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<http://www.yahoo.com/headlines/970923/tech/stories/encrypt_2.html> [ Yahoo | Write Us | Search | Info ] [ Index | News | World | Biz | Tech | Politic | Sport | Scoreboard | Entertain | Health ] [ Reuters | Wired | ZDNet ] Tuesday September 23 10:04 AM EDT Baby Bells Join In Fighting US Encryption Control By Aaron Pressman WASHINGTON - Five of the influential "Baby Bell" regional telephone companies on Monday joined a coalition urging Congress to reject a proposal that would give U.S. law enforcement agencies access to otherwise secure computer files. The phone companies, along with dozens of high-tech companies and business groups, signed a letter opposing proposed limits on encryption technology used to protect computer files from outside access or interference. Louis Freeh, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, has urged Congress to enact the limits. The Baby Bells and other opponents of encryption limits sent their letter to U.S. Rep. Thomas Bliley, Republican of Virginia, chairman of the House Commerce Committee. Later this week, the committee is expected to consider an encryption bill authored by Rep. Bob Goodlatte, a Virginia Republican. Prompted by Freeh, the committee is currently leaning toward amending Goodlatte's encryption bill to impose new limits. Five Baby Bells -- Ameritech, Bell Atlantic Corp., BellSouth Corp. , SBC Communications and US West -- signed the letter opposing the restrictions. Other groups signing the letter ranged across the political spectrum from civil libertarians at the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) to conservatives at Americans for Tax Reform. This would be a direct hit at the telecommunications infrastructure," said CDT executive director Jerry Berman who helped organize Monday's letter. It's an unmitigated disaster. " The letter was also signed by International Business Machines, which had previously been seen as one of the few companies not openly opposing the Clinton administration's policy restricting encryption exports. But the domestic limits being considered by the Commerce Committee would go well beyond current policy. Encryption products, which scramble information and render it unreadable without a password or software key," are increasingly being used to secure communications and electronic commerce over the Internet. But the FBI and other law enforcement agencies argue that encryption will also be used by criminals and terrorists to thwart wiretaps and police surveillance. The amendment being considered by the committee would require all encryption products sold in the United States to include a back door" allowing the government to crack any message covertly. [ SNIP for FAIR USE ]