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12 May 1998

    Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 11:44:58 -0400
    To: jya@{at}jya.com
    From: Will Rodger <rodger[at]worldnet.att.net>
    Subject: Aschcroft adds CALEA

    Inter@ctive Week
    May 12, 1998

    Senators To Introduce New Cypto Bill

    By Will Rodger 10:30 AM EDT

    After years of trying to get some form of legislation passed, a group of
    pro-Internet senators will introduce today yet another attempt to lift
    federal export controls on privacy-protecting, data-scrambling software.

    Like bills before it, the "E-Privacy Act" sponsored by Sen. Patrick Leahy,
    D-Vt., and Sen. John Ashcroft, R-Mo., would lift export controls on
    encryption technology to countries where encryption of similar strength is
    available.

    The two senators are expected to join with the industry-funded Americans
    for Computer Privacy to announce the bill at an press conference this morning.

    The Ashcroft-Leahy proposal, a copy of which was obtained by Inter@ctive
    Week, bans attempts to require encryption "backdoors" for law enforcement
    domestically and abroad. It would also lift export controls to all
    countries where similar products are available, except for a handful of
    "rogue" nations like Iran and Libya.

    "There's no mistake about it. This is strong privacy medicine," said Alan
    Davidson, an attorney and policy specialist at the Center for Democracy and
    Technology. "It makes more encryption accessible to more people, and that's
    exactly what we need."

    David Sobel, policy counsel at the Electronic Privacy Center, said the bill
    offered encouragement to pro-privacy forces. "There will finally be a
    vehicle in the Senate which is pro-encryption," he said. Even so, "the
    sections that are nods to law enforcement are problems."

    Encryption technology uses simple mathematics to do extraordinary things;
    in short, it encodes messages so thoroughly that credit cards, love
    letters, even massive bank transfers are safe from prying eyes online. As
    such, the technology is irreplaceable to doing business online and,
    proponents said, already ubiquitous worldwide.

    Nonetheless, that same power can shield phone calls, e-mail and other
    digital communications from police wiretaps. As a result, law enforcement
    and intelligence specialists want its uncontrolled spread stopped. FBI
    Director Louis Freeh, in fact, has made repeated calls for a prohibition on
    all encryption that does not include "backdoors" for police to unscramble
    messages through a still unspecified legal process.

    Under the bill, police would have to show courts probable cause before
    demanding that cell phone companies let them track cell phone users'
    whereabouts through their networks. Such data can now be garnered with no
    more than a U.S. attorney's signature.

    The bill also requires increased legal thresholds for police who request
    that phone companies trace incoming and outgoing phone calls from
    customers' lines.

    Both issues are at the center of a three-year dispute over implementation
    of the 1994 Communications Assistance to Law Enforcement Act. Police say
    they need the law and the $500 million in funding it provides to preserve
    their ability to conduct wiretaps in increasingly computerized phone
    networks. Phone companies and privacy advocates, by contrast, said the law
    would drastically expand wiretap capabilities.

    For all the controls on police, they do get something out of the bill.
    Among other things, the legislation would impose five- and 10-year prison
    sentences on criminals who use encryption to commit crimes, as well as
    establish a "Net center" that could be used to teach police how to try to
    crack weaker forms of encryption.

    Will Rodger                                           Voice: +1 202-408-7027
    Washington Bureau Chief                        Fax: +1 202-789-2036
    Inter@ctive Week                    http://www.interactiveweek.com
    A Ziff-Davis Publication            http://www.zdnn.com
    PGP 5.0: 584D FD11 3035 0EC2 B35C AB16 D660 293F C7BE 3F62

    Crypto just took another twist in the Senate - call it a CALEA detour.
    My story is based on the final version of the bill.

    Senate bill would lift bans on overseas crypto
    By Will Rodger
    Inter@ctive Week Online
    May 11, 1998 6:20 PM PDT

    After years of trying to get some form of legislation passed, a group of
    pro-Internet U.S. senators will introduce Tuesday yet another attempt to
    lift federal export controls on privacy protecting, data scrambling software.

    "There's no mistake about it. This is strong privacy medicine," said Alan
    Davidson, an attorney and policy specialist with the Center for Democracy
    and Technology. "It makes more encryption accessible to more people and
    that's exactly what we need."

    David Sobel, policy counsel at the Electronic Privacy Center, said the bill
    offered encouragement to pro-privacy forces. "There will finally be a
    vehicle in the Senate which is pro-encryption," he said. Even so, "the
    sections that are nods to law enforcement are problems."

    Like bills before it, the "E-Privacy Act" sponsored by Vermont Democrat
    Sen. Patrick Leahy and Missouri Republican Sen. John Ashcroft would lift
    export controls on encryption technology to countries where encryption of
    similar strength was available. The bill also adds several new twists to
    the crypto debate by joining to it a parallel battle over wiretaps in the
    Federal Communications Commission.

    'Back doors' banned
    The two senators are expected to join with the industry-funded Americans
    for Computer Privacy to announce the bill at an 11:30 ET press conference
    Tuesday.

    A copy of the Ashcroft-Leahy proposal obtained by Inter@ctive Week bans
    attempts to require encryption "back doors" for law enforcement
    domestically and abroad. It would also lift export controls to all
    countries where similar products are available except for a handful or
    "rogue" nations like Libya and Iran

    Encryption technology uses simple mathematics to do extraordinary things.
    In short, it encodes messages so thoroughly that credit cards, love letters
    even massive bank transfers are safe from prying eyes online. As such, the
    technology is irreplaceable to efforts to doing business online and,
    proponents say, already ubiquitous worldwide.

    Nonetheless, that same power can shield phone calls, e-mail and other
    digital communications from police wiretaps. As a result, law enforcement
    and intelligence specialists want its uncontrolled spread stopped.. If not
    stopped in its tracks, they say, the spread of strong crypto will lead to a
    reign of terror from mad bombers, drug dealers and the like. FBI Director
    Louis Freeh, in fact, has made repeated calls for a prohibition on all
    encryption which does not include "back doors" for police to unscramble
    messages through a still unspecified legal process.

    Probable cause required
     Under the bill police would also have to show courts probable cause before
    demanding that cell phone companies let them track cell phone users'
    whereabouts through their networks. Such data can now be garnered with no
    more than a US attorney's signature.

    The bill also requires increased legal thresholds for police who request
    that phone companies trace incoming and outgoing phone calls from
    customers' lines.

    Both issues are at the center of a three-year dispute over implementation
    of the 1995 Communications Assistance to Law Enforcement Act. Police say
    they need the law and the $500 million in funding it provides to preserve
    their ability to conduct wiretaps in increasingly computerized phone
    networks. Phone companies and privacy advocates, by contrast, say the law
    would drastically expand wiretap capabilities.

    For all the controls on police, they do get something out of the bill.
    Among other things, the legislation would impose five- and 10-year prison
    sentences on criminals who use encryption to commit crimes, as well as
    establish a "Net center" which could be used to teach police how to try to
    crack weaker forms of encryption -- a goal arguably at odds with a bill
    meant to constrain potential police abuses.

    Not going away
    Though it's anyone's guess whether the bill has a better chance than its
    predecessors, activists said the bill represents their best hope in a
    chamber that has been loathe to move on an issue that has divided privacy
    advocates and computer companies from law enforcement like no other.

    "These guys aren't going away," Davidson said.

    Will Rodger                                           Voice: +1 202-408-7027
    Washington Bureau Chief                        Fax: +1 202-789-2036
    Inter@ctive Week                    http://www.interactiveweek.com
    A Ziff-Davis Publication            http://www.zdnn.com
    PGP 5.0: 584D FD11 3035 0EC2 B35C AB16 D660 293F C7BE 3F62