STRONG CRYPTO DOESN’T KILL PEOPLE; PEOPLE WITH STRONG CRYPTO KILL PEOPLE

“We can count on the fact that the spread of strong encryption is going to mean that lives are going to be lost.”

Robert Litt, principal associate deputy attorney general at the US Department of Justice, engaging in some hyperbolic flourishes to attack encryption stronger than that which a bored college student could break, Wired News, 8 June 1998

R&D? WE DON’T NEED NO STEEENKIN’ R&D!

“The acquisition of ICQ technology dramatically increases our presence on the Web.”

Steve Case, CEO of America Online, fumbling at an explanation for why his company spent $287 million to acquire a revenueless Israeli startup with a chat technology AOL’s techies had already duplicated, TechInvestor, 8 June 1998

IF YOU DON’T KNOW ANYTHING, YOU CAN’T DISCLOSE ANYTHING

“VCs don’t sign NDAs.”

Andrew Anker, amateur pundit at VC firm August Capital, explaining how tech financiers avoid the burdens of nondisclosure agreements, Silicon Spin on ZDTV, 27 May 1998

YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR

“This is a branding deal for CNET. We’re going to be the supplier of computing- and Internet-related content for a dominant resource for millions of Internet users.”

Robin Wolaner, CNET’s executive vice president of technology publishing, on the no-money-down deal her company struck with Netscape to republish CNET content on Netcenter, News.com, 27 May 1998

IT TAKES 0-1-0-1 TO KNOW 0-1-0-1

“The problem with the Justice Department is they don’t understand how computer software works. And they don’t understand us.”

David Pritchard, Microsoft’s recruiter-in-chief, on the code that employees at his company run on, The New York Times, 26 May 1998