Editorial Pointers.

This article presents an introduction to various issues related to techniques for safeguarding private data from unauthorized parties, and legal protection of computer programs. Key escrow encryption techniques, used to safeguard private data from unauthorized parties, have been scrutinized under a very public microscope ever since the U.S. government announced its interest in defining how such a system should operate. While industry and government argue the perceived merits and threats of encryption strategies, businesses worldwide continue to evaluate available key escrow systems as a formative means for protecting their information and other valuable assets. Also in this issue, is a report that reconsiders the legal protection of computer programs. Randall Davis, Mitch Kapor, Pamela Samuelson, and Jerry Reichman examine some of the topical notions about the nature of software, the legal protection required, and the methods for providing that protection. Finally, "Viewpoint" featured Gordon Bell's observations on the "small, vanishing" U.S. supercomputing market. Bell, the noted architect of DEC computers and VAX machines, traces the road to the elusive teraflop-speed supercomputer.