Frank wrote:
>Please don't be offended at this, but I'm uncomfortable with the
>thought that a product from a nation which was caught spying on
>the USA may potentially be connected to classified networks.
Lord, let's hope that attitude is not contageous! US-crafted
products would be banned from government nets virtually everywhere. (Have
you never heard of ECHELON, my friend?)
For good or ill, we seem to be in an era where the needs and
demands of our various spook agencies have come to dominate not the
developers, but rather the strength and integrity of the security
technology they are allowed to offer into the world market (and to a
greater or lesser degree, the domestic market.)
What is the 40-bit key-length restriction on crypto in products
exported from the US but a NSA-imposed "back door"? Are 56-bit keys any
better?
EDP tech, including Firewalls, goes to market with a crucial
element designed around the interests and concerns of some entity _other
than_ either the vendor or the user. Not speaking of this will not make it
less our shared political (and market) reality.
In another age we might have called it Merchantilism.
It sure as hell is neither Capitalism nor Free Trade;-)
Suerte,
Vin
Vin McLellan + The Privacy Guild + <vin @
shore .
net>
53 Nichols St., Chelsea, MA 02150 USA <617> 884-5548
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