At 2:17 PM -0700 9/9/97, Declan McCullagh wrote:
This version of SAFE, in fact, is //much worse// for crypto freedom than having no bill passed at all.
True. <...>
It's time for advocates of crypto-freedom to turn obstructionist and oppose all legislation dealing with encryption.
And expect to accomplish what? To stick our heads in the sand now would just make it easier for the FBI to roll right over us. We still need to fight the expected FBI key recovey amendment when the Intelligence Committee and Commerce Committee vote this week, and then onto the floor (perhaps next year). Not to mention the Senate. This battle is FAR from over. It would be a serous mistake to give up now. Best, Jonah PS: Interestingly, Reuters is reporting that the Administraon has "serious problems" with the Dellums/Weldon Amendment: Clinton official not backing new encryption plan WASHINGTON, Sept 9 (Reuter) - The Clinton administration has serious problems with a new congressional proposal to tighten export limits on computer encoding technology even though it prefers the approach to one contained in earlier legislation, a top official said on Tuesday. Under Secretary of Commerce William Reinsch told Reuters that an amendment approved by the House National Security Committee earlier on Tuesday would give the secretary of defense veto power over encryption export decisions. "Giving the secretary of defense a veto is inconsistent with the president's executive order and inconsistent with the policies of four prior administrations," Reinsch said. "The administration thinks all relevent agencies should have a seat at the table and none should have a veto." Under current policy, enacted by presidential order last year, encryption export requests are reviewed by the Departments of State, Defense, Energy, Commerce and Justice, along with the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. The most powerful encryption products cannot be exported unless they contain a feature allowing the government to decode any messages covertly. The amendment, authored by Rep. Curt Weldon, Republican of Pennsylvania, and Rep. Ron Dellums, Democrat of California, would require the president to set "the maximum level of encryption strength that could be exported from the United States ... without harm to the national security of the United States." Products at or below the established level could be exported after a one-time review specified by the secretary of commerce with the concurrence of the secretary of defense. The proposal virtually gutted the bill to which it was attached. The original bill, written by Virginia Republican Rep. Bob Goodlatte, would greatly relax export controls. Reinsch said the administration supported the "harm to the national security" standard. "It gives the administration the authority it needs," he said. "We'd much rather have this than (the original)." Software companies, civil libertarians and Internet user groups all favor relaxing the current limits and expressed strong concerns about the Weldon amendment. The amendment appeared to outlaw differential treatment currently accorded to some encryption products used by financial institutions or subsidiaries of U.S. companies. Reinsch said that section of the amendment "could be more artfully drafted." He also criticized the proposal for not requiring companies to export products with features allowing for government access to coded messages, an approach known as key recovery. The current policy "links all of the parts together and uses export controls as a device to move towards key recovery," he said. "We believe export controls should include key recovery." --Aaron Pressman((202-898-8312)) Tuesday, 9 September 1997 18:02:46 RTRS [nN0972124] * Value Your Privacy? The Government Doesn't. Say 'No' to Key Escrow! * Adopt Your Legislator - http://www.crypto.com/adopt -- Jonah Seiger, Communications Director (v) +1.202.637.9800 Center for Democracy and Technology pager: +1.202.859.2151 <jseiger@cdt.org> http://www.cdt.org PGP Key via finger http://www.cdt.org/homes/jseiger/