900 MHz Cordless question

Catching up on my reading the other day, I noticed an article in the
Economist about Cincinnati Microwave's 900 Mhz cordless phone. It seems
that Cylink makes the actual chip that is used in the phone to do the
spread-spectrum communications. My questions to the readers of this list
are:

1: Given that Cylink was one of the two original companies to manufacture
Clipper hardware, what does this say about the protocols that are used in
this spread-spectrum chip? Was it designed to be easy for law enforcement
to crack?

2: Of the digital 900 Mhz telephones available, are any of the phones
better from a security standpoint than any of the others? Are they all
using different protocols or the same?

Enquiring minds want to know!

Thanks.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
Benjamin McLemore
analyst@netcom.com
214/522.7640 fax

>1: Given that Cylink was one of the two original companies to manufacture
>Clipper hardware

???

The two companies were VLSI Technology, who did the manufacturing, and
Mycotronx, who did the design.

Eric

Eric (ah) Hughes writes -

>>1: Given that Cylink was one of the two original companies to manufacture
>>Clipper hardware
> 
> ???
> 
> The two companies were VLSI Technology, who did the manufacturing, and
> Mycotronx, who did the design.

Oh, and don't forget that infamous, bandwagon-jumping announcement
by another major telecommunications giant on April 16, 1993 ...

Cheers.  ,-)