[Cryptography] Darpa wants a secure messaging app based on blockchains

[Jerry Leichter]

>> There's nothing in the SBIR proposal that calls for back doors.  That was Henry's cynical comment.
> Cynical, yes, but...
> 
> If perchance the proposer comes up with something interesting, the govt can:
> 
> * classify the whole thing
> * take over the code
> * issue an NSL to keep everyone quiet
> 
> or
> 
> * force installation of backdoor
> * issue an NSL to keep everyone quiet
> 
> Yes, this would be a violation of the spirit of SBIR, which is intended to incentivize commercialization, but good luck suing...
And what, exactly, in this litany of "maybe"'s couldn't happen *if the SBIR didn't exist at all*?  Just what is it you're concerned about?

The SBIR doesn't even pretend that it's funding the building of a product for normal users - it's funding the creation of a product for the USG to use, and in particular for the military and intelligence communities.  If they want a back door ... well, that's their call - though I very much doubt the NSA would want a back door in something built for USG use.  They know the liabilities just as well as anyone outside - and they can get what they need because they control key distribution.

As for classification ... this one looks to me like an engineering project more than a research product.  The basic techniques are all out there - it's a matter of putting them to use toward a particular end.  *Maybe* there's a need for something new for scalability; maybe not.  If they classify it, someone else can do the same work.

> So the only hope is that the project becomes open-source, so that any user can examine all of the source code.
Actually, I think it's great that the *proposal* is out there!  Its a nifty-sounding idea and it may inspire *someone else* to go build an open source version along similar lines.
                                                        -- Jerry