Clipper 3 spec release imminent

[Greg Broiles <gbroiles@netbox.com>]

According to a story posted to C|net tonight, the Clinton administration
will likely release the third Clipper/GAK proposal soon. The article
(available at http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,3791,00.html ) indicates:

"What the proposal specifies is still a matter of speculation, but an 
article today in the Daily Report for Executives quotes unnamed U.S.
officials saying the plan will raise the ceiling on encryption export
controls, institute a key-escrow system, and give the Commerce Department
authority to grant export licenses. 

If the report is correct, the two big surprises are a new 56-bit limit key
length, with export of anything higher subject to key escrow, and the
authorizing of the Justice Department--most likely the Federal Bureau of
Investigation--to reject any applications for export licenses."

There's a sidebar to the story with several other crypto-related stories,
mentioning ProCODE and last Friday's hearing in the Bernstein case.
--
Greg Broiles                |  "We pretend to be their friends,
gbroiles@netbox.com         |   but they fuck with our heads."
http://www.io.com/~gbroiles |
                            |