re why the clipper algorithm is secret in article apr fsl noaa gov bear kestrel fsl noaa gov bear giles writes in article c pstr lu panix com dfl panix com danny o bedlam writes the algorithm is classified because a military contract or similar government equivalent to military has been let for this proprietary design that the feds say that nsa developed is there a patent is that patent publicly available my betting is that that too is classified unless there has been a major change in the law there s no such beast as a classified patent patents exist to encourage communications and develop the state of the art while there aren t classified patents there are patent secrecy orders suppose you invent a voice scrambler for cb radio and apply for a patent the patent office decides the nsa might be interested gives them a copy of your application and you get a nice note back saying your patent application has now been classified for national security reasons and you re no longer allowed to make and sell it i m picking this example because it happened in the late s it was probably some analog scrambler and would have probably violated fcc rules anyway but it did get classified or suppose you publish a paper on your really spiffy algorithm and then file a patent application since it s been published they can t gain anything by classifying it though you can t get patents in most countries other than the us where patent laws are different obviously a system of classified patents would be highly bogus you can t sell that widget because there s a classified patent on it you re not allowed to see the patent or know who owns the design so just give us all your money and work in progress and maybe we won t throw you in jail for espionage some countries might have that kind of system but we don t have that here quite yet pray for peace bill bill stewart wcs anchor att com at t bell labs m holmdel nj no i m from new jersey i only work in cyberspace white house commect line fax
