There’s going to be a sub-specialty called mob cryptographer. And I don’t mean this as a joke at all … the control of cryptography I do not believe will ever lead us toward any real solution.
Predictor: Weitzner, Daniel J.
Prediction, in context:As a member of a special panel at a policy debate on the Clipper Chip sponsored in January 1995 by the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, Daniel Weitzner, deputy director of the Center for Democracy and Technology said: ”Those who, whether for illicit or legal purposes, want badly to use cryptography will find a way to do it. I have a joke with some of my friends who are cryptographers that in the same way that there’s a whole sub-specialty of being a mob lawyer, there’s going to be a sub-specialty called mob cryptographer. And I don’t mean this as a joke at all. If you are moving hundreds of millions of dollars of drug money around and wanted to communicate in a sophisticated way about setting up international criminal conspiracies, I would think sooner or later you’re going to get the idea that there’s a way to do this with near-perfect security both from law enforcement surveillance and probably from the other criminals you’re competing against. So I guess I would agree … there is perhaps an urgency to protect against this problem, but the control of cryptography I do not believe will ever lead us toward any real solution.”
Date of prediction: January 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: Communication
Subtopic: Security/Encryption
Name of publication: Panel Discussion on the Clipper Chip
Title, headline, chapter name: The Clipper Chip: Should the Government Control the Master Keys to Electronic Commerce?
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://swissnet.ai.mit.edu/6805/articles/clipper/ny-debate-jan-19-95.txt
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney