl Ellison.  By not making it under his own
>name, but under Carl's headers, he achieves a double purpose.  First, he
>veils his threat.  A veiled threat, of course, works better than a naked
>one, since it leaves a greater measure of uncertainty in the mind of
>potential end-users.  And, after all, that is one of the principal aims
>of the posting: to scare off potential end-users of PGP, currently the
>world's most popular public-key encryption program.  Second, he presents
>the spectacle to the Net of an intimidated potential end-user, to wit,
>Carl.  This is also psychologically quite effective, as we in the
>Internet community have the tendency to identify with Carl, being like
>him.  There has been a rush of postings on alt.security.pgp lately
>urging the dropping of PGP for RIPEM.  How very convenient.  Success, so
>far.
	[etc.]

My posting was instigated by me.  It was written by a group at PKP and RSA,
including the corporate lawyer(s), I believe.  [I tell lawyer jokes like
anyone else, but do happen to have a number of lawyer friends (and one
relative) so I don't write off lawyers totally.  I'll listen and make up my
own mind.]


I don't see what RSA and PKP wrote as a veiled threat.  I believe their
intentions are well known.  They want to continue making money off their
patent.  They, like us, would probably like to see the export laws become
more rational (although I don't speak for them).  They have even more
reason to fear those export laws than we do since their very existence
depends on not being shut down.  I really believe that they need to keep
their noses especially clean -- so I accept the argument that possible ITAR
violations by PGP are enough for them to keep their hands off.

No one at RSA used me in this posting.  I had originally asked (months ago)
if I could buy an individual RSA use license from them in order to make it
legal for me to use PGP.  I was turned down.  From there, I continued the
discussion and heard over several mail messages substantially what was in
the posting.

As I kept reading sci.crypt, I felt it was time to say something and was
about to post from what I had learned in those exchanges but instead I
wrote to RSA asking them if they'd like to post something.  I would rather
let them word it than do it all myself.

They didn't want to post directly but were willing to write something
which I could post.  I agreed so that's what happened.

I do not speak for RSA.  I am not their employee.  I do choose to honor
their patent and obey the ITAR (I think/hope).  [I use company computers
and have been strongly advised to behave this way by my company's lawyers.]



If I were to buy a PC for myself (which I've never bothered doing because
the ones I get at work are so good, and I have free use of them in my own
time :-), I don't know what I would use for security.  I have RSAREF.  I'd
probably roll my own or use RIPEM (once it's finally released).  Or, I might
even buy a commercial package like MailSafe -- although I believe that PGP
will set the worldwide standard for mail interchange just like UNIX set
standards -- and for the same reason:  it's free and therefore ubiquitous.



What I use today is my own secret-key algorithm together with scripts which
let me conveniently interface with Sun's Mail (or the VMS MAIL command).
[I have versions for Sun, VAX VMS, Stratus VOS and soon to be MIPS.
I'll probably port it to HP-UX soon.  But this is just historical accident.
If I were starting over today, I'd use

	compress|des|tran|des|tran|des

and transmit the keys with RSA, using RSAREF.  This would take a special
modification to RSAREF, but I believe it wouldn't be hard to get.]

--Carl

-- 
-- <<Disclaimer: All opinions expressed are my own, of course.>>
-- Carl Ellison						cme@sw.stratus.com
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Newsgroups: sci.crypt,alt.security.pgp