U.S. Government Ponders Quantum Computer Regulation

Yahoo ^ | 11/10/05 | Elizabeth Millard

[Straight Vermonter]

A federal advisory committee met Wednesday for a presentation set up by IBM (NYSE: IBM - news) about quantum computers, to determine when the technology might be ready to be considered for government regulation.

The computers, which are still in the early prototype stage, make use of quantum mechanical phenomena to perform operations. It is believed that if large-scale quantum computers could be built, they could solve some problems faster than any existing computer.

In his presentation to the committee, IBM researcher David DiVincenzo compared the potential of quantum computing to the possibilities generated in 1947 when transistors were invented.

Regulation Station

In considering what type of regulations should be imposed on quantum computing, it is likely that the committee mainly will consider how to handle the export status of the machines.

During the 1990s, the U.S. government put strict controls on the export of technology, but has relaxed its stance somewhat due to the growing global economy. However, high-performance computers have been under export control since 2003.

The government has yet to decide how it will treat quantum computers, but the committee's meeting could be an indication that regulators will view the technology in the same way as high-performance computers, and put controls on its export.

Science Department

Despite the regulatory tangles it might present, the advancement of computing is important for several reasons, said Thomas Zacharia, associate laboratory director for Computing and Computational Sciences at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

"Having more power gives researchers the ability to change how science is done," he said. "It makes them think in new ways, and embark on projects that might have seemed impossible only a few years ago."

Although he did not comment on the promise of quantum computing specifically, Zacharia observed that greater processing speed, in general, has allowed researchers and scientists to explore a range of applications, and that the power has been felt across several disciplines.

"Processing power can assist projects in a huge number of fields," he said. "And the continuing advances are very exciting."

[Loud Mime]

If ironic or Kovacs-lent bonds are formed then the charm and strange quarks are irretrievably comingled making it impossible to determine the exact nature of the funniness of the related comment.

What?

[Basilides]

The combination of quantum computation and nanotechnology makes the mind boggle (as best it can at something it doesn't have the ability to comprehend).

We are in very scary territory the next few decades....

We can only "hope" that the same semi-benovelent attitudes prevail among those who possess this technology as those which prevailed among the controlling interests in the Manhattan Project.

If not...

[zeugma]

and data is governed by the uncertainty principle.

Ah, I see that you run Microsoft Windows. ;-)

[Hank Rearden]

We can only "hope" that the same semi-benovelent attitudes prevail among those who possess this technology as those which prevailed among the controlling interests in the Manhattan Project.

Oh yeah. Nancy Pelosi's promised it'll be used only for Doom 12.

[KarinG1]

You beat me to it, Vermonter. I didn't know it was such common knowledge that silicon semiconductor technology was acquired from unwilling aliens.

[BlazingArizona]

How long do you think they will have to wait to reveal the quantum computational capabilities they also gleaned from the Roswell crash so as to not And wake it seem too suspicious?

Wait till they find out that OS X already runs on it.

[familyop]

Hmmm. It looks like we'll be seeing some very long keys being used by those who need/want privacy. Enough RAID 0s (interleaving) in RAID arrays will make that feasible, though.

...time to review a few things. I don't need such encryption, but others will want it.

[NoCmpromiz]

All the cables are entangled and data is governed by the uncertainty principle.

And what do you use as a source of Brownian motion for your probablility drive?

[supercat]

Hmmm. It looks like we'll be seeing some very long keys being used by those who need/want privacy. Enough RAID 0s (interleaving) in RAID arrays will make that feasible, though.

Actually, for many applications, the one-time pad is actually quite practical. Consider that if all my communication with someone is via 115.2kbps link, a 40GB hard drive could hold enough 'pad' to encrypt about 2.5 years' worth of continuous transmissions. So, before my agent goes out into the field I fill up his hard drive with some carefully-generated random data and keep a copy for myself. To be sure, generation of 40GB of really good random data is not exactly trivial, but I believe there are some cryptographically-sound methods of "stretching" randomness (there are some risks entailed with this, and it's easy to go very badly wrong, but it's possible to arrange things so that inferring anything about a particular bit, even given infinite computing power, would require access to so many other bits that an adversary with such access would likely have access to the entire key anyway).

[OSHA]

A nice hot cup of a substance not quite unlike tea,

[OSHA]

I'm already networked. I can't imagine being entangled. I guess every time a file is saved another file disappears.

[adam_az]

"I've got a quantum computer now. All the cables are entangled and data is governed by the uncertainty principle."

So, you've got a messy desk and a computer running Windows. Welcome to the club.

;)

[Spruce]

Who votes for these friggin morons?

[NoCmpromiz]

of a substance not quite unlike tea,

Ah, advanced tea substitute....

Remingd me of the time we manufactured some advanced tobacco substitute and gave it to some poor test subject to review.... but that's a story for later..

[webheart]

During the 1990s, the U.S. government put strict controls on the export of technology, but has relaxed its stance somewhat due to the growing global economy.

I think the relaxation had more to do with Bill Clinton's campaign financing than with any Global Economy.

[cynwoody]

Consider that if all my communication with someone is via 115.2kbps link, a 40GB hard drive could hold enough 'pad' to encrypt about 2.5 years' worth of continuous transmissions.

40e9 / (115.2e3/8) / 86400 = 32.15 days ... and that's if CWO Walker doesn't handle your drive.

[HiTech RedNeck]

This would necessarily be one of the most closely guarded secrets in the world. Whoever has access to QC can immediately break almost any cryptographic scheme (except for one-time pads and quantum cryptography). Of course the government would go to great lengths to protect this monopoly.

This would also blow the security off of internet commerce overnight. If the science is near at hand, not just governments are going to be questing for it.

[familyop]

Thanks. I'm not familiar with the one-time pad or that terminology, but randomizing whole drives before encryption is a good idea--much better than zeroing them (leaves usable data sections too visible).

Is one-time pad a marketing name or generic method?

And BTW, for all, the following might be of relevance to the posted article.

Princeton Lightwave Licenses IBM Single-Photon Detection Technology
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/051011/phtu040.html?.v=27

IBM invents new type of light
http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/index.php?feed=Science&article=UPI-1-20051103-11144100-bc-us-ibmlight.xml

[familyop]

Ah, I found it (info on one-time pad).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-time_pad

I'll run it through fellow BSD eggheads and check it out. ...haven't focused on crypto stuff but a little (played with encrypting swap space with cgd and the like).

[shibumi]

"Transparent aluminum finally made its much-anticipated debut,

Does this mean that we can now fashion "tin-foil" hats and wear them without anyone being the wiser?