At 8:06 PM -0700 7/9/97, Declan McCullagh wrote:
Here's a cast of characters from today's hearing...
Except maybe for Ashcroft--and it may be too soon to tell about him--the rest have just shown their expected colors. I say we just hang them all and be done with it. ...
SEN. PATRICK LEAHY (D): The Senate's supposed defender of crypto-freedom was at best a milquetoast one today. ...
Many of us warned long ago that Leahy was no friend of liberty, despite his soothing comments at the SAFE forum last summer. His support of other statist policies makes him just another fool on the Hill. ...
SEN. BOB KERREY (D): Perhaps gaining confidence in his political backing, Sen. Bob Kerrey spoke at length about the dangers of uncontrolled *domestic* use of crypto. "The current law is unacceptable. The status quo is unacceptable," he said. At one point he talked about scrapping any legislative changes to export rules -- and focusing instead just on domestic crypto and domestic key escrow.
A law to ban domestic use of strong crypto is coming. All it will take is some horrific incident--another bombing in a building, another Dahmer case, etc., where crypto is involved in any way. This will be the catalyst for the outlawing of unapproved crypto. The Supreme Court may or may not then overturn such a ban. (To most of us, of course, the free speech issues are crystal clear: no law may dictate the form of speech, especially when no issues of "interstate commerce" or "obscenity" are anywhere in sight. To make felons out of those who write in code in their electronic journals is something even Orwell seems to have missed. Though in Orwell's case I suppose it was because the keeping of journals was itself a crime, one Winston was able to hide due to the layout of his room. One wonders when Kerrey, Clinton, and McCain will think of banning journals except when copies are deposited weekly at the Diary Recovery Agency.) ...
SEN. JOHN KYL (R): Criticized Kerrey for being too moderate. "My own view is that the legislation does not go far enough," Sen. Kyl said of the McCain-Kerrey ...
The competition to outdo the others is beginning, signalling the usual stampede toward the passage of a bill.
SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D): Said "I would echo Sen. Kyl's concerns." Noted she represented a high-tech ...
Always the lug nut. They all deserve what they get. --Tim May There's something wrong when I'm a felon under an increasing number of laws. Only one response to the key grabbers is warranted: "Death to Tyrants!" ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- 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: 2^1398269 | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."