Re: criminalizing crypto use

[Sean Roach <roach_s@alph.swosu.edu>]

At 12:18 AM 11/8/96 -0800, Greg Broiles wrote:
>At 04:43 PM 11/7/96 -0800, Tim May wrote:
>
>>* Intent. It's hard to imagine someone being imprisoned for using
>>cryptography, except perhaps in wartime conditions. I may be wrong. Also,
>>there are deep Constitutional issues we haven't been much discussing.
>
>One change I suspect we'll see sooner or later on the Federal side is an
>amendment of the Sentencing Guidelines to include an upward adjustment for
>the use of encryption to frustrate law enforcement efforts. This wouldn't
>be a conviction for using crypto, but would result in harsher penalties for
>people convicted of other crimes where they happened to use crypto in a way
>connected with the crime. (Keeping child porn or records of a forbidden
>business on an encrypted disk volume, using PGPfone to conspire across long
>distances, etc.)
>
>As an example, less than a year ago, Congress directed the Sentencing
>Commission (a sub-branch of the federal Judiciary) to amend the guidelines
>to enhance the penalties by at least two levels for using a computer to
>advertise or "ship" a visual depiction of child porn. Pub. L. 104-71, Sec.
>2 (12/23/95). 
>
...

I myself have heard of people getting tougher sentences for monitoring
police bands during the commission of a crime.  It seems that using a
scanner while committing a crime is itself a crime, at least around here.