Why no action alert, coalition opposing S. 974?

[Alan Westrope]

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On Fri, 21 Jul 95 8:46:26 -0600,
Paul Elliott <paul.elliott at hrnowl.lonestar.org> wrote:

> Many of the leaders of the major net civil liberties organizations have made
> statements concerning SB 974. They seem to agree that no action alert
> or coalition on SB 974 should be formed at this time.  [...]

> I remain concerned about this bill and am not satisfied with the response
> to this bill.

Your points are well taken, but I'm still in favor of concentrating
on the Exon bill until such time as SB 974 shows any signs of support
from other politicians.  Both bills are preposterous, of course:
unconstitutional and unenforceable.  There's one particularly absurd
aspect to SB 974 that I haven't seen mentioned on the Cypherpunks
list, possibly because it goes without saying.  I'll say it anyway,
first quoting the relevant portion of the bill:

`Sec. 1030A. Racketeering-related crimes involving computers
 `(a) It shall be unlawful    [...(1) snipped -- ADW]
 `(2) to distribute computer software that encodes or encrypts
      electronic or digital communications to computer networks that
      the person distributing the software knows or reasonably should
      know, is accessible to foreign nationals [...]

One area where the U.S. has retained strong international competitiveness
is its colleges and universities.  The number of these institutions that
have no foreign nationals enrolled is *damn* small, and largely comprises
"Ace's Truck Driving College" and the like.  Foreign nationals who are in
this country to attend college are exempt from the usual I-9 employment
restrictions; hence, many are also employed at full-time summer jobs,
internships (in government or the private sector), teaching assistantships,
or work-study positions, which may involve access to computer networks.
(Many foreign nationals complete medical residencies in U.S. hospitals,
for example.)

Preventing these people from having access to crypto software is simply
impossible.  This bill would make criminals out of thousands of network
administrators and MIS types, simply for having crypt() or Norton Diskreet
around.  If the bill gains any momentum whatsoever, I expect howls of
protest from the academic world.  I'm not sure a megabuck lobbying effort
by private industry will be necessary:  letters from Computing Services
honchos at some prestigious schools/hospitals/corporations should induce
even the most technically clueless congressdroids to pull their heads out
of their asses on this issue...(OK, maybe not Jamf-^H^Hes Exon, but enough
of 'em to prevent the bill's passage.)

Anyway, I'm glad nobody's suggested a Cypherpunk SB 974 infomercial,
financed "by each according to his ability to pay," as happened during
the Clipper debate...maybe the list *is* evolving...:-)

OK, back to your regularly scheduled Trans- and Cross-Continental Realtime
Virtual Kneecapping & Interface Flamefest, a perennial Cypherpunk favorite!


Alan Westrope                  <awestrop at nyx10.cs.du.edu>
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