The Clinton administration is attempting to force everyone to use a government encryption algorithm for sending confidential information It is implemented in an electronic device called a Clipper chip (Clipper here has no relation to the dBase clone ) There is great resistance because: The government is insisting on having a back door key so they can snoop on conversations No details of how the Clipper chip works are being given out It may not be as secure as the government claims In practice, flouting the law will be easy Criminals will easily flout the law and go unpunished The government will eventually snoop on those it has no business snooping on -- for example political rivals We would get all the costs with none of the benefits
Clippers are a tool used for cutting small amounts from something, especially from someone's hair or nails
A chip developed by the United States Government that was to be used as the standard chip in all encrypted communications Aside from the fact that all details of how the Clipper chip work remain classified, the biggest concern was the fact that it has an acknowledged trap door in it to allow the government to eavesdrop on anyone using Clipper provided they first obtained a wiretap warrant This fact, along with the fact that it can't be exported from the United States, has led a number of large corporations to oppose the idea Clipper uses an 80 bit key to perform a series of nonlinear transformation on a 64 bit data block
A circuit or device that limits the instantaneous output signal amplitude to a predetermined maximum value, regardless of the amplitude of the input signal (188)
{i} any of a number of cutting implements (nail-cutter, electric hair shaver, etc.); fast sailing ship; fast horse
Integrated circuit containing crypto functions for voice and telephone using the SKIPJACK cipher and the Escrowed Encryption Standard It failed to find a customer base and is no longer manufactured
(electronics) an nonlinear electronic circuit whose output is limited in amplitude; used to limit the instantaneous amplitude of a waveform (to clip off the peaks of a waveform); "a limiter introduces amplitude distortion"