What *is* the power of the FIPS

Friends,
-	My editor from the Covert Action Quarterly called with a question 
on a piece I've authored on the NSA's involvement in the development of 
the digital telephony bill. I animated the characters and campaign 
strategies in this narrative common to the clipper and DT initiatives. In 
that, taking about Clipper I mentioned its rise as a FIPS, etc. 
-	QUESTION: Just what is the power of the FIPS outside of the 
interop issues in sending stuff back and forth from federal agencies?

> Peter F Cassidy <pcassidy@world.std.com> writes:
>...                          I animated the characters and campaign
> strategies in this narrative common to the clipper and DT initiatives. In 
> that, taking about Clipper I mentioned its rise as a FIPS, etc. 
> -        QUESTION: Just what is the power of the FIPS outside of the 
> interop issues in sending stuff back and forth from federal agencies?

Seems to me a FIPS is an important standard to the extent that it contains
important and useful information.  The DES FIPS 46-2 and 81 do, and
they've been widely influential.  The EES (Clipper) FIPS 185 doesn't --
it's mostly terminology to support GACK (Government Access to Crypto Keys)
-- and has been largely ignored outside of said federal agencies, so far
as I know.

	Jim Gillogly
	Mersday, 24 Solmath S.R. 1995, 01:16