DOJ Clipper documents scheduled for summer release under FOIA

[Stanton McCandlish <mech@eff.org>]

Forwarded message:
Date: Wed, 4 May 1994 08:00:28 -0700
From: Lee Tien <tien@well.sf.ca.us>
Subject: DOJ Clipper documents scheduled for summer release under FOIA



As you know, there has been much debate about the Clipper Chip 
initiative, but relatively little hard information.  John Gilmore, 
member of the board of directors of the Electronic Frontier 
Foundation, filed FOIA requests to numerous government 
agencies last April after the Clipper plan was announced.  In 
June 1993, he filed a FOIA lawsuit against the Justice Department 
("DOJ") and the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI").
Gilmore v. FBI, et al, C-93-2117, U.S. District Judge Charles
Legge, Northern District of California.

As a result of this lawsuit, the Justice Department has agreed to a 
staggered release of some documents about Clipper and Digital 
Telephony.  The Justice Department and Gilmore signed a joint 
stipulation and agreement on Friday, April 29, 1994, in which the 
Justice Department and several other federal agencies agreed to 
release documents over the next several months:

          a)     DOJ's Office of Information and Privacy ("OIP")  will
transmit all documents recovered in its search for responsive
documents that it has identified as requiring referrals or
consultations to the appropriate agencies or DOJ components by
May 31, 1994.  OIP will complete processing of all documents that
it has identified as not  requiring  referrals  or  consultations  to
other agencies or DOJ components by June 20, 1994.

          b)     DOJ's Justice Management Division ("JMD") will
complete processing of all documents  recovered  in  its  search  for
responsive documents, excluding documents which have been
referred for processing to other agencies, by July 30, 1994.

          0)     The Office of Management and Budget ("OMB") will
respond to all DOJ consultation  requests  which  OMB  had  received
as of April 20, 1994 by May 20, 1994.

          d)     The National Security Agency ("NSA") will  respond  to
all DOJ consultation requests which it  had  received  as  of  April
20, 1994 by July 18, 1994.  NSA  will  complete  processing  of  all
documents which had been referred to it by DOJ as of April 20,
1994 for direct response to plaintiff by July 18, 1994.

          e)     The National Security Council ("NSC") will  respond  to
all DOJ consultation requests which NBC had received  as  of  April
20, 1994 by July 29, 1994.

          f)     The Department of Commerce and National Institute  of
Standards and  Technology  (collectively  "Commerce")  will  respond
to all DOJ consultation requests which  Commerce  had  received  as
of April 20, 1994 by August 7, 1994.  Commerce will complete
processing of all documents which had been  referred  to  it  by  DOJ
as of April 20, 1994 for direct  response  to  plaintiff  by  August
7,   1994.

The documents being processed by the NSC include the Presidential Review
Directive and Presidential Decision Directive which started the Clipper
initiative.  We have been informed that NSC is processing the two
final versions as well as 68 draft versions.  

We have also been informed that documents produced in the course
of the OMB legislative clearance process for the Digital Telephony
Bill are being processed.  This should provide insight into how the
government decided to proceed with this bill.

We have also been informed that there are approximately 25 
documents produced in the course of the government's solicitation
of industry views on Clipper.  

Obviously, we do not know how much useful information will be
released.  It is probable that the documents will be heavily redacted.
Given the recent directives from the President and the Attorney General
that all possible discretionary disclosures of information should be made,
we hope, optimistically, that these disclosures will prove illuminating.

Unfortunately, the FBI is not a party to this agreement.  We are in
the process of attempting to obtain the release of about 3000 pages
of FBI records.  FBI has told the Court that it will be approximately
2 years and 8 months before it will even begin processing Gilmore's
request, and that actual processing will take about a year, if not more.
We believe that this delay is unlawful and cannot be countenanced.  

Lee Tien
Attorney for John Gilmore
tien@well.sf.ca.us


PLEASE REDISTRIBUTE IF YOU THINK IT'S WORTH IT.  (feel free to edit
any obvious typos, too)




-- 
Stanton McCandlish * mech@eff.org * Electronic Frontier Found. OnlineActivist
"In a Time/CNN poll of 1,000 Americans conducted last week by Yankelovich
Partners, two-thirds said it was more important to protect the privacy of
phone calls than to preserve the ability of police to conduct wiretaps.
When informed about the Clipper Chip, 80% said they opposed it."
- Philip Elmer-Dewitt, "Who Should Keep the Keys", TIME, Mar. 14 1994


-- 
Stanton McCandlish * mech@eff.org * Electronic Frontier Found. OnlineActivist
"In a Time/CNN poll of 1,000 Americans conducted last week by Yankelovich
Partners, two-thirds said it was more important to protect the privacy of
phone calls than to preserve the ability of police to conduct wiretaps.
When informed about the Clipper Chip, 80% said they opposed it."
- Philip Elmer-Dewitt, "Who Should Keep the Keys", TIME, Mar. 14 1994