It is said that, as with sausage, one should never watch law being made. Well, the Leahy bill is rancid sausage. At 4:07 PM 3/13/96, jamesd@echeque.com wrote:
Looking for "good guys" in Washington is like Ronald Reagan looking for "moderates" in Iran. On crypto, and on taxes, our interests and their their interests are completely opposed. We should not care about, or take any interest in, the slight difference between the "moderate" and extremist members of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
The best bill we can ever hope to get out of Washington is no bill at all.
I think this is true. The Leahy bill is so filled with caveats, qualifications, and references to "legitimate needs of law enforcement" that it appears to be _WORSE_ than what we now have, where there are currently few if any laws about domestic encryption. This is not a "Congress shall make no law" sort of bill. This does not in clear and unambiguous language say there shall be no restrictions on cryptography. Rather, it is more of a "We think crypto is pretty important, especially for our friends in business, provided it is not used by bad people, is not used to repress marginalized people of color, is not used to evade the taxes we covet so much in Washington, and provided that law enforcement's legitimate needs are satisfied" sort of bill. And it is likely to get even worse as the Administration starts whacking at it. (I'm exaggerating a bit, but the more I see of the Leahy bill and of the analyses done of it, the more concerned I get.) The last time the EFF pushed for repressive legislation--the Digital Telephony Act (aka The Wiretap Act)--it nearly finished them off (*). This time, the support of the EFF may truly finish them off. And the same may happen to the other lobbying groups if they support the Leahy bill. (* In the aftermath of Digital Telephony, it was explained by various EFF spokeswonks that EFF had little choice but to support DT, and that it had emerged stronger and more influential than ever. Right. Sure. Whatever. Shortly thereafter, various staff shakeups and departures occurred, the EFF pulled up stakes and moved to San Francisco, and is now but a shadow of its former self. Sorry if my views offend EFF founders, but I call 'em as I see 'em.) --Tim May Boycott "Big Brother Inside" software! We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, we know that that ain't allowed. ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Higher Power: 2^756839 - 1 | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."