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CDT Policy Post 2.24 - Join Sen. Burns TONIGHT (6/11), 10 EDT



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   The Center for Democracy and Technology  /____/     Volume 2, Number 24
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      A briefing on public policy issues affecting civil liberties online
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 CDT POLICY POST Volume 2, Number 24                        June 11, 1996

 CONTENTS: (1) Join Senator Burns Live Online TONIGHT at 10pm EDT - Preview
               Tomorrow's Hearing on "Pro-CODE" Encryption Bill
           (2) Attend the S.A.F.E. Forum on Encryption - July 1, Stanford, CA
           (3) How to Subscribe/Unsubscribe
           (4) About CDT, contacting us

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  ** UPDATE: DECISION IS NEAR IN FIGHT TO SAVE FREE SPEECH ONLINE **

  An announcement from the Court is expected any time. Be sure to visit
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(1) JOIN SENATOR BURNS LIVE ONLINE =TONIGHT= at 10PM EDT: Preview Tomorrow's
    Hearing on "Pro-CODE" Encryption Bill

 --> Visit http://www.hotwired.com/wiredside/ for details <--

Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT) will be on HotWired's WiredSide chat TONIGHT
(6/11) at 10pm EDT to discuss tomorrow's scheduled hearing on his
"Promotion of Commerce Online in the Digital Era Act of 1996" ("Pro-CODE")
encryption bill.

Tonight's WiredSide chat is a great opportunity to join Senator Burns on
the eve of an important hearing to ask questions about encryption policy
and get a preview of what the Senator expects to occur at the hearing.

Senator Burns will chair the first of two scheduled hearings on his
"Pro-CODE" bill tomorrow at 9:30 EDT in Room 253 of the Russell Senate
Office Building.  The hearing will take place in the Commerce Subcommittee
on Science, Technology and Space.  This is the first Congressional hearing
in recent memory to discuss "pro-encryption" legislation that would relax
current restrictive encryption export controls.

Never before has the public had this much access to legislators without
geographical proximity.  Cheaper than teleconferencing, and more direct
and unfiltered than the traditional press, online chats allow the public
to directly question and hear the answers from members of Congress.

The online chat is at 10pm EDT (7pm PDT) TONIGHT (6/11). HotWired's
WiredSide chat is at:

     http://www.hotwired.com/wiredside/

Tonight's forum is another in a series of planned events, and is part
of a broader project coordinated by CDT and the Voters Telecommunications
Watch (VTW) designed to encourage members of Congress to work with the
Net.community on vital Internet policy issues and to bring the Internet
Community into the debate about those issues.

Transcripts from previous online chats are available -- for transcript
information and details about upcoming events, please visit CDT's newest
Issues Page, "Congress and the Net":

     http://www.cdt.org/net_congress/

SEN. BURNS TO CHAIR "PRO-CODE" HEARINGS -- FIRST HEARING TOMORROW (Wed 6/12)

The hearing tomorrow will take place in the Commerce Subcommittee
on Science, Technology and Space, of which Sen. Burns is the chairman.
This first hearing will focus on encryption as it relates to commerce and
business issues.  Prominent industry representatives have been invited to
testify at the hearing.  Scheduled to testify are:

  o Michael Zisman, president and CEO of Lotus;
  o Jim Barksdale, president and CEO of Netscape Communications;
  o Jim Bidzos, president and CEO of RSA Data Security;
  o Tim Krauskopf, V.P. and co-founder of Spyglass Inc.;
  o Kenneth Dam, chairman of the National Research Council;
  o Richard Sevcik, Senior V.P. of Hewlett-Packard;
  o Joe Holmes, chief technology officer for EDS;
  o Joel S. Lisker, senior V.P. for security and risk management at
    MasterCard;
  o Danne Buchanan, president of Zion's Data Services Company;
  o Jack Valenti, executive director of the Motion Picture Association of
    America;
  o Aharon Friedman, chairman, founder and chief technical officer of Digital
    Secured Networks Technology Inc.; and
  o Robert Bigony, senior V.P. and director of strategic marketing, government
    and space technology group, for Motorola.

The second hearing, scheduled for June 26, will focus on privacy, law
enforcement, and national security issues.

For more information about tomorrow's hearing, background on the "Pro-CODE"
legislation (including the text of the bill), and other information
about encryption issues, please visit the Encryption Policy Resource Page
at:

http://www.crypto.com/

or the CDT Cryptography Issues Page at:

http://www.cdt.org/crypto/

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(2) ATTEND THE S.A.F.E. FORUM ON ENCRYPTION - JULY 1 IN STANFORD, CA

On July 1, 1996, members of Congress, prominent computer industry leaders,
noted cryptographers, privacy advocates, press, and netizens will meet in
the heart of California's Silicon Valley for a lively, all-day forum to
discuss cryptography and the need to reform current U.S. encryption policy.

Anyone interested in the future of encryption technology and policy is
strongly encouraged to attend.  Admission to this special event is free, but
those interested must reserve a ticket to attend.  (Please visit the S.A.F.E.
web site to reserve your ticket - http://www.crypto.com/safe/ )

The S.A.F.E. (Security and Freedom Through Encryption) Forum will be held on
Monday July 1st from 9:00am - 4:00pm at Kresge Auditorium on the campus of
Stanford University in Stanford, CA.  S.A.F.E. will feature panel discussions,
interactive demonstrations of cryptography technology, and an opportunity for
feedback from the public.

Scheduled participants include such industry leaders and cryptographers as:

  o Marc Andreeson, Vice President of Netscape Communications Corp.;
  o James Bidzos, President of RSA Data Security;
  o Eric Schmidt, Chief Technical Officer, Sun Microsystems;
  o Brad Silverberg, Senior V.P., Microsoft Corp.; and
  o noted computer security experts Matt Blaze and Eric Thompson.

Members of Congress scheduled to attend include:

  o Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT),
  o Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) [via satellite]
  o Sen. Larry Pressler (R-SD),
  o Rep. Tom Campbell (R-CA),
  o Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), and
  o Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA).

By bringing together policymakers, industry leaders, cryptographers,
net.advocates, and netizens, the forum promises to be an enlightening
and informative event that will help raise public awareness for the
importance of encryption technology to enhance privacy and security on
the global information infrastructure.  The forum will also detail the
problems posed by the current U.S. encryption policy.

The S.A.F.E. forum is sponsored by:
  o America Online
  o American Civil Liberties Union
  o Americans for Tax Reform
  o AT&T
  o Business Software Alliance
  o Center for Democracy and Technology
  o Center for National Security Studies
  o Commercial Internet eXchange
  o CompuServe Incorporated
  o Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility
  o Cylink Corporation
  o EDS
  o Electronic Frontier Foundation
  o Electronic Messaging Association
  o Electronic Privacy Information Center
  o Information Technology Association of America
  o IEEE - USA
  o Media Institute
  o Microsoft Corporation
  o National Association of Manufacturers
  o Netcom Online Communication Services
  o Netscape Communications Corporation
  o Novell, Inc.
  o Oracle Corporation
  o Pacific Telesis Group
  o Prodigy, Inc.
  o Progress and Freedom Foundation
  o Securities Industry Association
  o Software Publishers Association
  o Sybase, Inc.
  o Voters Telecommunications Watch
  o Wired Magazine

For the latest information about S.A.F.E. and to reserve your free ticket to
the forum, please visit the S.A.F.E. Web site:

http://www.crypto.com/safe/

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(3) SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION

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(4) ABOUT THE CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND TECHNOLOGY/CONTACTING US

The Center for Democracy and Technology is a non-profit public interest
organization based in Washington, DC. The Center's mission is to develop
and advocate public policies that advance democratic values and
constitutional civil liberties in new computer and communications
technologies.

Contacting us:

General information:  [email protected]
World Wide Web:       URL:http://www.cdt.org/
FTP                   URL:ftp://ftp.cdt.org/pub/cdt/

Snail Mail:  The Center for Democracy and Technology
             1634 Eye Street NW * Suite 1100 * Washington, DC 20006
             (v) +1.202.637.9800 * (f) +1.202.637.0968

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End Policy Post 2.24                                            6/11/96
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