-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 At 12:28 PM 9/15/97 +0000, Declan McCullagh wrote:
John,
You don't understand the dynamic. At the NatSec hearing last week,
there
were two dozen cosponsors on the committee. But all but one voted to gut the bill. Many others said they were hoodwinked into signing on.
The tide is changing.
Jeez, I'm not trying to be contrary John or Declan, but here's my view: The chance that more than a few hyper-busy members of Congress actually understand this way-arcane issue is nearing zero. Let's face it; many if not most members don't even use a PC. Based on what I've heard in hearings and from staffers, my seat-of-the-pants guess is - oh - let's say 30 of the 535 members in House and Senate really get this. The rest are doing the best they can with limited information, most of the time responding to the last person they heard. Thus, 18 0f 22 co-sponsors of SAFE went the other way after hearing from the FBI. It's not so much that people are _changing_ their minds, it's that they still don't know enough to make an informed decision. Until the last few weeks, crypto never occupied the attention of more than a handful of the dozens of committees on the Hill. Unlike most issues, crypto _is_ rocket science to these folks - as it is to just about the entire world. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: PGP for Personal Privacy 5.0 Charset: noconv iQA/AwUBNB1UMNZgKT/Hvj9iEQInyQCfUeKWIsTrQX6O94abbhmnyM6BKD4AnRGR Tj0bmclmRMAAwGvM+t/akiZ/ =oZrk -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- Will Rodger Dont' want it printed? Cyberjournalist Don't let it happen. Optimist Alles vergangliche ist Skeptic nur ein Gleichnis.