AP Article on Zimmerman Case

[Weld Pond <weld@l0pht.com>]

http://www.boston.com/globe/ap/cgi-bin/retrieve?%2Fglobe%2Fapwir%2F011%2Fnat%2Faa040011

Excerpt for the web impaired:

     ``Zimmermann never exported Pretty Good Privacy, so the U.S. 
Attorney seemed to be missing the point. Unfortunately there still is no
     clear ruling from our government as to whether or not making 
software available on the Internet counts as exporting it,'' said Simson
     Garfinkel, who wrote a book about the program. 

     Zimmermann's supporters argued that without encryption, government 
could do widespread eavesdropping, perhaps for political
     reasons, scanning for words and phrases it considers subversive. 
They acknowledge that a few criminals may use programs like PGP
     to hide out in cyberspace, but believe that concern is outweighed by 
free speech and privacy rights. 

     ``The case was part of the government effort to crack down on good 
technologies for privacy. We hope the government's decision
     signals a rethinking of federal policy in this very important 
area,'' said Marc Rotenberg of the Electronic Privacy Information Center in
     Washington, an on-line civil rights watchdog group. 

     Others see the 2-year investigation of Zimmermann as intimidation. 

     ``It seems to me is that all the U.S. Attorney is saying is that 
they don't want the public relations nightmare of prosecuting Philip
     Zimmermann, but they still want everyone scared so that they won't 
exercise their Constitutional rights,'' Garfinkel said. 

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