🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1992Nov4.195416.4015@netcom.com> strnlght@netcom.com (David Sternlight) writes:
>
>It appears that RSA has had patent protection for about 15 years. Yet
>there are no readily available standard RSA systems for use on Macs,
>nor standard electronic mail packages widely available for purchase
>using RSA (though it is claimed that Apple's OCE will include at
>least message authentication next year).
>
>I'm curious about what people think about why this is. 

I believe that market acceptance of the encryption and
authentication capabilities of RSA have been slow to catch on
because most technology needs to be accepted by the 'early
adopters' well before it can be accepted by the mass market.

I think the authentication market for RSA has the potential to
be far larger than the encryption side. As businesses 
actually roll out client/server application in production use,
the authentication issue will become critical. It is a small
problem when all the clients are on a company-owned and
controlled network. It is a huge problem when the net is the
Internet.

Businesses are conservative. Businesses dealing with money are
even more conservative. They will accept digital signatures
only when there is a proven track record of their use in
general. Not long ago, the idea of a bank offering a credit
card was radical, even though stores had been issuing cards
for years. Business will accept the technology after is
has gained acceptance.

The non-availability of software is seriously hurting
acceptance. PEM is no better than available "real soon now"
and its reliance on "certifying authorities" is bothersome.
And while PGP is available, use in the US, which has the most
personal computers connected to modems, is claimed to be
illegal by the very folks who should be promoting licensed use
of RSA. I expect that it will take a couple of years of use
before the user interface and key management issues of these
packages are resolved will enough to allow mass market use.
It will take longer still for integrated packages that can 
seamlessly handle the various flavors of encryption (IDEA,
DES, RSA, etc.) and delivery mechanisms (SMTP, X.400, MCImail,
CompuServ, Prodigy, etc.) without making the user keep it all
straight. I do not believe that the general public is willing
to care about the conflicts. If they are not resolved, the
public simply won't use it.

Until integrated software is widely available, and the legal
usage issues resolved, RSA will remain at best a niche
product. It is possible that this will not be resolved before
the PKP patents expire.

Pat


Pat Farrell,      40+ year Grad Student                  pfarrell@cs.gmu.edu
Department of Computer Science, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA
PGP Public key available via finger           #include standard.disclaimer
Write PKP. Offer money for a personal use license for RSA. Free PGP in the US.