Group to Attack Clinton on Crypto

[Anonymous]

Date: Tue, 24 Feb 1998 18:49:25 +0000 (GMT)
From: "Dr I. D. Goodyer" <goodyer at well.ox.ac.uk>
To: ukcrypto at maillist.ox.ac.uk
Subject: Group to Attack Clinton on Crypto

>From http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,19388,00.html
I hope that this isn't too American for us the majority on this list.  I
thought that it was relevant.
See original webpage for hyperlinks.

	Ian


  Group to Attack Clinton on Crypto
  By Courtney Macavinta
  Staff Writer, CNET NEWS.COM
  February 23, 1998, 2:40 p.m. PT 

  A bipartisan group of politicos, high-tech companies,
  and privacy advocates will announce a broad coalition
  next week to overturn the White House's current
  encryption policy through a million-dollar media blitz
  and lobbying campaign, CNET's NEWS.COM has
  learned.

  Encryption secures digital communications, rendering
  it unreadable if intercepted. The technology is the
  center of a U.S. debate with federal law enforcement
  officials asking Congress for access to the "keys" that
  unlock encrypted data on one side, and consumer
  groups and industry representatives arguing that such
  provisions make encryption products useless and
  constitute an invasion of privacy.

  The formation of the coalition--Americans for
  Computer Privacy--signals a shift in the diligent, but
  Beltway-confined, fight against the White House's
  crypto stance. The players in the coalition will
  attempt to force encryption policy on the mainstream
  radar by convincing Americans that the government
  has plans to read their private digital discourse.

  "This will be an effort with very major financial
  backing, and this effort will be joined by a
  breathtaking coalition of interests," Jack Quinn, the
  coalition's legal adviser, told CNET's NEWS.COM
  today. Quinn is a senior partner with Arnold &
  Porter in Washington and is a former counsel to
  President Clinton. 

  "I think people will understand that the FBI director's
  [Louis Freeh] proposal for domestic encryption
  controls is really like asking them to make a duplicate
  of their front door key and leave it at the post office
  in case he wants to get inside...I don't think it will be
  hard to explain," he added.

  The coalition includes the Business Software Alliance,
  which will be just one of the financial backers, the
  trade group confirmed today. The hired guns to head
  up the coalition's strategy and media campaign also
  include Ed Gillespie, president of Policy Impact
  Communications and the strategist behind the
  Republican's sweeping 1994 legislative package
  known as the Contract with America; and the firm of
  Goddard-Claussen, which is best known for creating
  the famous "Harry and Louise" commercials that
  helped defeat the president's health care reform
  initiative the same year.

  In addition, Mindshare Internet Campaigns will be in
  charge of the online strategy and Web site for the
  coalition, with the Dittus Group in charge of public
  relations. Recruiting pamphlets with scant details
  about the coalition's membership, but with clearly
  laid out goals, already were circulated at the
  Computers, Freedom, and Privacy conference in
  Austin, Texas, last week.

  These forces and other yet-to-be named members of
  the coalition will try in about 50 calendar days
  remaining in Congress's session to derail legislation
  already on the table that they say will prevent private
  online communication.

  The group will fight an FBI-backed plan that would
  require all federally funded computers to store
  encryption keys with a government-approved party,
  allowing law enforcement to unscramble documents
  without users' knowledge or even a court order in
  some cases.

  "Even if you don't have a PC at your home or office,
  still there is information about you that is
  computerized; maybe it's your medical or financial
  records. We want to make sure that the technology
  that can keep that information private stays that way,"
  said Tom McMahon, a spokesman for the coalition,
  which officially will launch next Wednesday.

  In addition, the Americans for Computer Privacy will
  ramp up an ongoing battle to overturn Clinton
  administration regulations prohibiting the export of
  strong encryption products unless the codes are made
  available to law enforcement agencies. A bill know as
  the SAFE Act was the vehicle for this export relief,
  but at least one version of the bill altered by the
  House Intelligence Committee would grant law
  enforcement access to encrypted protected
  communication in the United States. (See related
  story)

  "BSA is involved in this broader coalition of users,
  industry, and privacy groups. We are coming
  together to push for a policy that is based on a
  voluntary, market-based system that is based on
  consumer demand vs. the government's demand to
  access your communication in a way that is
  unprecedented and violates privacy," said Kim
  Willard, a spokeswoman for the BSA.

  The media campaign is expected to cost more than $1
  million and will continue over the next eight months.
  The goal is to stimulate grassroots action against the
  bills that add more controls on cryptography. At the
  same time, the coalition's political heavyweights will
  be working with Congress members to secure a
  victory.

  "They clearly want to get this out to broader public
  audiences and move outside the Beltway to focus on
  what the public has at stake in this the debate," said
  Richard Claussen, whose firm will work on the TV
  campaign. "The indication is that we want to move
  pretty aggressively on this."