[1278] in cryptography@c2.net mail archive
Re: Wayner op-ed in today's NYTimes
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Phil Karn)
Tue Jul 29 21:30:45 1997
Date: Tue, 29 Jul 1997 16:09:24 -0700 (PDT)
From: Phil Karn <karn@qualcomm.com>
To: perry@piermont.com
CC: cryptography@c2.net
In-reply-to: <199707291748.NAA26254@jekyll.piermont.com> (perry@piermont.com)
I agree, it's an outstanding piece. I was vaguely aware that Jefferson
had developed a crypto system, but Wayner was very thorough in his
discussion of Revolutionary War-era crypto.
Another essay that really needs to be written is how there really is no
such thing as the "status quo" that law enforcement keeps talking about
maintaining.
at the time the Constitution was written, the "status quo" was no
wiretaps at all, because there were no wire communications.
Furthermore there were no audio bugs, laser window bugs or video or
photographic surveillance. And law enforcement did not have the
benefit of fast and relatively inexpensive communications networks and
computerized databases to support its own operations. Yet somehow the
country survived.
Phil
