EXPAT WORLD ARTICLE

[Sandy Sandfort <sandfort@crl.com>]

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                         SANDY SANDFORT
 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

C'punks,

I've been asked to post the /Expat World/ crypto article to the
Cypherpunks Channel.  Here 'tis:


 S a n d y

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                           EXPAT WORLD
                          June 15, 1994

                        "How Big Brother
                      Wants to Listen, Too"

                   (copied without permission)


Recently, the White House sent Stewart A. Baker, general counsel
for the National Security Agency (NSA), to the annual Computer,
Freedom and Privacy Conference in New York City to speak about
the Clinton Administration's desire to safeguard the government's
ability to eavesdrop on every American.  At that conference, Mr.
Baker posed the question:  "Do you want to live in a world where
law enforcement cannot do its job because of the need for
privacy?"

Everyone who cherishes his constitutional rights should answer,
"Absolutely."  The Orwellian, or Al Gorewellian, technology that
would foster the government's ability to eavesdrop on its cit-
izens is essentially a microcircuit that the Administration want
all American telephone and computer companies to install in their
products.  The microcircuit, dubbed the "Clipper" chip, scrambles
all electronic communications between individuals, resulting in
gibberish to outsiders--all outsiders, that is, but the federal
government.  The plan to implement the Clipper chip is an insult
to the American people and its realization would erode the Fourth
Amendment rights of all citizens.

As usual, presuming Americans have no more sense than Yahoos, the
administration has presented the Clipper chip in the guise of a
plan to protect individuals from invasions of their privacy.
According to the NSA, because telephone conversations and compu-
ter transmissions are becoming so easy to tap, the White House
would like to offer the Clipper chip to shield everyone from such
unwanted interferences.

In reality, the Feds want to see a uniform standard in the type
of computer software that secures electronic communications.  The
reason for this is that people are already protecting their con-
versations with a variety of privately-supplied devices, and the
FBI, CIA and NSA cannot and will not be able to penetrate such
security.

With the Clipper chip, everyone has the same lock on his communi-
cations.  Unfortunately, the government has the keys.  The Amer-
ican people can do without the overwhelming generosity of this
administration.

When Charles Freeh, FBI director, testified before the House
Judiciary Subcommittee on Technology and the Law, he said that
the chip is necessary because the police and national security
agents are falling behind advances in criminal technology.  How-
ever, no one has offered evidence that a trend of criminals or
terrorist using scrambled communications to pass unlawful plots
exists, or reasons why a criminal sophisticated enough to use
cryptography would be dumb enough to use an American made tele-
phone or computer containing the Clipper chip.

Worse, the implementation of the Clipper chip would erode the
right to be free from illegal searches and seizures under the
Fourth Amendment.  According to the President's plan, both the
Commerce and Treasury Department would hold keys to unscramble
electronic communications, operating as a "key escrow" system.
The government would no longer be aiming wiretap technology at
specific individuals or specific locations.  The presumption
would be that everyone is a criminal.  Because only two keys
partition people's privacy from governmental seizing electronic
documents without prior notification is great.

If the White House truly desires to use technology for the bene-
fit of all, it should mandate the use of a different computer
chip.  How about one called the Clinterceptor that would act as a
sort of modern-day Paul Revere.  Through the information super-
highway, the Clinterceptor would forewarn the public that the
government is about to invade their privacy.  Thus, the next time
President Clinton and his college roomies are burning the
midnight oil and come up with a hair-brained idea like the
Clipper chip, an alarm will sound and alert the American people
to the government shaking the shackles of the Constitution.

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