Conference debate
Who Holds the Keys?
John Gilmore · Dorothy Denning · Whitfield Diffie · John Perry Barlow · Jim Bidzos · David Bellin
Editorial introduction
This panel examines who should control cryptography as communication moves online. Gilmore argues that cryptographic policy must be debated publicly, criticising rules that manufacturers discover only while seeking export permission. Other speakers examine commercial constraints, civil liberties and the relationship between anonymity and accountability.
A multi-speaker transcript is not a jointly authored manifesto. Views differ across the panel, and audience questions include Eric Hughes. Speaker labels in the source matter: statements by one participant must not be attributed to the others. The transcript contains transcription artefacts and references to figures.
“the need for discussions on cryptography to happen in the public”
John Gilmore · short excerpt from the linked source
A question to take into the text
Who gets to define the rules for private communication, and can those rules themselves be secret?
Source & permissions
Read the source · EFF historical archive · CFP conference transcript ↗
The full work is not mirrored here. The introduction above is 0xNull editorial commentary, not the author’s own words.