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[Jim Choate <ravage@ssz.com>]

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   Encryption battle heats up
   
   
   House committee set to vote next
   week on bill that would relax limits
   
   July 18, 1997: 1:38 p.m. ET
   
   
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   U.S. OKs Netscape exports - June 24, 1997
   
   Encryption bill nears vote - June 4, 1997
   
   
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   U.S. House of Representatives
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   WASHINGTON (Reuter) - The battle in Congress over export limits on
   computer encoding technology will heat up again next week as the House
   International Relations Committee is scheduled to vote on a bill to
   dramatically relax the current restrictions.
   [INLINE] The legislation, already approved by the House Judiciary
   Committee, would allow U.S. companies to export powerful encryption
   programs, software which scrambles information and renders it
   unreadable without a password or software "key."
   [INLINE] The International Relations Committee plans to hold a vote on
   July 22 on the bill, authored by Virginia Republican Bob Goodlatte and
   called the Security and Freedom through Encryption Act.
   [INLINE] Once the realm of spies and generals, encryption has become
   increasingly important as a means of securing global communications
   and electronic commerce over the Internet.
   [INLINE] The Clinton administration favors strict controls on
   encryption exports unless the programs allow the government to crack
   the codes by gaining access to the software keys. But many lawmakers
   oppose the limits, which they say hurt U.S. firms while allowing
   foreign companies to gain market share.
   [INLINE] The Goodlatte bill has over 190 co-sponsors, including a
   majority of members of the committee.
   [INLINE] But committee chairman Benjamin Gilman, a New York
   Republican, is strongly opposed and may try to amend the bill to
   retain most export controls, congressional staffers said.
   [INLINE] The substitute amendment could be modeled on encryption
   export provisions in a broader bill in the Senate backed by Arizona
   Republican John McCain and Nebraska Democrat Bob Kerrey, staffers
   said. That bill was approved by the Senate Commerce Committee last
   month, but a bill more similar to Goodlatte's is pending in the Senate
   Judiciary Committee.
   [INLINE] The McCain-Kerrey bill would allow free export of
   medium-strength encryption, with keys up to 56 bits long, and
   establish a board to consider raising the limit in the future. But the
   president would have the authority to overrule the board's decisions
   for reasons of national security.
   [INLINE] The vote in the International Relations Committee could be
   close, some lobbyists said.
   [INLINE] "I think the votes are there to defeat a substitute, but it's
   probably going to be close," said one industry lobbyist who asked not
   to be named.
   [INLINE] The Goodlatte bill would also prohibit mandatory key recovery
   for encryption used within the United States and criminalize the use
   of encryption to hide evidence of a crime. But those provisions are
   outside the International Relations committee's jurisdiction.
   [INLINE] Privacy advocates back the bill, arguing that people need
   unfettered access to strong encryption to protect the privacy of
   personal data, medical records and electronic communications. The
   software industry is also supporting the legislation.
   [INLINE] But FBI director Louis Freeh and other top law enforcement
   officials warn that the proliferation of strong encryption overseas
   will complicate the task of keeping tabs on international criminals
   and terrorists. Link to top 
   
   
   
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