============================================================================= ____ _ _ _ / ___|_ __ _ _ _ __ | |_ ___ | \ | | _____ _____ | | | '__| | | | '_ \| __/ _ \ _____| \| |/ _ \ \ /\ / / __| | |___| | | |_| | |_) | || (_) |_____| |\ | __/\ V V /\__ \ \____|_| \__, | .__/ \__\___/ |_| \_|\___| \_/\_/ |___/ |___/|_| PRO-ENCRYPTION BILL CLEARS FIRST CONGRESSIONAL HURDLE. FACES TOUGHER TEST IN COMING WEEKS. SAFE BILL IS ASSAILED BY CLINTON WHITE HOUSE BECAUSE IT PROHIBITS EXPANDED EAVESDROPPING CAPABILITIES Date: May 1, 1997 Expires June 1, 1997 URL:http://www.crypto.com/ crypto-news@panix.com Redistribution of crypto-news is allowed in its entirety. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents What Just Happened What YOU CAN DO NOW! How to start or stop receiving crypto-news Press contacts ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- WHAT JUST HAPPENED On Wednesday April 30, 1997, Congress took a historic first step towards real reform of US encryption policy and promoting the availability of strong privacy protections for Internet users. The House Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual property, by a unanimous vote, approved the Security and Freedom through Encryption (SAFE) Act (HR 695). The bill will be considered by the full House Judiciary Committee in mid-May where it is expected to face tough opposition, The SAFE bill, sponsored by Reps. Bob Goodlatee (R-VA) and Anna Eshoo (D-CA) currently has 78 congressional co-sponsors, including a majority of the House Judiciary Committee. The bill seeks to protect privacy and promote electronic commerce by liberalizing the export of privacy-enhancing encryption technology and prohibiting the the government from imposing mandatory key-escrow or key-recovery systems. The bill also contains a controversial provision which establishes new criminal penalties for the use of encryption in the furtherance of a felony. Privacy groups have expressed concern about this provision. During Wednesday's subcommittee vote, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) pledged to work with privacy groups and the bill's sponsors to address these concerns. The Clinton Administration is unhappy with the bill, claiming it will thwart law enforcement and undermine the administration's efforts to impose a global "key-recovery" infrastructure. In an April 30 letter to the Courts and Intellectual Property Subcommittee chair Rep. Howard Coble (R-NC), the Department of Justice said: "The bill could be read as prohibiting the United States government from using appropriate incentives to support a key management infrastructure and KEY RECOVERY." [emphasis added] The Administration's "Key Recovery" program creates a backdoor in encryption that would allow third parties to eavesdrop on individual's private conversations without their permission or knowledge. Because of the Administration's opposition, the SAFE bill is expected to face a much tougher fight before the full House Judiciary Committee later this month. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW The SAFE bill (HR695) is approaching the full committee for markup. Your help is needed in calling members of the House Judiciary committee to urge them to pass legislation. This is a critical issue to the future of the Internet as a secure and trusted means of education, commerce, and political discourse, but it will not happen without your help. Please take a moment to Adopt Your Legislator and let them know that you support efforts to refrom US encryption policy in a way that protects privacy, promotes electronic commerce, and recognizes the realities of the global Internet. Visit http://www.crypto.com/adopt/ For more information about the bill, go to http://www.crypto.com/safe_bill/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOW TO START OR STOP RECEIVING CRYPTO-NEWS To subscribe to crypto-news, sign up from our WWW page (http://www.crypto.com) or send mail to majordomo@panix.com with "subscribe crypto-news" in the body of the message. To unsubscribe, send a letter to majordomo@panix.com with "unsubscribe crypto-news" in the body. Requests to unsubscribe that are sent to shabbir@vtw.org will be ignored. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- PRESS CONTACT INFORMATION Press inquiries on Crypto-News should be directed to Shabbir J. Safdar (VTW) at +1.718.596.2851 or shabbir@vtw.org Jonah Seiger (CDT) at +1.202.637.9800 or jseiger@cdt.org ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- End crypto-news =============================================================================