[Cryptography] hard to trust all those root CAs

[John Denker]

On 07/23/2014 02:30 PM, Bill Frantz wrote:
> 
> I assume that all my email is as private as messages to this list.
[....]
> The one time I actually thought I was having a private conversation was in a cave


Under that assumption, there is no need for cryptography.
We should shut down this list.  We should all go do 
something else.  Orwell was an optimist.

Also under that assumption, there is no such thing as a
trade secret, and therefore no such thing as industrial
research and development.

To say the same thing in less sarcastic terms:  We had 
better do whatever it takes to make sure that assumption 
does not become true.

This affects many different aspects of life.  
 -- Baseball would be a very different game if the batter 
  could crack the communication between catcher and pitcher,
  and if the pitcher could crack the "bunt" and "steal"
  signs, et cetera.
 -- Poker would a verrrry different game if all the cards
  were transparent.
 -- I take this personally, because most of my adult life
  has been spent doing R&D.  Almost every dollar I ever
  earned was predicated on the idea that my work conferred
  some competitive advantage to the company that I owned
  and/or worked for.  It would be hard to have any kind of 
  intellectual property, or any kind of competition at all,
  if everything becomes an open book.