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                Date: 1999-01-15
                 
                 
                CNN covering q/depesche
                
                 
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      q/depesche  99.1.15/2 
updating       99.1.4/1 
 
CNN covering q/depesche 
 
Während die ENFOPOL-Papiere immer noch im  
Wochenabstand Echos auf US/News/Sites produzieren,  
schaffte es eine andere q/depesche via IDG Net bis in die  
Technews von CNN. 
 
Wir danken aus diesem Anlass allen genannten &  
ungenannten Netzbewohner/innen, die uns mit 1a aktueller  
Information versorgen von Herzen. Ohne die massive  
Unterstützung der Community hätten wir nur einen Bruchtteil  
aller Knaller seit April 98 produziert. 
  
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German developer releases free 128-bit encryption software  
 
by Mary Lisbeth D'Amico 
... 
The program, called GnuPG (GnuPrivacyGuard), runs on any  
Unix-based platform and features 128-bit encryption, the  
same strength encryption as PGP, according to Werner  
Koch, the Düsseldorf-based software developer who wrote the  
program. GnuPG is also compatible with PGP versions 5.0  
and 6.0, so it can send and receive PGP-encrypted  
messages.  
 
One advantage of GnuPG over PGP is that not only is it  
secure, but it is also clearly in the public domain, according  
to Erich Moechel, editor of the Internet newsletter  
Quintessenz, who has tested the software. That means there  
is no chance it will be subject to government restrictions on  
exporting encryption software, he said.  
 
In Vienna last month, 33 countries signed the Wassenaar  
Arrangement, agreeing to put export controls on some kinds  
of secure software. Although "mass market" software is  
considered exempt from these controls, the software that  
falls into this category is not very secure, according to  
Moechel. "That stuff can be cracked in a matter of  
milliseconds," he said.  
 
It is not clear whether PGP falls into the category of public  
domain software, Moechel said. PGP version 5.0 business  
edition is clearly a commercial program, according to GnuPG  
creator Koch. PGP is now owned by Network Associates  
Inc. and is sold commercially. Although a free version of PGP  
5.0 exists, Koch said, it is not being used for commercial  
purposes.  
... 
Koch released early versions of GnuPG in December 1997,  
and has been improving it ever since. Now, he said, he feels  
he has a "good, stable program," which is ready for beta  
testing. In several months Koch plans to release version 1.0,  
after which the program will only require patches, Koch said.  
.... 
In its current form, GnuPG will mainly be of interest to  
software developers, according to Moechel. "It doesn't have a  
graphical user interface. It also lacks some of the extra  
features offered by PGP-based products that run on  
Windows, such as a key server, which allows a function that  
can search the names of people that hold a public key," he  
said. Koch says that feature will be included in Version 1.0,  
however.  
 
GnuPG could easily be adapted for Windows, Koch said, but  
"I'm not going to do that for free. I'm not that interested in  
Windows," he said.  
... 
GnuPG is already in commercial use and has been  
translated into 10 languages, he said. It has been used, for  
example, to encrypt a mailing list with sensitive medical  
information, to create anonymous e-mails in cases where  
someone does not want their identity traced, and to check  
the identity of certain parties who control Internet news  
forums, Koch said.  
... 
Although software released as "freeware" is public, the  
copyright to the GnuPG program does exist and is held by  
the Boston-based Free Software Foundation, Koch said. 
 
full story 
http://cnn.com/TECH/computing/9901/14/gercrypt.idg/
                   
 
 
relayed by 
Otmar Lendl <O.Lendl@Austria.EU.net> 
 
 
 
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edited by  
published on: 1999-01-15 
comments to office@quintessenz.at
                   
                  
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