Reply From: Trevor Gryffyn <tgryffyn@meetinghousetech.com>
Found the answer to my question. The clause regarding breaking crypto
systems as part of research has been delayed for 2 years while they weigh
alternatives. After 2 years they have the option of delaying it further.
-Gryffyn
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Reply From: Paul Hart <Paul.Hart@Swift.Com>
According to PC Week....:
It appears as though ethical hackers have received a temporary reprieve from
the House Commerce Committee.
The committee on Friday approved legislation that will update U.S. copyright
law and add provisions to make it applicable to the Internet. The bill is the
first step for the United States to come into compliance with a World Trade
Organization treaty on protecting intellectual property on the Internet,
officials said.
But some cryptographers worried that the WTO treaty would have made
circumventing security measures on products illegal, even if that hack was
attempted to prove the software's vulnerability--so-called ethical hacking.
Indeed, it would have virtually criminalized their profession.
But an 11th-hour compromise amendment, added by Rep. Scott Klug, R-Wis.,
delays the circumvention rule for two years while the U.S. Secretary of
Commerce considers alternatives. After two years, the anticircumvention rule
goes into effect, although the Commerce Secretary will have the option to
delay it again for two years.
In addition, the Commerce Committee approved an amendment that will allow
cryptographers to crack antipiracy safeguards as part of their research and
another amendment that allows users to disable personal information gathering
technologies such as "cookies."
Before this bill goes to the full House vote, however, it must be reconciled
with another bill that was recently passed by the House Commerce Committee.
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-o-
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Received on Wed Jul 22 13:53:04 1998