-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- From: sobel@epic.org (David L. Sobel) In an address at the International Cryptography Institute conference in Washington today, FBI Director Louis Freeh revealed that the Bureau encountered encrypted material during the course of its "Innocent Images" investigation. That operation recently led to dozens of nationwide arrests for alleged trafficking in child pornography via America Online. Freeh also disclosed that encrypted files were found during the course of a terrorism investigation in the Philippines involving an alleged plot to bomb a U.S. airliner and assassinate Pope John Paul II. The FBI Director characterized encryption as a "public safety" issue and stated that the FBI and law enforcement agencies around the world "will not tolerate" a situation in which the wide availability of encryption may impede those agencies' "public safety functions." While noting that the current U.S. government policy is to encourage the "voluntary" adoption of key-escrowed encryption techniques, Freeh raised the specter of a mandated "solution." Freeh stressed that the FBI "prefers" a "voluntary approach," but likened the encryption issue to last year's Digital Telephony debate, where the FBI first attempted to achieve voluntary compliance but eventually sought and obtained a legislative mandate to assure law enforcement access to digital communications. Freeh indicated that "if consensus is impossible" on the encryption issue, the FBI "may consider other approaches." Following his prepared address, Freeh was asked why the FBI needs key-escrow when it has apparently been successful in decrypting information encountered in the cited investigations. His response to this question was somewhat vague, leaving unanswered the question of whether or not the Bureau was, in fact, able to decrypt the encrypted files seized in the "Innocent Images" investigation. More information on this point is likely to emerge as these cases come to trial. Davis Sobel Legal Counsel Electronic Privacy Information Center http://www.epic.org -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 Comment: Auto-signed with Bryce's Auto-PGP v1.0beta3 iQB1AwUBMGMxs75ALmeTVXAJAQE+8gL/SYfKkwRCROh5jPW/WmhHfpjze4u1W32H iA7jwFUilD1kawEzngqtmQoTwjYnpD8ShwDIIgmYnCNMwf4wYdm8FNZGvzenj/jx 8a20Xhw/aqLRL/qum/gMHTnhlEMTMlha =4U03 -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----