Striking the Right Balance between Privacy and Public Protect ion

[Ian G Batten]

[[ How do you know a man's moved from a University to Microsoft?  The
lengths of the lines in his mail tends to infinity ]]

On Thu, 24 Oct 2002, Paul Leyland wrote:

> I, for one, very much welcome that you are doing it.  You have already
> learned that you will be given a hard time but please don't let
> vigorous questioning, interspersed with occasional and unjustified
> abuse, stop you from contributing to UKcrypto.  Believe me, you're not
> the only person here who has been given a rough ride on UKcrypto, and
> I don't just mean civil servants.

Seconded.

> Speaking of which, old-timers here will remember Nigel Hickson, then
> at the DTI, bravely putting his department's case for crypto controls.
> We didn't agree with everything he said but he engaged in the debate
> with lucid arguments and astute observations.  In doing so, he greatly
> improved the reputation of at least part of the Civil Service.

Seconded.  He's working for the CBI now, I think, but I think his work
on this list and at various conferences was extremely reassuring.
Unfortunately, I think at one point he said words to the effect of ``Let
us in the DTI do this, otherwise the Home Office will get involved and
you won't like it''.  Wise words, I think.

> Keep up the good work, and perhaps some of your colleagues may yet
> think of using some of the more truly interactive portions of the
> internet to good effect.

Seconded.

ian