ciphergoth | Strong cryptography and no regrets.

No Regrets About Developing PGP
Philip Zimmermann, 24 Sept 2001

The Friday September 21st Washington Post carried an article by Ariana Cha that I feel misrepresents my views on the role of PGP encryption software in the September 11th terrorist attacks. She interviewed me on Monday September 17th, and we talked about how I felt about the possibility that the terrorists might have used PGP in planning their attack. The article states that as the inventor of PGP, I was "overwhelmed with feelings of guilt". I never implied that in the interview, and specifically went out of my way to emphasize to her that that was not the case, and made her repeat back to me this point so that she would not get it wrong in the article. This misrepresentation is serious, because it implies that under the duress of terrorism I have changed my principles on the importance of cryptography for protecting privacy and civil liberties in the information age.

http://www.philzimmermann.com/news-Response_WashPost.shtml

Jack Straw is trying the same misrepresentation:
http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/pipermail/ukcrypto/2001-September/017600.html
(Update: see also http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk_politics/newsid_1568000/1568254.stm)

But there are atheists in foxholes, and there are those who support liberty even under the duress of terrorism.

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Yesterday's Grauniad also mentioned (albeit briefly, as part of a larger article on terrorism and the internet, iirc) that the 'Post had seriously misrepresented Zimmermann's views. I'll see if I can find the URL...

Yeah, I read it. This is basically what they were quoting. Actually practically all of that article was based on posts to the cryptography, ukcrypto, and interesting-people mailing lists, all of which I'm subscribed to. It should have been peppered with URLs to archived mailing list articles.

>But there are atheists in foxholes, and there are those who support liberty even under the duress of terrorism

Paul, I believe that is the best quote of yours I have ever seen, and it deserves to be immortalised

thank you very much!

It's actually made in response to this loathsome article:

Civil liberties may take a hitCathy Young, Boston Globe, September 19 2001

Perhaps most alarming to many civil libertarians, it's likely that the government will expand its ability to monitor electronic mail, which has been a controversial issue for some time.

Do I like the idea of the government intercepting e-mail? No. But, as long as there's judicial oversight and due process, that's no different from its longstanding power to intercept regular mail.

Do I like the idea of people being able to encrypt electronic communications so that they are beyond surveillance? Frankly, I found it scary even before Sept. 11 - precisely because of the threat of terrorism.

It is said that there are no atheists in foxholes; perhaps there are no true libertarians in times of terrorist attacks.

Even in the Declaration of Independence, the right to liberty is preceded by the right to life.

http://www.reason.com/cy/cy092401.html

and at this point I have to resist dragging out everyone's favourite Ben Franklin quote again.

... - foxes, for starters.

And you're resisting dragging out that quote...why? You and I may know it by heart, but you never know when it's going to reach someone who's never heard it before. *sigh*

I can not *believe* the number of arguments I'm getting into with my ex-husband on this issue. And I used to think he was a staunch Libertarian...turns out he's just plain ol' Republican when the shit hits the fan. *sigh*

Strong cryptography and no regrets.

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