Senate Bill 974

[David Neal <dneal@usis.com>]

<A HREF="ftp://ftp.loc.gov/pub/thomas/c104/s9744.is.FTP">Senate Bill 974</A>

The full text is difficult to interpret since it mostly just amends
other law. Essentialy the law makes illegal: using a computer for
racketeering purposes, threatening to destroy data, transferring
of unlicensed software, using any method to hide illegal funds
transfer, and exporting crypto software. (Relavent bits are included  below).
The law also expands wiretapping authority, and seems to allow electronic
evidence found during a search to be introduced as evidence.  You'll
have to insert the text of the bill into the real laws to get full
context.


                `(2) to distribute computer software that encodes or encrypts
              electronic or digital communications to computer networks that
              the person distributing the software knows or reasonably should
              know, is  accessible  to  foreign  nationals  and  foreign
          governments, regardless of whether such software has been 
          designated as nonexportable;
                `(3) to use a computer or computer network to transmit a
              communication intended to conceal or hide the origin of money 
              or other assets, tangible or intangible, that were derived from
              racketeering activity; and
                `(4) to operate a computer or computer network primarily to
              facilitate racketeering activity or primarily to engage in
              conduct prohibited by Federal or State law.
            `(b) For purposes of this section, each act of distributing
          software is considered a separate predicate act. Each instance in
          which nonexportable software is accessed by a foreign government, 
          an agent of a foreign government, a foreign national, or an agent 
          of a foreign national, shall be considered as a separate predicate
            `(c) It shall be an affirmative defense to prosecution under this
          section that the software at issue used a universal decoding device
          or program that was provided to the Department of Justice prior to
          the distribution.'.


David Neal <dneal@usis.com> - GNU Planet Aerospace 1-800-PLN-8-GNU
Unix, Sybase and Networking consultant. "...you have a personal responsibility 
to be pro-active in the defense of your own civil liberties." - S. McCandlish