David Sternlight FAQ


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	PGP

	Mr. Sternlight's posts are often controversial and sometimes contain misinformation. An example of the latter, regarding crypto, is "Your guess is irrational, since PGP itself uses S/MIME." Source: Message ID <338252B7.4946@sternlight.com>



	Mr. Sternlight's criticism of the ethics of one individual is particularly harsh: "Maybe if he makes a lot of money he'll give some of it to worthy causes to try to balance the ethical books." Source: Message ID <34070BE4.747BC768@sternlight.com> About that same individual, Mr. Sternlight has written: "As to "hero" of civil liberties disobedience, in my view Phil's behavior can fairly be said to be self-serving cowardice rather than heroic Ghandi-like self-immolation if public accounts can be credited." Source: Message ID <34A574D1.568EA102@sternlight.com> and "In future I think Phil will be seen as a pimple on crypto history (he invented and pioneered no algorithms), not the "hero of the first amendment" the poster would have us believe." Source: Message ID <34A574D1.568EA102@sternlight.com> Among the credentials of the person he refers to are the following:


		"He has received numerous technical and humanitarian awards for his pioneering work in cryptography. In 1998 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Secure Computing Magazine, and in 1996 the Norbert Wiener Award from Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility for promoting the responsible use of technology. He also received the 1995 Chrysler Award for Innovation in Design, the 1995 Pioneer Award from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the 1996 PC Week IT Excellence Award, and the 1996 Network Computing Well-Connected Award for "Best Security Product." PGP was selected by Information Week as one of the Top 10 Most Important Products of 1994. Time Magazine also named Zimmermann one of the "Net 50," the 50 most influential people on the internet in 1995."

When a poster objected to Mr. Sternlight's manner of criticism of the same individual on crypto-related matters, and cited a libel case law reference, Mr. Sternlight responded in part:

	"Phil is a "public figure". He has made himself so via repeated press interviews, public pronouncements, and Congressional testimony. Different standards apply to "public figures" than to "private persons". This isn't about "an issue of general or public interest" extended to a private person (your above reference), but about the pronouncements of a "public figure". In the instant case it is specific to a public interview given by Phil, so the nexus between his "public figure" status and this discussion is direct and immediate." Source: Message-ID: <33169EDA.2AC7@sternlight.com>

This FAQ is NOT authorized, endorsed, reviewed, authored nor supported in any way by Mr. Sternlight. It is an independent compilation of quotations gleaned from Mr. Sternlight's newsgroup posts, opinion and public dialogue related to this prolific newsgroup poster and famous "net personality" and public policy advocate. Interested readers are invited and encouraged to read the entire context of Mr. Sternlight's quotes, using search engines such as DejaNews. (Note there is a newsgroup named "alt.fan.david-sternlight".) Mr. Sternlight posts most frequently to comp.security.pgp.discuss and alt.privacy and has several thousand posts on USENET public newsgroups, as reported by DejaNews search, on various subjects including patents, licensing, cryptography, and public policy on those matters. His prolific and frequent public policy advocacy in crypto newsgroups focuses primarily on the US government policy, currently in robust public debate, regarding strong encryption and privacy issues, but also on patent, copyright, trademark and licensing issues. All product and service names are the property of their owners.