----- Forwarded message from Declan McCullagh -----
http://www.wired.com/news/conflict/0,2100,47635,00.html
Senator Backs Off Backdoors
By Declan McCullagh (declan@wired.com)
2:00 a.m. Oct. 17, 2001 PDT
WASHINGTON -- Sen. Judd Gregg has abruptly changed his mind and will
no longer seek to insert backdoors into encryption products.
A spokesman for the New Hampshire Republican said Tuesday that Gregg
has "no intention" of introducing a bill to require government access
to scrambled electronic or voice communications.
"We are not working on an encryption bill and have no intention to,"
spokesman Brian Hart said in an interview.
Two days after the Sept. 11 attacks, Gregg strode onto the Senate
floor and called for a global prohibition on data-scrambling products
without backdoors for government surveillance. Gregg said that quick
action was necessary "to get the information that allows us to
anticipate and prevent what occurred in New York and in Washington."
A few days later, Gregg told the Associated Press that he was
preparing legislation "to give our law enforcement community more
tools" to unscramble messages in hopes of fighting terrorists.
[...]
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