============================================================================= ____ _ _ _ / ___|_ __ _ _ _ __ | |_ ___ | \ | | _____ _____ | | | '__| | | | '_ \| __/ _ \ _____| \| |/ _ \ \ /\ / / __| | |___| | | |_| | |_) | || (_) |_____| |\ | __/\ V V /\__ \ \____|_| \__, | .__/ \__\___/ |_| \_|\___| \_/\_/ |___/ |___/|_| LETTER FROM 20 MEMBERS OF CONGRESS ON NEW CLIPPER PLAN LETTER TO THE NET FROM SENATOR CONRAD BURNS (R-MT) LAW ENFORCEMENT NOW TRACKING CRIMES INVOLVING ENCRYPTION http://www.crypto.com/ Date: October 21, 1996 URL:http://www.crypto.com/ crypto-news@panix.com If you redistribute this, please do so in its entirety, with the banner intact. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents Introduction Letter from 20 members of Congress on new Clipper plan Letter to the net from Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT) Law enforcement now tracking crimes involving encryption How to receive crypto-news Press contacts ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- INTRODUCTION As we look back at the last legislative session, it is amazing the progress we've made. As we build supporters for the pro-encryption forces in Congress we move the ball farther down the field. If you called, wrote, testified, or even just stayed involved in the issue this year, realize that you've made a significant difference in the way this issue went. It's not the end, though. We get a break for a couple of weeks and then Congress will be back, and ready to take up this issue again. Pro-encryption activists are gearing up the "My Lock, My Key" campaign for next year's fight. You can help by ensuring that you have told us who your member of Congress is. You never know, you might get a call or an email from one of us to help convince your legislator about the benefits of privacy and encryption! Participate in the "My Lock, My Key" Adopt-Your-Legislator campaign at http://www.crypto.com ! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- LETTER FROM 20 MEMBERS OF CONGRESS ON NEW CLIPPER PLAN Congress of the United States Washington, D.C. 20515 October 15,1996 The Honorable Michael Kantor Secretary Department of Commerce Washington, D.C. 20230 Dear Secretary: We write to express our serious concerns about the Administration's most recent policy announcement on export restrictions on encryption technology. First we agree with the October 4, 1996, New York Times editorial that characterized the Administration's plan as "needlessly restrictive and probably unworkable" and (though better than previous Administration proposal) "risks doing more harm than good." We recognize that this issue involves a careful balancing of commercial, consumer, law enforcement and national security considerations. However, the well-respected 1996 report by the National Research Council on this matter emphasized that U.S. law enforcement and national security would be enhanced -- not weakened -- by broader use of stronger U.S. encryption technologies both at home and abroad. Furthermore, the report stressed that efforts to control international trade in encryption technologies will only be effective if implemented on a comprehensive, multilateral basis. Unfortunately, the Administration's most recent encryption initiative shortchanges both U.S. business and law enforcement interests. The proposal is flawed for four reasons: it fails to recognize that top-down, government-imposed policies are doomed to defeat: export policies must be directly linked, or indexed, to advances in technology; export controls must be fully multilateral in order to be effective; and export control decisions will be further delayed by granting the FBI new veto authority over U.S. exports. We fear these defects will continue to leave U.S. companies at a disadvantage in the world market, leave users of U.S. encryption uncertain about the security of their information and leave U.S. law enforcement and national security agencies behind the cryptography-curve. Although we were not consulted in the formulation of this policy, we nevertheless hope that in the coming months you will work with us and industry, consumer and user groups to refine it further. In addition to conducting oversight hearing in the next Congress on the Administration's proposal, we also want to assure you that we will continue to pursue legislative solutions toward this end. Sincerely, [signed] Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT) Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS) Sen. Larry Pressler (R-SD) Sen. Lauch Faircloth (R-NC) Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) Sen. John Ashcroft (R-MO) Sen. Alan Simpson(R-WY) Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) Sen. Don Nickles (R-OK) Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) Sen. Craig Thomas (R-WY) Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) Rep. Sonny Bono (R-CA) Rep. Howard Coble (R-NC) Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH) Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) Rep. Bob Barr (R-GA) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- LETTER TO THE NET FROM SENATOR CONRAD BURNS (R-MT) [We were informed that this net was for the net community, not specifically for Jonah Seiger. We bring it to you. -Shabbir]
From Conrad_Burns@burns.senate.gov Fri Oct 18 17:35:35 1996 Date: Fri, 18 Oct 96 17:49:32 EST To: jseiger@cdt.org Subject: To Interested Members of the Internet Community:
I am writing to thank you for all your help and support of my effort this year to pass legislation to enhance privacy and security on the Internet. As you all know by now, the 104th Congress adjourned before it had a chance to act on S. 1726, the Promotion of Commerce Online in the Digital Era Act of 1996. The bill, which was co-sponsored by Senators Leahy (D-VT), Pressler (R-SD), Lott (R-MS), Wyden (D-OR) and many other Senators from both parties, would have encouraged the widespread availability of strong, easy to use privacy and security tools for Internet Users. Although the Senate was not able to act on Pro-CODE this year, our efforts have laid the groundwork for real reform of US encryption policy in the 105th Congress. And despite significant opposition from the administration, Netizens had a significant impact on the Congressional debate on the encryption issue. I am honored to have helped to arrange the first ever Cybercasts of Congressional hearings, and I enjoyed the many online discussions I had with Netizens. Together, we have helped to show the Congress that the Internet user community can and should have a voice in debates over critical Internet policy issues. Finally, just days before adjournment, the Administration announced yet another encryption policy initiative. The proposal continues to insist on key escrow as a condition for lifting encryption export controls, and raises numerous questions about privacy and competitiveness. This debate is not over by any stretch of the imagination. I intend to move forward on pro-encryption legislation soon after the 105th Congress begins in January. You can find out more about this issue by visiting my web site (http://www.senate.gov/~burns). You can also visit the Encryption Policy Resource Page (http://www.crypto.com/) and the Internet Policy Coalition page (http://www.privacy.org/ipc/). Set up by experts to provide resources on the encryption policy debate, these sites also contain information on how you can get more involved. Thanks again for all your support. Next year, with your help, we can reach a commonsense solution to the critical policy crisis on encryption. Sincerely, U. S. Senator Conrad Burns ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAW ENFORCEMENT NOW TRACKING CRIMES INVOLVING ENCRYPTION [This was forwarded to us by one of our many encryption supporters with a stronger legal background. The summary of it seems to be that someone has decided to start tracking at crimes that involve encryption. Expect these numbers to be used against us next year in the debate over crypto. -Shabbir]
From:XXXXXXXXXX
Check out title V of HR 3723, just signed into law by Clinton. It expressly directs that a) all criminal presentence reports (the written story-line/history given to the judge on which the sentence is calculated) shall include info on whether crypto was used to obstruct justice/commit crime, and b) the Sentencing Comm'n (the folks who write the rules) start looking at this issue, almost surely with a view to eventually writing Guidelines that would bump up sentences of perps who made the mistake of using crypto. Other parts of the bill make various changes -- I can't tell how substantial -- to sec. 1030, the main do-not-hack/crack statute. I'm not worried about this right now, since what little I've seen looks fairly cosmetic. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOW TO RECEIVE 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 =============================================================================