From: bobpal@cdt.org (Bob Palacios)
Date: Sun, 19 May 1996 04:24:02 +0800
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: CDT Policy Post 2.19 - 27 Reps Urge President to Abandon Key-Escrow EncryptionPolicy
Message-ID: <v02140b17adc2850fa050@[204.157.127.16]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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   The Center for Democracy and Technology  /____/     Volume 2, Number 19
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      A briefing on public policy issues affecting civil liberties online
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 CDT POLICY POST Volume 2, Number 19                           May 17, 1996

 CONTENTS: (1) 27 Representatives Urge President Clinton to Abandon Key-Escrow
               Encryption Policy
           (2) Join Sen Leahy At HotWired, Wed 5/22 to Discuss His Crypto Bill
           (3) Subscription Information
           (4) About CDT, contacting us

  ** This document may be redistributed freely with this banner in tact **
        Excerpts may be re-posted with permission of <editor@cdt.org>
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(1) 27 REPRESENTATIVES URGE PRESIDENT CLINTON TO ABANDON KEY-ESCROW POLICY

A bi-partisan group of 27 Congressmen, led by Reps. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA)
and Tom Campbell (R-CA) on Wednesday (5/15) sent a letter to President
Clinton urging the President to abandon the Administration's key-escrow
encryption proposal and "instead immediately liberalize export controls on
non-key escrow encryption technology."

Expressing "serious concerns" about the impact of current U.S. encryption
policy on individual privacy and US competitiveness, the bi-partisan group
wrote: "The ability of companies and individuals to ensure that the
information they send over communications and computer networks is secure
is a prerequisite to exploiting the potential of the Global Information
Infrastructure."

The letter was signed by several prominent members from both parties,
including Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), Tom Campbell (R-CA), Anna Eshoo (D-CA),
Rick Boucher (D-VA), Bob Barr (R-GA), Pat Schroeder (D-CO), Carlos
Moorehead (R-CA), and 20 other members.

The bi-partisan call to President Clinton to abandon the Administration's
key escrow policy is yet another encouraging sign of increasingly strong
Congressional support for reform of US encryption policy.  Congress is
currently considering several bills designed to encourage the widespread
availability privacy-protecting technologies for the Internet by lifting
export controls on strong encryption:

* HR 3011, the "Security and Freedom Through Encryption (SAFE) Act of
  1996", sponsored by over 30 members including  Reps Goodlatte (R-VA),
  Campbell (R-CA), Eshoo (D-CA), Boucher (D-VA).

* S. 1726, the "Promotion of Commerce On-Line in the Digital Era (Pro-
  CODE) act of 1996, sponsored by Senators Burns (R-MT), Leahy (D-VT),
  Pressler (R-SD), Dole (R-KS), Wyden (D-OR), and Murray (D-WA)

* S. 1587, the "Encrypted Communications Privacy Act of 1996", also
  sponsored by Senators Burns and Leahy.

Hearings on HR 3011 (Rep Goodlatte's bill) and the Burns/Leahy S. 1726
(Pro-CODE) are expected in June.

INTERNET SECURITY DAY - A NATIONAL DISCUSSION ON THE NEED TO REFORM US
ENCRYPTION POLICY

In July, CDT and over 25 other organizations will hold a daylong education
event in California's Silicon Valley in July. The "Internet Security Day"
will bring together industry leaders, members of Congress, encryption
experts, and others to discuss the need to reform US encryption policy.
Similar events, to be held throughout the US and on the Net, are also being
planned.  Sponsors of the event include the Voters Telecommunications Watch
(VTW), EFF, Americans for Tax Reform, AT&T, Pacific Telesis, America
Online, Netscape, the Business Software Alliance, the Software Publishers
Association, and several others.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE ENCRYPTION POLICY DEBATE & TEXT OF THE LETTER

Background information on the encryption policy debate, full text of the
various legislative proposals, detailed analysis, the text of the
Goodlatte/Campbell letter, information on the July Silicon Valley event,
and transcripts from online appearances by Senators on the Encryption
issue, can be found at CDT's Cryptography Issues Page:

 URL:http://www.cdt.org/crypto/

Or at the Encryption Policy Resource Page:

 URL:http://www.crypto.com/

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(2) SENATORS GO ONLINE TO DISCUSS PRIVACY AND SECURITY ONLINE

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), the "Senior Senator from Cyberspace", ardent
proponent of Net.Freedom and co-sponsor of 2 bills to repeal encryption
export controls, will hold an online "town meeting" on Wednesday May 22 to
discuss privacy and security online.

DETAILS ON THE EVENT

* Wednesday May 22, 4 - 5 pm ET (1 pm Pacific) on HotWired

   URL: http://www.hotwired.com/wiredside/

 To participate, you must be a registered HotWired member (there
 is no charge for registration).  You must also have RealAudio(tm) and
 a telnet application properly configured to work with your browser.

 Please visit http://www.hotwired.com/wiredside/ for information on how you
 can easily register for Hotwired and obtain RealAudio.

Wednesday's town meeting is another in a series of planned events, and is
part of a broader project coordinated by CDT and the Voters
Telecommunications Watch (VTW) designed to bring the Internet Community
into the debate and encourage members of Congress to work with the
Net.community on vital Internet policy issues.

Events with other members of Congress working on Internet Policy Issues are
currently being planned. Please check http://www.crypto.com for
announcements of future events

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(3) SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION

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(4) ABOUT THE CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND TECHNOLOGY/CONTACTING US

The Center for Democracy and Technology is a non-profit public interest
organization based in Washington, DC. The Center's mission is to develop
and advocate public policies that advance democratic values and
constitutional civil liberties in new computer and communications
technologies.

Contacting us:

General information:  info@cdt.org
World Wide Web:       URL:http://www.cdt.org/
FTP                   URL:ftp://ftp.cdt.org/pub/cdt/

Snail Mail:  The Center for Democracy and Technology
             1634 Eye Street NW * Suite 1100 * Washington, DC 20006
             (v) +1.202.637.9800 * (f) +1.202.637.0968

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End Policy Post 2.19                                           5/17/96
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