To: Activists
From: webmaster@cdt.org
Subject: Policy Post 5.14 -- Encryption Reform Bill Ready for House Action
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C D T P O L I C Y P O S T
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A BRIEFING ON PUBLIC POLICY ISSUES
AFFECTING CIVIL LIBERTIES ONLINE
from
THE CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND TECHNOLOGY
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Volume 5, Number 14 July 26, 1999
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CONTENTS:
(1) Encryption Reform Bill Ready for House Action in September
(2) Summary of Recent Crypto Developments
(3) Crypto Adversaries Will Use August to Get Their Message Across
(4) Subscription Information
(5) About the Center for Democracy and Technology
** This document may be redistributed freely with this banner intact **
Excerpts may be re-posted with permission of ari@cdt.org
This document is also available at:
http://www.cdt.org/publications/pp_5.14.html
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(1) ENCRYPTION REFORM BILL READY FOR HOUSE ACTION IN SEPTEMBER
Five Committees in the House of Represenatives have completed consideration
of H.R. 850, the Security and Freedom through Encryption (SAFE) Act, which
would lift most export controls on strong encryption. The Committee action
sets the stage for a debate and vote by the full House on a crucial issue
affecting privacy and security on the Internet.
Each of the five Committees approved a different version of the bill: three
left it essentially intact, while two adopted gutting amendments. It is
now up to the Rules Committee, in consultation with the House leadership,
the chairmen of the five Committees, and the Act's primary co-sponsors, to
decide how to structure consideration of the bill by the full House,
probably sometime in September after the August recess.
On the House floor, it is likely that proponents of the bill will offer a
"managers' amendment" which will combine many of the smaller changes to the
bill approved by the various Committees that do not affect its fundamental
reform of export controls on encryption. Opponents of the bill will in all
likelihood be allowed to offer one or more amendments, similar to the
gutting amendments approved by the anti-reform Committees, that would
preserve the current export controls (and may even be worse than the status
quo).
In Spetember, encryption legislation will face its most important test as
opponents are expected to mount a full court press against export relief.
To find out what you can do now, and to sign up for Action Alerts that will
keep you abreast of breaking developments, go to CDT's Action Page at
http://www.cdt.org/action.
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(2) SUMMARY OF RECENT CRYPTO DEVELOPMENTS
Here is a brief overview of events in the House this year:
* In March, the House Judiciary Committee approved the SAFE Act without
amendment. As introduced and reported by Judiciary, SAFE included an
objectionable provision creating a new crime for the knowing and willful
use of encryption to conceal evidence of a crime. On balance, however, CDT
believes that the SAFE bill as approved by the Judiciary Committee would
represent a net improvement for security and privacy online. For details
on the Judiciary markup, see http://www.cdt.org/publications/pp_5.12.html
* On June 23, the Commerce Committee reported SAFE favorably but voted to
attach several amendments to the bill, including a second, even more
troubling new federal crime, proposed by Rep. Stearns (R-FL), requiring the
production of decryption keys or other forms of decryption assistance when
presented with a court order. http://www.cdt.org/crypto/legis_106/SAFE/stearns.html This
amendment raises signficant privacy and due process
concerns, for it would leave encryption users open to prosecution without
clear guidelines for compliance. Three minor amendments sponsored by Reps.
Oxley and Wilson were adopted, all relating to national security.
* On July 13, the House International Relations Committee approved SAFE by
a 33 to 5 vote. Chairman Benjamin A. Gilman (R-NY) and Rep. Howard Berman
(D-CA) offered a series of weakening amendments, some of which would have
seriously gutted the bill's export control liberalization. After
substantial debate, the gutting amendments were rejected and seven
amendments were adopted that left the bill's export reforms largely intact.
A PDF version of the Committee report, including the text of the Act as
amended, is available at http://www.cdt.org/crypto/legis_106/SAFE
* As expected, the House Intelligence Committee charted a radically
different course on encryption export policy. In a closed door session on
July 15, the Committee adopted an "amendment in the nature of a
substitute," a completely new version of SAFE that would continue most
export controls. In a victory for privacy, the Committee's version of the
bill did not try to mandate key recovery. However, the amendment included
extensive provisions requiring the disclosure of plaintext or decryption
assistance.
* On July 21, in a 47-6 vote, the Armed Services Committee adopted an
amendment that would effectively gut the SAFE Act by giving the president
unrestricted authority to deny encryption exports and to dictate the level
of encryption eligible for license exceptions. The amendment also would
impose new burdensome reporting requirements. The 6 votes in opposition
were cast by Reps. Meehan (D-MA), Smith (D-WA), Sanchez (D-CA), Tauscher
(D-CA), Bono (R-CA), and Hill (D-IN). The text of the amendment is at
http://www.house.gov/hasc/press.htm.
To find out if your Representative is a cosponsor of SAFE and how he or she
voted in Committee, use CDT's Voting Records Database at http://www.cdt.org/votes/.
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(3) CRYPTO ADVERSARIES WILL USE AUGUST TO GET THEIR MESSAGE ACROSS
Congress will go into its August recess on or about August 6, and is not
scheduled to return to Washington until September 7. However, this will be
an important period for both proponents and opponents of SAFE.
The Clinton Administration opposes SAFE. Senior officials including the
Attorney General, the FBI Director and the Deputy Secretary of Defense
spent considerable time on Capitol Hill in July lobbying against the Act
and will be lobbying the Rules Committee and the House leadership in the
coming weeks. The FBI will almost certainly enlist state and local law
enforcement officials to oppose the bill.
SAFE supporters should also use this opportunity to call or visit their
Members of Congress to explain that widespread use of strong encryption
will, on balance, prevent crime and improve the national security by
protecting sensitive personal, business and government information. Members
of Congress will be holding town hall meetings and will be appearing at
other public events back in their districts during the August recess.
Personal contact is very important. Make your voice heard!
To find out more about how you can support SAFE, go to CDT's Action page at
http://www.cdt.org/action/
Background information on the SAFE bill, including a chronology of events,
is available at http://www.cdt.org/crypto/legis_106/SAFE
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(4) SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
Be sure you are up to date on the latest public policy issues affecting
civil liberties online and how they will affect you and what you can do to
make a difference! Subscribe to the CDT's Activist Network.
You'll receive:
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B) Updates on what you can do to make sure that the
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To subscribe to CDT's Activist Network, sign up at:
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(5) 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: http://www.cdt.org/
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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