From: "Peter Trei" <trei@process.com>
Date: Thu, 25 Sep 1997 04:05:43 +0800
To: cypherpunks@cyberpass.net
Subject: NYT cybertimes article excerpt.
Message-ID: <199709241952.MAA24736@rigel.cyberpass.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



quoted without permission - I think this is
fair use...

btw, the NY Times site is pretty good. While a
registration and email address are needed, I have
not seen any sign of abuse of this information (yet).

-----------------------------------------
start quote

          In fact, Kerrey's legislation could easily create the largest
          bureaucracy ever -- by
          some estimates requiring more record keeping than all the
          states' departments of motor vehicles, the Internal Revenue
          Service and the various welfare agencies combined. While no
          one knows how Congress or the FBI intends to carry out
          key-recovery legislation, it is entirely possible that
          anyone installing a piece of software on a hard drive will
          need to register it like people now register a car with the
          Department of Motor Vehicles. 

          While most people own only one car and file only one tax
          return a year, many computer users have multiple copies of
          programs like Quicken, Notes or Power Point. Each could
          require a separate registration if it includes encryption
          features -- and many users will be shocked to discover what
          qualifies as encryption, which is becoming increasingly
          common even in trivial programs like games because it is a
          good way to regulate copyright infringement. 

[...]

          One Congressional staff member who participated in drafting the
          legislation but asked not to be identified
          conceded that the bill would force developers of new
          software to seek approval for their products from the United
          States government even if the products did not explicitly
          include encryption features. Such approval would be the only
->        way to escape prosecution, he said. While admitting that
->        this language would add a six- to nine-month delay in
->        releasing new products, the staff member asserted that the
->        computer industry would simply have to build this time into
->        product development cycles. 


end quote
--------------------------------------

This "Congressional staff member" is clearly a ninth-dan black belt
ninja of cluelessness. Add 6-9 months to SW development cycles?
Prior restraint on SW publication? The mind boggles. 

Anyone who maintains that the convenience of law enforcement should 
be the over-riding factor in the organization of our society has, 
in my opinion, lost the right to call themselves an "American."


Peter Trei
trei@process.com

DISCLAIMER: My opinons. No one elses.