FW: New, more restrictive encryption legislation is pending (fwd)

[Dale Scheetz <dwarf@polaris.net>]

Just recieved the following. Have no idea how to interpret it.
Any ideas?
Just in case we need something more to discuss ;-)

---------- Forwarded message ----------
>From: 	shabbir@vtw.org[SMTP:shabbir@vtw.org]
>Sent: 	Saturday, March 29, 1997 2:16 AM
>To: 	crypto-news@panix.com
>Subject: 	ALERT: White House attacks crypto on U.S. soil!  (3/28/1997)
>
>=============================================================================
>=
>  ___  _     _____ ____ _____ _
> / _ \| |   | ____|  _ \_   _| |         THE CRYPTO BATTLE HAS BEGUN!
>| |_| | |   |  _| | |_) || | | |  CLINTON ADMINISTRATION PROPOSES CONTROL OF
>|  _  | |___| |___|  _ < | | |_|     ENCRYPTION FOR AMERICANS ON U.S. SOIL
>|_| |_|_____|_____|_| \_\|_| (_)               March 28, 1997
>
>                 Do not forward this alert after May 1, 1997.
>
>                         This alert brought to you by:
>                     Center for Democracy and Technology
>                                  Eagle Forum
>                       Electronic Frontier Foundation
>                       Voters Telecommunications Watch
>                                 Wired Magazine
>_____________________________________________________________________________
>Table of Contents
>      What's Happening Right Now
>      What You Can Do Now
>      Background
>      What's At Stake
>      Supporting Organizations
>
>_____________________________________________________________________________
>WHAT'S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW
>
>On March 26, 1997, the Clinton Administration proposed draft legislation
>which would, for the first time, impose DOMESTIC RESTRICTIONS on the
>ability of Americans to protect their privacy and security online.
>
>In its current form, the draft bill seeks to impose a risky
>"key-recovery" regime which would compel American citizens to ensure
>government access to their private communications. Law enforcement and
>national security agents would not even need a court order to access
>private decryption keys.
>
>Congress is currently considering three separate bills which would
>prohibit the government from imposing "key-recovery" domestically, and
>encourage the development of easy-to-use, privacy and security tools
>for the Net.
>
>As more and more Americans come online, the Administration's plan is a
>giant step backwards and would open a huge window of vulnerability to
>the private communications of Internet users.  Americans expect more
>when conducting private conversations with their doctors, families,
>business partners, or lawyers.
>
>Please read the Alert below to find out what you can do to protect your
>privacy online.
>
>_____________________________________________________________________________
>___
>WHAT YOU CAN DO
>
>1. Adopt Your Legislator
>
>   Now is the time to increase our ranks and prepare for the fight that lies
>   a head of us in Congress.  The time to blast Congress or the White House
>   with phone calls and emails will come, but now is not the appropriate
>   moment.
>
>   Instead, please take a few minutes to learn more about this important
>   issue, and join the Adopt Your Legislator Campaign at
>   http://www.crypto.com/adopt/
>
>   This will produce a customized page, just for you with your own
>   legislator's telephone number and address.
>
>   In addition, you will receive the latest news and information on the
>   issue, as well as targeted alerts informing you when your
>   Representatives in Congress do something that could help or hinder
>   the future of the Internet.
>
>   Best of all, it's free.  Do your part, Work the Network!
>
>   Visit http://www.crypto.com/adopt/ for details.
>
>2. Beginning Monday March 31, call the White House
>
>   Internet public interest advocates continue to work the Hill in support
>   of the three true encryption reform bills in Congress, Pro-CODE, SAFE, &
>   ECPA II.  If you still feel a need to voice your opinion, however, you can
>   call the White House to express your opinion.
>
>   Step 1 - Beginning Monday March 31, call the White House
>
>        Call 202-456-1111 9am-5pm EST.  Ignore the voice mail survey and
>        press '0' to get a comment line operator.
>            
>   Step 2 - Tell them what you think about intrusions into your privacy!
>
>	Operator: Hello, White House comment line!
>
>SAY     YOU: I'm calling to oppose president's Internet encryption bill.
>THIS ->      It infringes on the privacy of Americans. We need a solution
>             to the encryption issue that protects privacy, and this is not
>             it.
>
>        Operator: Thank you, I'll pass that along to the President.
>
>3. Spread the Word!
>
>  Forward this Alert to your friends. Help educate the public about the
>  importance of this issue.
>
>  Please do not forward after May 1, 1997.
>
>_____________________________________________________________________________
>BACKGROUND
>
>Complete background information, including:
>
>* A down-to-earth explanation of why this debate is important to Internet
>users
>* Analysis and background on the issue
>* Text of the Administration draft legislation
>* Text of Congressional proposals to reform US encryption policy
>* Audio transcripts and written testimony from recent Congressional Hearings
>  on encryption policy reform
>* And more!
>
>Are all available at http://www.crypto.com/
>________________________________________________________________________
>WHAT'S AT STAKE
>
>Encryption technologies are the locks and keys of the Information age
>-- enabling individuals and businesses to protect sensitive information
>as it is transmitted over the Internet. As more and more individuals
>and businesses come online, the need for strong, reliable, easy-to-use
>encryption technologies has become a critical issue to the health and
>viability of the Net.
>
>Current US encryption policy, which limits the strength of encryption
>products US companies can sell abroad, also limits the availability of
>strong, easy-to-use encryption technologies in the United States. US
>hardware and software manufacturers who wish to sell their products on
>the global market must either conform to US encryption export limits or
>produce two separate versions of the same product, a costly and
>complicated alternative.
>
>The export controls, which the NSA and FBI argue help to keep strong
>encryption out of the hands of foreign adversaries, are having the
>opposite effect. Strong encryption is available abroad, but because of
>the export limits and the confusion created by nearly four years of
>debate over US encryption policy, strong, easy-to-use privacy and
>security technologies are not widely available off the shelf or "on the
>net" here in the US. 
>
>A recently discovered flaw in the security of the new digital telephone
>network exposed the worst aspects of the Administration's encryption
>policy.  Because the designers needed to be able to export their
>products, the system's security was "dumbed down".  Researchers subsequently
>discovered that it is quite easy to break the security of the system and
>intrude on what should be private conversations.
>
>This incident underscores the larger policy problem: US companies are
>at a competitive disadvantage in the global marketplace when competing
>against companies that do not have such hindrances.  And now, for the first
>time in history, the Clinton Administration has DOMESTIC RESTRICTIONS on the
>ability of Americans to protect their privacy and security online.
>
>All of us care about our national security, and no one wants to make it
>any easier for criminals and terrorists to commit criminal acts. But we
>must also recognize encryption technologies can aid law enforcement
>and protect national security by limiting the threat of industrial
>espionage and foreign spying, promote electronic commerce and protecting
>privacy.
>
>What's at stake in this debate is nothing less than the future of
>privacy and the fate of the Internet as a secure and trusted medium for
>commerce, education, and political discourse.
>
>_____________________________________________________________________________
>_
>SUPPORTING ORGANIZATIONS
>
>For more information, contact the following organizations who have signed
>onto
>this effort at their web sites.
>
>Center for Democracy and Technology                      http://www.cdt.org
>    Press contact: Jonah Seiger, +1.202.637.9800
>Eagle Forum                                       http://www.eagleforum.org
>    Press contact: Phyllis Schlafly, +1.314.721.1213
>Electronic Frontier Foundation                           http://www.eff.org
>    Press contact: Stanton McCandlish, +1.415.436.9333
>Voters Telecommunications Watch                          http://www.vtw.org
>    Press contact: Shabbir J. Safdar, +1.718.596.7234
>Wired Magazine                                         http://www.wired.com
>    Press contact: Todd Lappin, +1.415.276.5224
>
>_____________________________________________________________________________
>_
>end alert
>=============================================================================
>=
>
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