Today, Philip Zimmerman is planning to release Zfone, the free VoIP encryption program for Windows that he earlier released for Macintosh and Linux users.



First, let’s see what makes Zfone different from other encryption programs. Zfone actually does away with a web of computers holding keys (which may be long numeric keys, alphanumeric keys or alphanumeric + special characters). Instead, when the call is made, the key exchange is performed inside the digital voice channel. Therefore, any third party does not hold the key.



Now let’s take a rewind to the past history of encryption and Zimmerman. About 15 years back when Philip Zimmerman released Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) for encrypting email, despite its popularity it got embroiled in a federal criminal investigation in the US. The investigation was to ascertain whether Zimmerman had violated export restrictions on cryptographic program. Nothing came out of it, about 5 years later in1996 the case was dropped, and PGP Inc. came into being.



So are the chances of Zfone getting embroiled again in such a legal tangle in the US? With the current administration being paranoid about security there, where recent wiretapping incidents are a raging controversy, it seems that the Zfone on Windows, which will have far more users than Mac or Linux, will be under the scanner. However, as Marc Rotenberg, Director, Electronic Privacy Information Center, Washington, said from the FCC’s angle that since point-to-point communication can’t be regulated, Zimmerman is likely to get away with this in the US.



What about Europe then? If the plans of UK government to give legal authority to force both corporate VoIP users as well as individuals to disclose encryption keys, Zfone may face some problems there. However, as things stand today there, Zfone users may be able to use it without facing many problems. Besides, apart from a few countries there, most of Europe will never allow such a law to pass giving governments powers to compel users from disclosing encryption keys. I have always had the feeling that privacy is dearer to Europeans than Americans.



Zimmerman himself says that the software is more specific to corporate VoIP users and the main idea is to protect corporate communications from being eavesdropped.



Anyway, Zfone doesn’t work with Skype as it has its own encryption systems. It may just be possible that due to the Zfone factor, users might opt out of Skype. In any case, prices are no problem these days. Everything is near free. :-)



By the way, it would be very interesting to hear your views as well on this.



News via: International Herald Tribune