Ernest Hua wrote:
It also creates new criminal penalties for using encryption to further a criminal act ... Remember that Maryland bill that would criminalize sending "annoying" or "harassing" email? If the Goodlatte bill became law, Marylanders who signed their messages with PGP or telnetted to local ISPs could be slammed with an all-expenses-paid trip to the Federal pen for five years ... In other words, SAFE would turn state misdemeanors into Federal felonies. This is not good.
Ok. So it's kind of bad in this respect, but let's face it ... we can't have everything OUR way, the FIRST time around. Washington politics is just not that way (not that you need such a reminder).
Are you kidding? With the exception of export controls, we DO have it our way now. If we let them have it at all, we will NEVER have it our way. Any legislation at all, no matter what it says, is bad.
A coalition of groups is sending a letter to Goodlatte tomorrow supporting the bill but expressing concern over the criminalization provision. Interested in signing on? Email David Sobel: sobel@epic.org.
Let's let the legislative process (whatever you think of it) take its course. I'll be happy even if they sneak some screwy secret committee on the final bill, as long as we are not subject to that committee or any other governmental body just because we allow ftp of C source code by our off-shore friends.
Under no circumstances should any right or liberty be sacrificed so that we can export crypto. One of the principal reasons for export control is to prevent the widespread deployment of strong crypto IN the U.S. It seems they are willing to lift export controls if we all lie down and let them impose controls on domestic use. No thanks. Fuck RSA. Fuck Netscape. Fuck M$. I'm not gonna give up my ability to use crypto so they can make more money. -- Mr. E