re fighting the clipper initiative prz sage cgd ucar edu philip zimmermann writes philip i think your ideas are well taken and constructive thanks for articulating them in this forum work the press talk with your local newspaper s science and technology reporter write to your favorite trade rags better yet write some articles yourself for your favorite magazines or newspapers explain why the clipper chip initiative is a bad idea remember to tailor it to your audience the general public may be slow to grasp why it s a bad idea since it seems so technical and arcane and innocent sounding try not to come across as a flaming libertarian paranoid extremist even if you are one as a flaming libertarian paranoid extremist i at a loss for specific objections that don t sound frighteningly technical any suggestions perhaps somebody could post a list of these mobilize opposition in industry companies that will presumably develop products that will incorporate the clipper chip should be lobbied against it from within and from without if you work for a telecommunications equipment vendor first enlist the aid of your coworkers and fellow engineers against this initiative and then present your company s management with a united front of engineering talent against this initiative write persuasive memos to your management with your name and your colleagues names on it hold meetings on it one way to do this might be to suggest that these companies should be implementing their own schemes not being limited to the govt s scheme i find that most of my reasons for opposition to the clipper scheme are algoritm insecurity and mistrust of the govt nsa these are hard to sell in letters to the editor and to nontechnical people any hints or advice maybe a small faq type thing why should i hate clipper would be a good idea james holthaus james holthaus uiowa edu government is an association of men who do violence to the rest of us leo tolstoy pgp public key available on request or from key server
