[PLUG-TALK] Email services shut down rather than comply with spies

[Paul Mullen]

On Sat, Aug 10, 2013 at 10:43:16PM -0700, Keith Lofstrom wrote:
> http://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2013/08/09/e-mails-big-privacy-problem-qa-with-silent-circle-co-founder-phil-zimmermann/
> 
> http://tinyurl.com/k34ug2t
> 
> Lavabit, a secure email service in Texas, shut down rather than
> comply with an NSA search and gag order.
> 
> In response, Silent Circle, a similar service in Maryland founded by
> Phil "PGP" Zimmerman, proactively shut down and nuked their servers.  

In the interview, Zimmerman is quoted:

  There is no way to do encrypted e-mail where the content is
  protected. No way where the metadata is protected. Assuming that the
  e-mail is based in the country that can apply pressure to the mail
  provider… Almost any government has the ability to pressure a mail
  provider in that country to hand over what it has.

I was hoping that he would at some point explain why it was possible
for his company to securely encrypt his company's "mobile texting,
calling and video calling services", but not e-mail.  Other than not
being able to hide the so-called e-mail metadata, all I could gather
is that there's no PGP for smartphones (and thus they had to use the
available server-side version, which puts all of the users' private
keys in a central location).  That doesn't seem like a legitimate
technical barrier, though.  Presumably, licensing issues prevent his
company from using GnuPG in their proprietary software, but still...
What else am I missing?


-- 
Paul