Re: how to `go underground' (was Re: The Global Fix is In)

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In <199706221002.LAA06654@server.test.net>, on 06/22/97 
   at 11:02 AM, Adam Back <aba@dcs.ex.ac.uk> said:

>Perhaps someone can have a go at adding this to PGP3.x, once Stale has
>finished scanning the source code books, and has posted the source.

>Also, I hear that PGP3.x has support for RSA keys, but won't generate
>them?  Perhaps we can add that back in also.

I believe that it is only the freeware PGP 5.0 from the MIT site that has
RSA key generation disabled. The commercial version should be able to
generate both key formats.

- -- 
- ---------------------------------------------------------------
William H. Geiger III  http://www.amaranth.com/~whgiii
Geiger Consulting    Cooking With Warp 4.0

Author of E-Secure - PGP Front End for MR/2 Ice
PGP & MR/2 the only way for secure e-mail.
OS/2 PGP 2.6.3a at: http://www.amaranth.com/~whgiii/pgpmr2.html                        
- ---------------------------------------------------------------

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William Geiger <whgiii@amaranth.com> writes:
> Adam Back <aba@dcs.ex.ac.uk> said:
> 
> >Also, I hear that PGP3.x has support for RSA keys, but won't generate
> >them?  Perhaps we can add that back in also.
> 
> I believe that it is only the freeware PGP 5.0 from the MIT site that has
> RSA key generation disabled. The commercial version should be able to
> generate both key formats.

I've got a copy of PGP 5.0, and yes, it can generate RSA keys also.

I was really quite unclear as to why the freeware one should have
reduced functionality, and as we are finally going to get source code,
I figured it'd be easy to rememdy this deficiency.

Still, I am curious as to why this might be.

One guesses it might have something to do with PGP's financial
interest to move the internet user base away from RSA keys towards El
Gamal/DSS key pairs, so that they can remove RSA backwards
compatibility from the commercial versions, if it comes to that.
(Re. patent and licesning hassles from the litigious legal-beagles at
RSA).  Perhaps.

Clarification welcomed.

Adam
-- 
Have *you* exported RSA today? --> http://www.dcs.ex.ac.uk/~aba/rsa/

print pack"C*",split/\D+/,`echo "16iII*o\U@{$/=$z;[(pop,pop,unpack"H*",<>
)]}\EsMsKsN0[lN*1lK[d2%Sa2/d0<X+d*lMLa^*lN%0]dsXx++lMlN/dsM0<J]dsJxp"|dc`

At 05:42 PM 6/22/97 +0100, Adam Back wrote:
>I was really quite unclear as to why the freeware one should have
>reduced functionality, and as we are finally going to get source code,
>I figured it'd be easy to rememdy this deficiency.
>
>Still, I am curious as to why this might be.
>
>One guesses it might have something to do with PGP's financial
>interest to move the internet user base away from RSA keys towards El
>Gamal/DSS key pairs, so that they can remove RSA backwards
>compatibility from the commercial versions, if it comes to that.
>(Re. patent and licesning hassles from the litigious legal-beagles at
>RSA).  Perhaps.

Getting out from under the patent restrictions is a big win,
purely aside from the details of any hassles with RSA Inc.
Also, because MD5 is looking shaky these days, they do need to
move people toward versions with SHA1 signatures.
Since the commercial versions do EG/DSS, and people will be
sending messages signed with DSS, and wanting to receive
mail encrypted with EG, it's worthwhile for them
to push people to migrate to the new formats;
the freeware version is an obvious lever, even though I'm sure
there will be fixes to add RSA key generation back in Real Soon.
(Also, you don't _need_ a fix - just keep the old PGP around,
and use it when you want to generate a key.)



#			Thanks;  Bill
# Bill Stewart, +1-415-442-2215 stewarts@ix.netcom.com
# You can get PGP outside the US at ftp.ox.ac.uk/pub/crypto/pgp
#   (If this is a mailing list or news, please Cc: me on replies.  Thanks.)