🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1992Dec21.075754.14136@netcom.com> strnlght@netcom.com 
(David Sternlight) writes:
>
>Steve Gardner also ignores facts he must know in order to minimize
>the seriousness with which the government takes crypto, by trying
>to compare crypto to good boots (in order to make it appear silly
>to consider crypto as munitions). Thousands of lives have been
>saved by crypto, and several generals have referred to the 
>Enigma and Purple decrypts as worth several divisions. 

Yes, this is undoubtedly true.  However, I would argue that your
nationalistic claims are foolish and short-sighted.  The laws
you support reduce the long-term competetiveness of US cryptography
(as has been pointed out by other posters).

Furthermore, you make light of Mr. Gardner's apt comparison of boots
to cryptography.  Perhaps an even better one, then, is medical knowledge.
Medical knowledge, equipment, and drugs save far more lives than
cryptography, yet I don't see anyone suggesting that they be called
'munitions' and banned.  Immunizing soldiers has probably reduced 
war-related deaths more than any other single advance in human knowledge, 
but yet this is not classified as sensitive data.  By your argument, 
it should be kept secret even from our own citizens and not 
released for public use long after the rest of the world has its 
advantages.

When it comes to real freedom of information and the press the US has 
a long way to go.

-- 
Steven D. Brewer     W M U Fako de Sciencaj Studoj      brewer@cs.wmich.edu
PGP 2.0 Key available.............................99brewer@lab.cc.wmich.edu
"Kiu regalas per ^stonoj, tiun oni dankas per bastonoj." D-ro L.L. Zamenhof