INFO: Sen. Burns tells White House "Three strikes and you're out"
Voters Telecommunications Watch
shabbir at vtw.org
Tue May 21 01:53:08 PDT 1996
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SENATOR BURNS (R-MT) TELLS THE WHITE HOUSE
"THREE STRIKES AND YOU'RE OUT" OF THE ENCRYPTION DEBATE
BURNS SAYS CLIPPER III PLAN IS A "SWING AND A MISS"
Date: May 20, 1996
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Table of Contents
News
Text of press release from Senator Burns (R-MT)
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NEWS
The hemorrhaging of the White House publicity campaign surrounding the
Clipper III proposal that started in Interactive Week and the House of
Representatives continues today in the Senate. Earlier today we received
the attached press release from Senator Burns' (R-MT) office.
Although this author has not yet seen the proposal, it is wonderful to
see Congress leading the fight against the White House on this issue.
>From the recent slew of encryption legislation (H.R. 3011, S.1587, &
S.1726), it's clear that Congress understands that the best people in
the world to sort out this issue are the public and industry. The
three Clipper plans have been hatched by a secretive Executive agency
without considering the needs of the public and industry.
This is the start of a highly-charged tug-of-war between Congress and the
White House over who holds the keys to your privacy: you, or the government?
Congress says you, the White House says the government. It's crucial that
we support Congress as they go head-to-head with the White House.
Keep an eye out for the first leaks and analyses of the Clipper III report
that will undoubtedly appear on the net soon.
DON'T FORGET!
Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) will be on HotWired *THIS WEDNESDAY*, May 22nd
at 4pm EST at http://www.hotwired.com/wiredside/ You can tune in and listen
to the chat with the RealAudio software (http://www.realaudio.com). You can
ask questions of the Senator through a moderator and get real, immediate
responses.
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TEXT OF PRESS RELEASE FROM SENATOR BURNS (R-MT)
[Note that feedback to Senator Burns can be sent via email at
conrad_burns at burns.senate.gov -Shabbir]
For immediate release: Contact: Matt Raymond
Monday, May 20, 1996 (202) 224-8150
Randall Popelka
(202) 224-6137
Burns: Clipper III Strikes Out
New Clinton Computer "Wiretap" Plan Circulates With Few Changes
WASHINGTON, D.C. _ Montana Senator Conrad Burns today criticized
the Clinton administration's latest computer security proposal as yet
another government-driven mandate and urged swift passage of Burns'
"Pro-CODE" bill, which addresses export of encryption technology and
prohibits mandatory decryption-key escrow. Burns reacted to the
circulation of a draft administration proposal entitled "Achieving
Privacy, Commerce, Security and Public Safety in the Global
Information Infrastructure."
The proposal, dated May 10 and dubbed "Clipper III" by critics,
moves toward the loosening and possibly eventual elimination of export
controls on encryption technologies, but only if companies and
individuals surrender a copy of their code keys to a
government-approved third party.
"It's three strikes and you're out at the old ball game, and I
would say that the third version of the administration's Clipper Chip
proposal is a swing and a miss," Burns said. "It's time to quit
relying on government mandates for what is truly a matter of great
concern to the private sector: the expansion of commerce on the
Internet and other computer networks.
"The administration has been using export restrictions as a billy
club to force American companies into accepting government control
over the keys to their computer files and transmissions. At least
this new proposal admits that the current 40-bit limit on exports is
outdated and a poor guarantee of electronic security and integrity,
but it again operates from the standpoint that the government, and not
the private sector, knows best when it comes to key strength and
control over those keys.
"We can only stick our heads in the sand for so long. It is
important to point out that the criminals and trouble-makers who are
apparently targets of this plan are unlikely to enroll in any
key-escrow system. Law-abiding businesses and individuals would
suffer at the hands of this misguided proposal.
"While this may appear to be a compromise of the administration's
earlier positions, we have to remember that an executive action can be
reversed just as quickly after an election year. It is crucial that
we pass legislation to codify a solution to the administration's
current outdated export policies, and to ensure that the government
won't force anyone to give up the keys to their computers."
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