----------------------------------------------------------------------------- _____ _____ _______ / ____| __ \__ __| ____ ___ ____ __ | | | | | | | | / __ \____ / (_)______ __ / __ \____ _____/ /_ | | | | | | | | / /_/ / __ \/ / / ___/ / / / / /_/ / __ \/ ___/ __/ | |____| |__| | | | / ____/ /_/ / / / /__/ /_/ / / ____/ /_/ (__ ) /_ \_____|_____/ |_| /_/ \____/_/_/\___/\__, / /_/ \____/____/\__/ The Center for Democracy and Technology /____/ Volume 2, Number 19 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- A briefing on public policy issues affecting civil liberties online ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- CDT POLICY POST Volume 2, Number 19 May 17, 1996 CONTENTS: (1) 27 Representatives Urge President Clinton to Abandon Key-Escrow Encryption Policy (2) Join Sen Leahy At HotWired, Wed 5/22 to Discuss His Crypto Bill (3) Subscription Information (4) About CDT, contacting us ** This document may be redistributed freely with this banner in tact ** Excerpts may be re-posted with permission of <editor@cdt.org> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- (1) 27 REPRESENTATIVES URGE PRESIDENT CLINTON TO ABANDON KEY-ESCROW POLICY A bi-partisan group of 27 Congressmen, led by Reps. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and Tom Campbell (R-CA) on Wednesday (5/15) sent a letter to President Clinton urging the President to abandon the Administration's key-escrow encryption proposal and "instead immediately liberalize export controls on non-key escrow encryption technology." Expressing "serious concerns" about the impact of current U.S. encryption policy on individual privacy and US competitiveness, the bi-partisan group wrote: "The ability of companies and individuals to ensure that the information they send over communications and computer networks is secure is a prerequisite to exploiting the potential of the Global Information Infrastructure." The letter was signed by several prominent members from both parties, including Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), Tom Campbell (R-CA), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Rick Boucher (D-VA), Bob Barr (R-GA), Pat Schroeder (D-CO), Carlos Moorehead (R-CA), and 20 other members. The bi-partisan call to President Clinton to abandon the Administration's key escrow policy is yet another encouraging sign of increasingly strong Congressional support for reform of US encryption policy. Congress is currently considering several bills designed to encourage the widespread availability privacy-protecting technologies for the Internet by lifting export controls on strong encryption: * HR 3011, the "Security and Freedom Through Encryption (SAFE) Act of 1996", sponsored by over 30 members including Reps Goodlatte (R-VA), Campbell (R-CA), Eshoo (D-CA), Boucher (D-VA). * S. 1726, the "Promotion of Commerce On-Line in the Digital Era (Pro- CODE) act of 1996, sponsored by Senators Burns (R-MT), Leahy (D-VT), Pressler (R-SD), Dole (R-KS), Wyden (D-OR), and Murray (D-WA) * S. 1587, the "Encrypted Communications Privacy Act of 1996", also sponsored by Senators Burns and Leahy. Hearings on HR 3011 (Rep Goodlatte's bill) and the Burns/Leahy S. 1726 (Pro-CODE) are expected in June. INTERNET SECURITY DAY - A NATIONAL DISCUSSION ON THE NEED TO REFORM US ENCRYPTION POLICY In July, CDT and over 25 other organizations will hold a daylong education event in California's Silicon Valley in July. The "Internet Security Day" will bring together industry leaders, members of Congress, encryption experts, and others to discuss the need to reform US encryption policy. Similar events, to be held throughout the US and on the Net, are also being planned. Sponsors of the event include the Voters Telecommunications Watch (VTW), EFF, Americans for Tax Reform, AT&T, Pacific Telesis, America Online, Netscape, the Business Software Alliance, the Software Publishers Association, and several others. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE ENCRYPTION POLICY DEBATE & TEXT OF THE LETTER Background information on the encryption policy debate, full text of the various legislative proposals, detailed analysis, the text of the Goodlatte/Campbell letter, information on the July Silicon Valley event, and transcripts from online appearances by Senators on the Encryption issue, can be found at CDT's Cryptography Issues Page: URL:http://www.cdt.org/crypto/ Or at the Encryption Policy Resource Page: URL:http://www.crypto.com/ --------------------------------------------------------------------- (2) SENATORS GO ONLINE TO DISCUSS PRIVACY AND SECURITY ONLINE Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), the "Senior Senator from Cyberspace", ardent proponent of Net.Freedom and co-sponsor of 2 bills to repeal encryption export controls, will hold an online "town meeting" on Wednesday May 22 to discuss privacy and security online. DETAILS ON THE EVENT * Wednesday May 22, 4 - 5 pm ET (1 pm Pacific) on HotWired URL: http://www.hotwired.com/wiredside/ To participate, you must be a registered HotWired member (there is no charge for registration). You must also have RealAudio(tm) and a telnet application properly configured to work with your browser. Please visit http://www.hotwired.com/wiredside/ for information on how you can easily register for Hotwired and obtain RealAudio. Wednesday's town meeting is another in a series of planned events, and is part of a broader project coordinated by CDT and the Voters Telecommunications Watch (VTW) designed to bring the Internet Community into the debate and encourage members of Congress to work with the Net.community on vital Internet policy issues. Events with other members of Congress working on Internet Policy Issues are currently being planned. Please check http://www.crypto.com for announcements of future events ------------------------------------------------------------------------ (3) SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION Be sure you are up to date on the latest public policy issues affecting civil liberties online and how they will affect you! Subscribe to the CDT Policy Post news distribution list. CDT Policy Posts, the regular news publication of the Center For Democracy and Technology, are received by more than 9,000 Internet users, industry leaders, policy makers and activists, and have become the leading source for information about critical free speech and privacy issues affecting the Internet and other interactive communications media. To subscribe to CDT's Policy Post list, send mail to policy-posts-request@cdt.org with a subject: subscribe policy-posts If you ever wish to remove yourself from the list, send mail to the above address with a subject of: unsubscribe policy-posts ----------------------------------------------------------------------- (4) ABOUT THE CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND TECHNOLOGY/CONTACTING US The Center for Democracy and Technology is a non-profit public interest organization based in Washington, DC. The Center's mission is to develop and advocate public policies that advance democratic values and constitutional civil liberties in new computer and communications technologies. Contacting us: General information: info@cdt.org World Wide Web: URL:http://www.cdt.org/ FTP URL:ftp://ftp.cdt.org/pub/cdt/ Snail Mail: The Center for Democracy and Technology 1634 Eye Street NW * Suite 1100 * Washington, DC 20006 (v) +1.202.637.9800 * (f) +1.202.637.0968 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- End Policy Post 2.19 5/17/96 -----------------------------------------------------------------------