On Tuesday, August 14, 2001, at 04:18 PM, Declan McCullagh wrote:
On Tue, Aug 14, 2001 at 05:50:37PM -0400, James B. DiGriz wrote:
Be nice if it actually said what it was about, rather than eliciting projections and interpretations on the part of the reader. But, as you say, ho hum. Presumably it is to give "scientific backing" to whatever position Congress wants to take on upcoming issues and legislation, and to couch various, no doubt conflicting, agendas in scientific doublespeak. Excuse my cynicism, but that's the way it looks to me.
No cynicism necessary. That's what's probably going to happen.
Which is what the NRC did with the crypto issue. They sensed which way the wind was blowing (anti-Clipper, by 80% plus if I remember the opinion polls correctly) and came out with a report which massaged the inputs in such a way as to come out against key escrow. If the opinion polls, weighted appropriately by inputs from media conglomerates, conclude that regulation of access to speech is advisable, then the NRC will issue a suitably-weighty report outlining the issues and presenting Congress with options for regulating speech and access to speech. --Tim May