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The following archive was created by hippie-mail 7.98617-22 on Sat Apr 10 1999 - 01:18:02
mgraffam@idsi.net
Mon, 11 Jan 1999 05:46:23 -0500 (EST)
On Mon, 11 Jan 1999, Mok-Kong Shen wrote:
> First of all, I don't think terminology is that extremely important.
Read sci.crypt for awhile. Pseudo-OTP (and that is _exactly_ what they
are called, many times) type systems are proposed often. And, FWIW,
I've never seen a single one of them that wasn't snake oil.
There is an accepted term for what you describe. That term is stream
cipher. I suppose if you want to make the word OR refer to the concept
of AND, you can do so.. but asking us to use it, and more to the point..
trying to convey your concepts to us will surely lead to all types of
confusion if you do.
> Second, the term pseudo-random numbers is certainly well-established.
> I can't see why the relation of pseudo-random numbers to (true)
> random numbers would be of a different nature than the relation
> of pseudo-OTP (a term I coined) to (true) OTP.
Yeah. But this doesn't change the fact that stream cipher is what we call
it, and that pseudo-OTP has all sorts of negative connotations that will
inhibit discussion of the topic. If it is used, I suspect many discussions
that may otherwise have developed into fruitful technical discussions
will turn into quarrels over definitions.
> Your source code whitener, if I understood properly, is meant to
> break the law without the authority being able to prosecute the
> offender. My stategy is NOT to break the law at all.
Precisely the the problem with the strategy, IMHO.
Not to mention.. DES is legal to export. 3DES wouldn't be. Sure, I can
export an algorithm that does DES.. and then some other guy needs to
hack that into an application. What the hell good is that? Algorithms
are easy to get. Its usable software .. applications .. that the Feds
don't want people to have.
Export PGP. When you get a letter in the mail saying some dumb shit,
export PGP again, and CC it to the author of the letter.
Thats what I do. I export crypto, and I'm rather proud that I am an
international arms trafficker and felon. Woo hoo! If they put me in
jail, I'll be scratching strong crypto code into my cell wall, and
I'll spend my years sending code to any relevent foreign address
that I can find.. and if I run out of those, I'll send it to irrelevent
ones.
When I was in 5th grade, my grandfather told me to stand up to a bully in
the neighborhood. I told him to go screw himself, and I'm not about to
stop taking my pop's advice just because the bullies are wearing suits
these days.
Screw 'em.
I suppose I should tell you, though, I got my ass kicked in 5th grade :)
Michael J. Graffam (mgraffam@idsi.net) http://www.idsi.net/~mgraffam
"86% of conspiracy theories have some basis in truth... but, oddly enough,
it's that last 14% that usually gets you killed."
--Talas (http://cadvantage.com/~algaeman/conspiracy/public.htm)
The following archive was created by hippie-mail 7.98617-22 on Sat Apr 10 1999 - 01:18:02