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I have always thought that the Netherlands was a very liberal country. But now the government is proposing a law that totally outlaws the use of encryption methods.

Actually, these are quite consistent. Much of the ``liberal'' agenda relies on government, whether to impose taxes to support welfare, or to enforce political correctness, or whatever. But the continued effectiveness of government (and other large institutions) is threatened by strong cryptography.

John E. Kreznar | Relations among people to be by jkreznar@ininx.com | mutual consent, or not at all.

Right, as opposed to conservatives, who are happy to have people "threaten the effectiveness of government and other large institutions." So, among "liberals" we can include Reagan, J. Edgar Hoover, Joe McCarthy, and Nixon, all of whom took some pretty extreme steps to silence critics of "government and other large institutions," up to and including political assassinations. Tell CISPES (Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador) that the hundreds of break-ins and phone taps by the FBI in the mid-80's were intended to make sure that the former didn't increase the effectiveness of the U.S. government too much. Refresh my memory: which country has been destroying lives and seizing millions of dollars' worth of private property for over a decade in a fascistic "War on Drugs"? In which country can people buy, sell, and smoke pot openly without police harrassment of any kind? Which "politically correct" president forbade a Canadian filmmaker who made a film critical of the U.S. government to show that film here unless it had the label "Propaganda" attached to it? I'm no lover of "liberals" (though for very different reasons from you, to be sure), but this is utter nonsense. Do people really believe this stuff? -- Dave Mandl dmandl@panix.com