Re: The Telcos oppose Oxley

["Robert A. Costner" <pooh@efga.org>]

At 06:15 PM 9/24/97 -0700, Lizard wrote:
>Though, on second thought, there is a serious issue with it -- if, as 
>we hope, encryption becomes widespread, than anyone doing anything 
>will be using it;including 'in the commission of a crime'. This could 
>make petty misdemeanors into 20 year federal crimes, and THAT is 
>something to worry about. Hm.

While this provision (that criminalized the use of crypto in a crime) of
the original SAFE bill was a "bad thing" I personally thought that much of
the rest of the bill was ok and had some demented hope that this bad spot
could be fixed next year.  No one needs to say "I told you so."  Things
obviously have gone downhill.

The state of Georgia has a similar provision.  There is a law that makes it
a crime to use a "telecommunications facility".  As I recall, it is a
felony and applies to drug charges.  The Georgia courts routinely give
people an extra five years for selling drugs through a phone call and for
what I suspect was the original intent of the law, a beeper.

In Georgia the presence of a beeper is synonymous with drug sales.  At
least with law enforcement agencies.  Probationers and parolees are not
allowed to "report" to their supervising agent if they are wearing a
beeper.  For police, the presence of a beeper on a person is reason to
suspect drugs.

I'm sure that we have the possibility of crypto becoming the same thing.


  -- Robert Costner                  Phone: (770) 512-8746
     Electronic Frontiers Georgia    mailto:pooh@efga.org  
     http://www.efga.org/            run PGP 5.0 for my public key