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From: wcs@anchor.ho.att.com (Bill Stewart +1-908-949-0705)
Subject: Re: Once tapped, your code is no good any more.
Organization: Mary Ellen Carter Salvage Crew
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Date: Fri, 23 Apr 1993 19:49:19 GMT
Message-ID: <WCS.93Apr23144919@rainier.ATT.COM>
In-Reply-To: strnlght@netcom.com's message of Thu, 22 Apr 1993 19:48:01 GMT
References: <C5so84.Hxv@demon.co.uk> <305@VisiCom.COM>
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In article <strnlghtC5wHo2.1FK@netcom.com> strnlght@netcom.com (David Sternlight) writes:
   >I wouldn't think so.  Asking people to trust a secret algorithm seems
   >unsound to me.

   Maybe so, but it's quite common. There are millions of Macintosh users who
   have no idea what's in Apple's patented ROMs. Many have modems connected.
   How do you know all your business secrets aren't being stolen? Answer:
   1. Because you trust Apple;
   2. Because if any such attempt, however sophicsticated, came out, it would
   destroy Apple's credibility forever.

Then there's also
3) Because it's NOT SECRET.  If I want to, I CAN go look at Apple's
copyrighted ROMs in a Mac, so they're not keeping any secrets.  
You don't even have to pry the top off the chip and use an electron microscope,
you just have to read the data in memory and see if you can figure out what it means.
(Motorola object code isn't all *that* obscure!)  
Yes, it's copyrighted, so I can't go selling copies, or using the copy myself,
but I CAN see it, and disassemble it.

4) They're not asking me to trust their honesty.  They're asking me to
trust the quality of their assembly language programming :-),
but I can see for myself what the performance, price, and crashes/day are.
NSA, an organization not known for its honesty or openness, 
is asking me to trust them with my privacy, but they won't trust me.  Feh!
--
#				Pray for peace;      Bill
# Bill Stewart 1-908-949-0705 wcs@anchor.att.com AT&T Bell Labs 4M312 Holmdel NJ
#	              No, I'm *from* New Jersey, I only *work* in cyberspace....
# White House Commect Line 1-202-456-1111  fax 1-202-456-2461
