Forwarded From: Dan Moniz <dnm@cadre.org>
# http://www.wired.com/news/print_version/politics/story/18132.html?wnpg=all
Crypto Bill Back from Grave
by James Glave
12:10 p.m. 25.Feb.99.PST
Legislation that would relax export restrictions on data-scrambling
technologies and seek to guarantee citizens the right to use strong
encryption wasreintroduced to Congress Thursday.
Representatives Bob Goodlatte (R-Virginia) and Zoe Lofgren (D-California)
resurrected their Security and Freedom Through Encryption Act, or SAFE,
with the bipartisan support of 205 House members.
"My bill will give law-abiding citizens access to a major way to prevent
credit-card fraud, and prevent a hacker or a terrorist from doing
something to anuclear plant or the New York Stock Exchange," said
Goodlatte. "The risks to our society of not using strong crypto are very
grave."
It's the third time around for H.R. 695, which was shot down previously by
aggressive backstage lobbying from law enforcement agencies, including the
FBI.
"Technology is leaving [FBI director Louis Freeh] behind," said Goodlatte.
"He either has to change his approach or the FBI is going to be in a
difficult situation. Whether this bill passes or not, people who are going
to break the law are going to get a hold of strong encryption."
The FBI and other law-enforcement agencies want the current crypto
controls -- which limit the strength of crypto to a crackable 56 bits --
to remain the standard. They fear the software will hamper their ability
to eavesdrop on terrorists and terrorist states.
But that's short sighted, said Lofgren, who represents many Silicon Valley
software companies that want the shackles lifted.
"We thought in the Valley about taking up a collection so that we could
send someone to the FBI to educate them," said Lofgren. "They need to
understand the digital world -- if you can download it from the Internet
today, it is too late."
In Senate testimony earlier this month, Freeh stuck to his guns.
"Law enforcement remains in unanimous agreement that the continued
widespread availability and increasing use of strong, non-recoverable
encryption products will ... devastate our capabilities for fighting
crime, preventing acts of terrorism, and protecting the national
security," he told senators.
The bill may have a better chance than its predecessors. One of the bill's
biggest critics in the past, New York Republican Gerald Solomon, has
retired. His replacement as chairman of the House Rules Committee, David
Dreier (R-California), co-signed the latest draft.
The bill is supported by the Americans for Computer Privacy, a computer
industry lobbying group, which says the export rules create an unfair
playing field vis-a-vis overseas competitors.
Though industry was clearly on board with SAFE, the Electronic Frontier
Foundation, a privacy watchdog group, was unhappy about the bill.
"Goodlatte and gang didn't do this in a way that would benefit the
individual and left it in a way that would create some serious privacy
concerns," said EFF attorney Shari Steele.
Steele said that SAFE is geared toward mass-market software, but does not
protect individuals who write their own encryption software. She also said
that the bill does not allow for judicial reviews.
Finally, she said that the bill creates a new crime -- that of using
crypto to commit a crime -- a stipulation she interprets as the authors
throwing a bone to law enforcement.
-o-
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Received on Thu Mar 11 17:28:34 1999