Leahy's Crypto Wake-up Call

[John Young <jya@pipeline.com>]

Excerpt from Congressional Record, April 2, 1998:

WAKE-UP CALL ON ENCRYPTION

  Mr. LEAHY. In my view, encryption legislation should 
promote the following goals:

  First, legislation should ensure the right of Americans 
to choose how to protect the privacy and security of their 
communications and information;

  Second, legislation should bar a government-mandated key 
escrow encryption system;

  Third, legislation should establish both procedures and 
standards for access by law enforcement to decryption keys 
or decryption assistance for both encrypted communications 
and stored electronic information and only permit such access 
upon court order authorization, with appropriate notice and 
other procedural safeguards;

  Fourth, legislation should establish both procedures and 
standards for access by foreign governments and foreign law 
enforcement agencies to the plaintext of encrypted 
communications and stored electronic information of United 
States persons;

  Fifth, legislation should modify the current export regime 
for encryption to promote the global competitiveness of 
American companies;

  Sixth, legislation should not link the use of certificate 
authorities with key recovery agents or, in other words, link 
the use of encryption for confidentiality purposes with use 
of encryption for authenticity and integrity purposes;

  Seventh, legislation should, consistent with these goals of 
promoting privacy and the global competitiveness of our high-
tech industries, help our law enforcement agencies and national 
security agencies deal with the challenges posed by the use of 
encryption; and

  Eighth, legislation should protect the security and privacy 
of information provided by Americans to the government by 
ensuring that encryption products used by the government 
interoperate with commercial encryption products.

  Do you agree with these goals?

  Mr. ASHCROFT. Yes, I agree with these goals and will look to 
these same items as a reference point for the drafting, 
introducing and passage of encryption reform legislation.

  Mr. LEAHY. Would the Senator agree to work with me on 
encryption legislation that achieves these goals and that we 
could bring to the floor this Congress?

  Mr. ASHCROFT. Yes. I believe it is critical for us to address 
this issue and soon. I also believe that we should work together 
to produce a piece of legislation that demonstrates our position 
on encryption policy.

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Full remarks: http://jya.com/wakeup-call.txt  (18K)