From: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>
Date: Fri, 19 Sep 1997 09:44:01 +0800
To: Mark Hedges <hedges@sirius.infonex.com>
Subject: Re: politics aren't all or nothing
In-Reply-To: <Pine.SOL.3.96.970918180738.29000a-100000@sirius.infonex.com>
Message-ID: <Pine.GSO.3.95.970918182839.3957O-100000@well.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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On Thu, 18 Sep 1997, Mark Hedges wrote:

> >Sure, you got //someone's// attention. From an $18,000-a-year
> 
> They authorize their junior staffers to use their name? Lame!

Yeah, well, you probably got a form letter( they have lots of form
letters). If it was an original reply, a middle-level or senior-level
staffer okayed it.

> It indicates they are concerned about the security of their
> communications. Now, the trick is to convince them that escrow hampers
> security of communications through the single point of failure problem.

No, it indicates they want to appear to be friends of the Net so they can
pick up some bucks from lobbyists and high tech firms.

> Ah, more research is necessary. I printed his stuff but haven't read it
> yet. There was one, though, who even had a blue ribbon on their web page.
> I've forgotten who.

Votes count more than 10K GIFs.

> I think a good tactic is to say to them "it's more difficult to vote
> against the vast majority of your constituents" and use examples like
> public opinion polls (are there any?) and California Legislature's SJR-29
> (unanimous memorialization of Clinton and Congress to relax export
> controls). 

As many have pointed out it depends on the way the polls is phrased.
"Should convicted child molesters have unbreakable crypto?" Ban it now! As
for the SJR-29, your do have a good point. The tide is turning. But it'll
take years, and the battle is happening in Congress now. Defeat for
crypto-proponents is at hand...

> Does anyone know who is behind this crap that the Empire's pushing on the
> committees? Louis Freeh is the only name I've heard. I've not heard
> Tenet's name mentioned in any of this. It would be interesting to research
> the other people involved, to try to find some dirt.

The classified briefings include NSA, CIA, DEA, and FBI. Some are
restricted, codeword-only. There are multiple levels. I've been finding
out more but I'm working on a long-term article about this so I won't post
anything now. 

-Declan