After the Belfast Project Fiasco, Time For Another Look At Time Capsule Crypto?

JonZittrain (628028) writes "I'm curious whether there are good prospects for 'time capsule encryption,' one of several ways of storing information that renders it inaccessible to anyone until certain conditions — such as the passage of time — are met? Libraries and archives could offer such technology as part of accepting papers and manuscripts, especially in the wake of the 'Belfast Project' situation, where a library promised confidentiality for accounts of the Troubles in North Ireland, and then found itself amidst subpoenas from law enforcement looking to solve long-cold cases. But the principle could apply to any person or company thinking that there's a choice between leaving information exposed to leakage, or destroying it entirely. Some suggested solutions are very much out of the box."

Comments

Time capsule or doomsday timer

[Trogre]

This is another form of DRM.

Of course content providers will salivate over making these devices do just the opposite - provide access to a given device or media for an "approved" period of time before rendering it unusable.