The prediction, in brief:

Cryptophiles are a ’90s version of the NRA [National Rifle Association] gun nuts: paranoid of the government’s attempts to legislate, and convinced that their guns (codes) are necessary for freedom. “If encryption is outlawed, only outlaws will have encryption,” is already splattered around the Net.

Predictor: Steinberg, Steve

Prediction, in context:

In a 1993 article for Wired magazine, Steve Steinberg writes:”Cryptography continues to rise in popularity as the solution for all digital ills. The use of the software-encryption package Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) for e-mail is now tres-hip among the network elites, and public keys are being traded like baseball cards. Of course, encryption is just a way to hide the same boring messages, but it does add that element of intrigue. Cryptophiles are a ’90s version of the NRA [National Rifle Association] gun nuts: paranoid of the government’s attempts to legislate, and convinced that their guns (codes) are necessary for freedom. ‘If encryption is outlawed, only outlaws will have encryption,’ is already splattered around the Net.”

Date of prediction: January 1, 1993

Topic of prediction: Communication

Subtopic: Security/Encryption

Name of publication: Wired

Title, headline, chapter name: Hype List: Cryptography

Quote Type: Direct quote

Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/1.02/hypelist.html

This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney