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Volume 3.05 March 3, 1994
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Published by
Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility
Washington Office
([email protected])
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Contents
[1] Welcome to the CPSR Alert
[2] FBI Digital Telephony Bill Returns
[3] Clipper Petition Passes 40,000 Signatures
[4] Clipper and Cantwell
[5] FCC and Electronic Mail
[6] NTIA Privacy Inquiry
[7] DIAC Conference Announcement
[8] New Files at the CPSR Internet Library
[9] Upcoming Conferences and Events
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[1] Welcome to the CPSR Alert
We should take a moment to welcome the new readers of the CPSR Alert.
In the last month, the number of subscribers has more than tripled.
We'd like to thank you for your interest in CPSR and tell you about a
few more services available.
If you have FTP/Gopher/WAIS access you should explore the CPSR Internet
Library at CPSR.ORG. There is a wide range of materials covering
Clipper, civil liberties, information policy and the NII. Many of the
Administration's materials are available from CPSR.ORG. We also provide
archives for the Taxpayers Assets Projects, Privacy International, and
the Cypherpunks mailing list.
If you are interested in Clipper and other civil liberties issues, you
should consider attending the Computers, Freedom & Privacy conference
in Chicago, March 23-26. CPSR sponsored the first CFP in 1991. It is
now a leading event for people interested in civil liberties and
privacy. (see calendar for more information).
In April, CPSR is sponsoring a two-day conference on the National
Information Infrastructure at MIT. Featured speakers include Benjamin
Barber, Herb Schiller and Tom Grudner. (see section 7 for more
information).
If you are interested in NII policy, you might want to get a copy of
the CPSR NII report, "Serving the Community: A Public Interest Vision
of the NII." The report is based on a series of principles developed
by the Telecommunications Policy Roundtable and provides a very useful
overview of the NII policy debate.
The paper is available electronically by sending email to
[email protected]. In the message body write the command "GET CPSR
NII_POLICY" (no quotes). The paper will automatically be mailed to
you. You can also get the paper through ftp/wais/gopher at
cpsr.org/nii/cpsr_nii_policy.txt. To request a paper copy (about 30
pages) send email to [email protected].
Welcome again to the CPSR Alert.
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[2] FBI Digital Telephony Bill Returns
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has reintroduced its controversial
1992 proposal to require that communications service providers redesign
their equipment to facilitate electronic surveillance. The Bureau has
sent a draft to Congress but so far, no Senator or Congressperson has
stepped forward to sponsor it.
The draft bill, ironically named the Digital Telephony and
Communications Privacy Improvement Act of 1994, mandates that common
carriers (phone, cable and computer network companies) modify their
switches and computers to ensure that surveillance can be conducted
concurrently from a remote government facility. It requires that
manufacturers and support companies assist carriers.
In an addition to the 1992 bill, the 1994 bill also mandates that
systems be designed to collect transactional information that users
generate and make that information available to law enforcement
agencies. This information includes data on calls made and received.
Under the NII, future information collected may include all manner of
transactions, including purchases, financial and medical information.
Any company that fails to comply with the requirements of the bill
would be fined $10,000/day and shut down. Companies would have three
years from the date of enactment to comply. The Attorney General would
have the authority to enact these penalties and would be encouraged to
cooperate with the Federal Communication Commission. The FCC would
issue rules to cover the cost of complying with the procedures. An
internal FBI memo released to CPSR under a Freedom of Information Act
lawsuit estimates the cost of compliance at $300 million.
Communications Daily reports that other experts have estimated that the
cost will be over one billion dollars.
The bill also revises sections of the Electronic Communications Privacy
Act to extend the legal protection of ECPA to cordless phones and
clarifies ECPA to allow for monitoring of computer systems by system
managers.
The 1992 bill was never formally introduced due to lack of a sponsor
after industry, civil liberties groups and the public criticized it.
Copies of the 1994 and 1992 drafts are available from the CPSR Internet
Library. (see below for details).
Also available are educational materials about the Digital Telephony
proposal. To obtain a video copy of the ABC Nightline special on the
original FBI proposal, send $14.98 plus 3.98 s/h to MPI Home Video,
15825 Rob Roy Dr., Oak Forest, IL 60452 and request a copy of the
5/22/92 program "FBI Pushes for Wiretap Powers." The program features
a debate between former FBI Director William Sessions and CPSR
Washington Director Marc Rotenberg.
Available from CPSR is a 450-page sourcebook of materials on privacy
and cryptography, including the materials on the original digital
telephony proposal with commentary. The CPSR Sourcebook is available
for $50. Send a check to CPSR, 666 Pennsylvania Ave., SE, Suite 301,
Washington, DC 20003
---------------------------------------------------------------
[3] Clipper Petition Passes 40,000
The CPSR Internet Petition to oppose the Clipper Proposal has now
passed 40,000 signatures.
The petition has been signed by users at over 2,600 sites, including
1,100 companies and 800 colleges. For specific sites, MIT has the
highest single vote tally, with over 600 messages. Messages continue
to arrive at a rate of over 1,000 per day.
To sign on to the letter, send a message to:
[email protected]
with the text "I oppose Clipper" (no quotes)
You will receive a return message confirming your vote.
To obtain a copy of the petition, email a blank message to
[email protected]
For more information on Clipper, email [email protected]. You will
receive a copy of the Clipper FAQ.
Thanks for your help.
---------------------------------------------------------------
[4] The Cantwell Bill and Clipper
We've received several inquiries concerning H.R. 3627, Rep. Maria
Cantwell's bill to liberalize export controls on encryption software.
Some people have been given the impression that the Cantwell bill is a
response to the Administration's Clipper initiative and that passage of
the legislation would effectively put the Clipper issue to rest.
Because of the confusion surrounding this proposed legislation, we
think it's important to provide some clarifying information.
Rep. Cantwell introduced H.R. 3627 on November 22, 1993. Her comments
on the purpose of the legislation appeared in the Congressional Record
on November 24, 1993, at Volume 139, Page 3110. According to Rep.
Cantwell:
The legislation I am introducing today is needed to ensure
that American companies do not lose critical international
markets to foreign competitors that operate without significant
export restrictions. Without this legislation, American software
companies, some of America's star economic performers, have
estimated they stand to lose between $6 and $9 billion in revenue
each year. American hardware companies are already losing
hundreds of millions of dollars in lost computer system sales
because increasingly sales are dependent on the ability of a U.S.
firm to offer encryption as a feature of an integrated customer
solution involving hardware, software, and services.
* * *
This legislation takes some important steps to resolve a
serious problem facing some of our most dynamic industries. It
would give the Secretary of Commerce exclusive authority over
dual use information security programs and products, eliminates
the requirement for export licenses for generally available
software with encryption capabilities, and requires the Secretary
to grant such validated licenses for exports of other software
with encryption capabilities to any country to which we already
approve exports for foreign financial institutions.
* * *
My legislation is straightforward. It would allow American
companies to sell the commercial software they develop in the
United States to their overseas customers including our European
allies -- something that is very difficult if not impossible
under present policies.
Rep. Cantwell's remarks contained no reference to the
Administration's Clipper initiative, which had first been announced
some seven months earlier.
Indeed, there is no provision in H.R. 3627 that would in any way
rescind the Administration's recent decision to adopt key-escrow
Clipper technology as the government encryption standard. The
legislation would do precisely what Rep. Cantwell said it would do --
relax restrictions on the export of strong encryption products outside
of the United States.
Some have suggested that passage of the Cantwell bill would create an
environment in which it is less likely that Clipper will become the de
facto encryption standard within the United States. This view was
expressed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and several large
corporations in a letter to the President last December which expressed
"tentative" support for Clipper on a "voluntary" basis. CPSR dissented
from this position in a subsequent letter to the President and
expressed its opposition to the Clipper proposal under any
circumstances.
While it is possible that the Cantwell legislation would make it less
likely that Clipper will become the de facto privacy standard, such a
result is by no means a certainty. It is, in fact, possible that
passage of the legislation would provide better U.S. encryption
products overseas than would be available within the United States --
particularly if, as many fear, Clipper eventually becomes a mandatory
standard in this country.
We believe that the Cantwell bill is a step in the right direction, as
it would remove current disincentives to the development of strong
encryption products by U.S. companies. But the proposed legislation is
not a panacea -- it would not address the threat to privacy in the
United States created by the Clipper initiative. Export controls on
cryptography are a related issue, but they are not central to the
Clipper controversy. The Administration's adoption of the key-escrow
Clipper standard must be opposed and reversed.
---------------------------------------------------------------
[5] FCC and Electronic Mail
[Note: The Taxpayers Assets Project is circulating a letter
to encourage public participation in FCC proceedings through
the Internet. CPSR has endorsed the letter and encourages
other organizations and individuals to support this effort.
Please repond by March 15.]
SIGNATURES NEEDED FOR LETTER
ASKING THAT INTERNET BE USED TO BROADEN
DEMOCRATIC DEBATE OVER FCC PROCEEDING
The following is a letter that will be sent to Reed Hundt, the
Chair of the FCC, asking that the FCC use the Internet to broaden
democratic participation in FCC proceedings. Specifically, Hundt
is asked to 1) set up listserves for discussions of FCC
rulemakings and inquiries, 2) accept public comments by
electronic mail, and 3) provide easier access to the new FCC.GOV
internet node.
If you are willing to sign the letter, send the following
information to Michael Ward of the Taxpayer Assets Project at:
Internet: [email protected]
Fax: 202/234-5176
Postal: P.O. Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036
Voice: 202/387-8030
Name: _________________________
Affiliation: _________________________
(Optional, will be listed as: for purposes of identification
only)
Postal Address:__________________________
__________________________
__________________________
Voice: __________________________
Internet: __________________________
--------------------------------------------
March 15, 1994
Honorable Reed Hundt
Chairman, Federal Communications Commission
1919 M Street, Room 814
Washington, D.C. 20554
Dear Chairman Hundt:
We are writing to ask that you use the Internet to broaden
opportunities for democratic participation in FCC proceedings.
We applaud the FCC for its recent announcement that it has
established FCC.GOV as an Internet node, and that the FCC Daily
Digest is now available for free by ftp from FCC.GOV. We were
also pleased that you have asked the FCC staff to examine methods
and procedures for accepting comments on FCC dockets
electronically.
The measures discussed below would build on your efforts, and are
intended to make it easier and less costly for citizens to follow
the FCC's work.
1. The FCC should provide Internet electronic mail discussion
"lists" on all FCC rulemakings and inquiries. Citizens
should be able to sign up for a proceeding by sending a
message to the FCC.GOV listserve, with a simple message such
as "subscribe pcs-auction-rules-93-253."
These Internet discussion lists use today's technology to
empower citizens, by enhancing their ability to follow
important policy debates. In an Internet discussion list, a
citizen can send a message to the FCC listserve, and that
message will be echoed to every subscriber on the list. The
persons receiving the message will have an opportunity to
respond, and a real dialogue can take place. As discussions
and debates on the Internet email lists unfold, citizens
will have opportunities to gain a much deeper understanding
of the issues raised in the proceedings, and how they will
be affected by the FCC's actions.
2. In considering methods for accepting comments from the
public in FCC dockets, the Commission should provide
citizens the opportunity to file comments via electronic
mail which is gatewayed through the Internet. These
comments should be separate from the dialogue on the
discussion lists, and reflect the commentors final views on
the subject matter. Several federal agencies now provide
opportunities to file comments by electronic mail. For
example, OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
(OIRA), began accepting comments on its Circular A-130 by
electronic mail in 1992.
3. As you have already indicated, it will be important that the
FCC take steps to ensure that the use of electronic
communications is consistent with the legal requirements
that the public record be complete and accessible. We
understand that the Commission will have to devise ways of
ensuring that this broadened public dialogue becomes part of
the public record and is in compliance with the
Administrative Procedures Act. The Commission should make
these comments available to the public both online and
through the FCC's reading room.
4. Many citizens can access the Internet via electronic mail,
but do not have access to ftp or gopher technologies. Thus,
it would be very helpful if the FCC.GOV would provide an
"email ftp" service for obtaining files from FCC.GOV, as
well as an ability to subscribe to the Daily Digest through
electronic mail.
Of all the vaunted promises of the information superhighway, the
most important is that new information technologies provide
opportunities to enhance democratic processes. One of the most
important and valuable aspects of the Internet has been its role
in restoring civic discourse on a wide range of issues. By
adopting these recommendations, the FCC will gain a deeper
understanding of the opportunities for enhanced democratic
discourse, and it will broaden citizen opportunities to
participate in debates over FCC policies.
Sincerely,
James Love, Taxpayer Assets Project
Jeff Chester, Center for Media Education
Marc Rotenberg, Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility
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James Love, Taxpayer Assets Project; internet: [email protected]
P.O. Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036; v. 202/387-8030; f. 202/234-5176
12 Church Road, Ardmore, PA 19003; v. 215/658-0880; f. 215/649-4066
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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[6] NTIA Privacy Inquiry
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Telecommunications and Information
Administration [Docket No. 940104-4004] Inquiry on Privacy Issues
Relating to Private Sector Use of Telecommunications-Related Personal
Information
AGENCY: National Telecommunications and Information Administration
(NTIA), Commerce
ACTION: Notice of Inquiry; Request for Comments
SUMMARY: NTIA is conducting a comprehensive review of privacy issues
relating to private sector use of telecommunications-related personal
information associated with the National Information Infrastructure.
Public comment is requested on issues relevant to such a review. After
analyzing the comments, NTIA intends to issue a report, which may make
recommendations to the Information Infrastructure Task Force and
Congress in the area of telecommunications and information policy, as
appropriate.
DATES: Comments should be filed on or before March 30, 1994, to
receive full consideration.
ADDRESS: Comments (seven copies) should be sent to the Office of
Policy Analysis and Development, NTIA, U.S. Department of Commerce,
14th St. and Constitution Ave., N.W., Room 4725, Washington, D.C.
20230.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carol Mattey or Lisa Leidig, Office
of Policy Analysis and Development, 202-482- 1880.
AUTHORITY: National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Organization Act of 1992, Pub. L. No. 102- 538, 106 Stat. 3533 (1992)
(to be codified at 47 U.S.C. s. 901 et seq.).
A full copy of the notice is available at the CPSR Internet Library
(see below for details).
---------------------------------------------------------------
[7] DIAC Announcement
"Developing an Equitable and Open Information Infrastructure"
Directions and Implications of Advanced Computing (DIAC-94) Symposium
Cambridge, MA, USA
April 23 - 24, 1994
Benjamin Barber on Electronic Democracy
Herbert Schiller on Media Control and Alternative Programming
Tom Grundner on Grassroots Networking
The National Information Infrastructure (NII) is being proposed as the
next-generation "information superhighway" for the 90's and beyond.
Academia, libraries, government agencies, as well as media and
telecommunication companies are involved in the current development.
Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR) and other
organizations believe that critical issues regarding the use of the NII
deserve increased public visibility and participation and are using the
DIAC Symposium to help address this concern.
The DIAC-94 symposium is a two-day event and will consist of
presentations on the first day and workshops on the second day. The
DIAC Symposia are held biannually and DIAC-94 will be CPSR's fifth such
conference. We encourage your participation both through attending and
through conducting a workshop.
Sponsored by Computer Professionals for Social Responsbility
Co-sponsored by the Internet Society and the MIT Communications
Forum. Other co-sponsors are being sought. Please contact us if your
organization would like to help with this event. For more information
on co-sponsorship or on general issues, contact conference chair,
Coralee Whitcomb, [email protected].
-------------------------------------------------------------
[8] New Files at the CPSR Internet Library
Dr. Dorothy Denning's paper presenting the law enforcement view of
cryptography and privacy issues. /cpsr/privacy/crypto/
denning_crypto_law_enforcement_feb_94.txt
NTIA Call for Comments on Privacy Issues related to Private Sector use
of Telecommunications Related Information.
/cpsr/privacy/misc_privacy/ntia_privacy_comments_notice_feb_94.txt
The inaptly named FBI Digital Telephony and Communications Privacy Act
of 1994, Feb 1994 draft. /cpsr/privacy/communications/wiretap/
fbi_wiretap_bill_draft_feb_94.txt
The CPSR Internet Library is a free service available via
FTP/WAIS/Gopher/listserv from cpsr.org:/cpsr. Materials from Privacy
International, the Taxpayers Assets Project and the Cypherpunks are
also archived. For more information, contact [email protected].
----------------------------------------------------------------
[9] Upcoming Conferences and Events
"Computers, Freedom and Privacy 94." Chicago, Il. March 23-26.
Sponsored by ACM and The John Marshall Law School. Contact: George
Trubow, 312-987-1445 ([email protected]).
Directions and Implications of Advanced Computing (DIAC)-94 "Developing
an Equitable and Open Information Infrastructure" Cambridge, MA.
April 23 - 24, 1994. Sponsored by CPSR. Contact: [email protected]
or [email protected].
Computer-Human Interaction 94. Boston, Mass. April 24-28. Sponsored by
ACM. Contact: 214-590-8616 or 410-269-6801, [email protected]
"Navigating the Networks." 1994 Mid-Year Meeting, American Society for
Information Science. Portland, Oregon. May 22 - 25, 1994. Contact:
[email protected]
Rural Datafication II: "Meeting the Challenge of Providing Ubiquitous
Access to the Internet" Minneapolis, Minnesota. May 23-24, 1994.
Sponsored by CICNet & NSF. Contact: [email protected].
Send name, mailing address and e-mail address.
"Information: Society, Superhighway or Gridlock?" Computing for the
Social Sciences 1994 Conference (CSS94). University of Maryland at
College Park. June 1-3, 1994. Contact: Dr. Charles Wellford
301-405-4699, fax 301-405-4733, e-mail: [email protected].
Abstracts for papers due March 1. Contact William Sims Bainbridge
([email protected]).
Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computer Science. Washington, DC
June 9-11. Contact: 415 617-3335, [email protected]
DEF CON ][ ("underground" computer culture) "Load up your laptop muffy,
we're heading to Vegas!" The Sahara Hotel, Las Vegas, NV. July 22-24,
Contact: [email protected].
Conference on Uncertainty in AI. Seattle, WA. July 29-31. Contact:
206-936-2662, [email protected].
Symposium: An Arts and Humanities Policy for the National Information
Infrastructure. Boston, Mass. October 14-16, 1994. Sponsored by the
Center for Art Research in Boston. Contact: Jay Jaroslav
([email protected]).
Third Biannual Conference on Participatory Design, Chapel Hill, North
Carolina, October 27-28, 1994. Sponsored by CPSR. Contact:
[email protected]. Submissions due April 15, 1994.
(Send calendar submissions to [email protected])
=======================================================================
To subscribe to the Alert, send the message:
"subscribe cpsr-announce <your name>" (without quotes or brackets) to
[email protected]. Back issues of the Alert are available at the CPSR
Internet Library FTP/WAIS/Gopher cpsr.org /cpsr/alert and on America
Online in the Mac Telecomm folder.
Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility is a national,
non-partisan, public-interest organization dedicated to understanding
and directing the impact of computers on society. Founded in 1981,
CPSR has 2000 members from all over the world and 23 chapters across
the country. Our National Advisory Board includes a Nobel laureate and
three winners of the Turing Award, the highest honor in computer
science. Membership is open to everyone.
For more information, please contact: [email protected] or visit the CPSR
discussion conferences on The Well (well.sf.ca.us) or Mindvox
(phantom.com).
=======================================================================
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------------------------ END CPSR Alert 3.05 -----------------------