The Sinking of The Clipper Chip

(0:00) Pre-Show

(0:44) Open

(0:56) Slam the Scam Day

(1:49) The Oscar’s: Conan, Culkin, Hulu & More

(6:15) Headline: Trump Calls for End to $52 Billion Chips Act Subsidy Program

(9:20) Recommendation: The For Truemouse

(10:05) The Sinking of The Clipper Chip

(41:47) cj’s recommendation: NOVA

(43:33) Jeff’s Recommendation: The Dog’s Were Good Again This Week

We here at Nonsense certainly choose to remember many aspects of the 90’s fondly: the wall falls, compact discs, grunge, and even the Playstation and Xbox consoles.  But one thing that we hope everyone can (still?) agree on is just how momentously bad of an idea it is to mandate insecurity under the guise of requiring government access to all data and communications.  We tried it in the mid-90s and it lasted all of a nanosecond.

We’re talking about the Clipper Chip of course, a chipset developed and promoted by the United States National Security Agency (NSA) as an encryption device that secured "voice and data messages" with a built-in backdoor that was intended to "allow Federal, State, and local law enforcement officials the ability to decode intercepted voice and data transmissions." Introduced in 1993, it was entirely defunct by 1996.  And good riddance.

Ahead of that, the guys chat briefly about the Oscars (yay!) and the call for the end of the CHIPS & Science Act (boo!).  After all, no episode can be all rainbows and unicorns.

Open

Conan O'Brien's Oscars 2025 Opening Monologue

Headlines

Trump Calls for End to $52 Billion Chips Act Subsidy Program

China aims to recruit top US scientists as Trump tries to kill the CHIPS Act - Ars Technica

CHIPS and Science Act - Wikiwand

Segment

Battle of the Clipper Chip - The New York Times

At AT&T, No Joy on Clipper Flaw - The New York Times

FLAW DISCOVERED IN FEDERAL PLAN FOR WIRETAPPING - The New York Times

Keys Under Doormats: Mandating insecurity by requiring government access to all data and communications

Clipper chip - Wikiwand

Blunder Road

HISTORY OF THE CLIPPER CHIP

Sinking the Clipper Chip - by Jacob Bruggeman - Discourse

The Short Life and Humiliating Death of the Clipper Chip

Close

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