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Yes, if encryption was permitted, there would be a ton of interest...by commercial companies. Non-licensed users would out number licensed ones by huge amounts
by wedowhatwedo 8y ago
Yes, if encryption was permitted, there would be a ton of interest...by commercial companies. Non-licensed users would out number licensed ones by huge amounts. It would put an end to amateur radio.
- tlrobinson 8y agoRequiring messages be signed by and for keys belonging to licensed amateurs might be sufficient to discourage abuse.
- janoc 8y agoAnd how would you distinguish licensed users from unlicensed ones if the messages are encrypted? Heck, the authorities have problems policing the bands even without having to deal with crypto.
- tlrobinson 8y agoLicensed amateurs would be required to register the public keys (not private keys, of course) they want to to sign messages on amateur bands.
- wedowhatwedo 8y agoThat's what this project does. It does signing, just not encryption. I would argue that this is OK legally.
- tlrobinson 8y agoI understand. I’m suggesting we could allow actual encryption if the messages were also signed such that the sender and recipient (but not the content) were known. Abuse would require two licensed amateurs to cooperate to break the law and use the bands for commercial purposes. It would be easier to investigate suspected abuse (compared to unsigned encrypted messages, but not cleartext messages, of course)