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Microsoft and Netscape to Provide McCain with Options?
(I changed the message name, as it appeared to be entirely too many lines! :-})
At 5:26 PM -0700 7/11/97, Alan Olsen wrote:
>McCain Open to Key Recovery Alternative
>
>by Rebecca Vesely
>McCain said he met with Microsoft representatives recently to discuss
>a new technology being developed by the software giant that could be
>less intrusive and problematic than key recovery. The senator also said
>he plans to meet with Netscape officials next week to discuss yet
>another alternative.
This is something we should watch _very_ closely!
I cannot imagine any solution acceptable to statists like McCain, Kerrey,
Swinestein, Clinton, Freeh, and all the others that would even remotely be
acceptable to anyone who cherishes liberty.
The extreme danger is that the McCain-Kerrey bill was just so plain
terrible that it is being used as a bargaining chip to get a "compromise."
And that compromise could be fed by helpful, hopeful corporate spinmeisters.
The danger is that the work MS was doing a few years ago on key recovery
could be made part of the basis of the "new industry compromise." I had
hoped this had died when Chairman Gates came out so strongly against key
escrow and GAK in his book.
(The recent discussion of "collective contracts," where an
industry-government deal binds us all, is timely.)
>Just two days ago, at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the bill,
>FBI director Louis Freeh testified on the need for mandatory domestic
>key recovery, and some senators on the committee, notably the
>chairman, Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), seemed to agree that some sort of
>domestic key recovery is needed to allow law enforcement to wiretap
>suspect digital communications and transactions.
The ground is shifting rapidly from "we need a law to recapitulate
Americans' right to strong crypto" (Pro-CODE) to "we need key recovery in
exported products and when government networks are involved"
(McCain-Kerrey) to "some sort of domestic key recovery is needed"
(Freeh-Hatch-Pol Pot).
Let them all hang.
--Tim May
There's something wrong when I'm a felon under an increasing number of laws.
Only one response to the key grabbers is warranted: "Death to Tyrants!"
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
[email protected] 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
Higher Power: 2^1398269 | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."
- References:
- McCain Open to Key Recovery Alternative by Rebecca Vesely 3:06pm 11.Jul.97.PDT Senator John McCain, sponsor of legislation that would create a domestic key recovery system for all encrypted commercial transactions and personal communications, said Friday that he is open to hearing alternatives to such a plan. "We are not wedded entirely to key recovery," the Arizona Republican said in an interview. McCain, chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, and Senator Bob Kerrey (D-Nebraska) introduced the Secure Public Networks Act last month. Privacy advocates and much of the high-tech industry oppose domestic key recovery on grounds that it would violate civil rights and be impractical and expensive to build and manage. McCain said he met with Microsoft representatives recently to discuss a new technology being developed by the software giant that could be less intrusive and problematic than key recovery. The senator also said he plans to meet with Netscape officials next week to discuss yet another alternative. Officials from Netscape were not immediately available for comment. "I'm saying, OK, if you have another solution, I'd like to hear it," McCain said, though he stressed that protecting national security remains his "first obligation." The McCain-Kerrey bill includes provisions for setting up a voluntary domestic key recovery system, including incentives for those who participate. Critics say participation in the key-management infrastructure wouldn't really be voluntary - it would be a prerequisite to conducting electronic commerce. Encryption, or data-scrambling technology, is widely viewed as the cornerstone to e-commerce because it conceals credit card numbers and other personal information traveling over networks. Key recovery, as outlined in the bill, would create a system of certificate authorities to whom users would give a copy of their data keys. Law enforcement could then access that copy of your key through a court order. McCain's flexibility on the issue could influence the debate over how to protect national security while allowing a free market to flourish in the digital age. Just two days ago, at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the bill, FBI director Louis Freeh testified on the need for mandatory domestic key recovery, and some senators on the committee, notably the chairman, Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), seemed to agree that some sort of domestic key recovery is needed to allow law enforcement to wiretap suspect digital communications and transactions.
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McCain Open to Key Recovery Alternative by Rebecca Vesely 3:06pm 11.Jul.97.PDT Senator John McCain, sponsor of legislation that would create a domestic key recovery system for all encrypted commercial transactions and personal communications, said Friday that he is open to hearing alternatives to such a plan. "We are not wedded entirely to key recovery," the Arizona Republican said in an interview. McCain, chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, and Senator Bob Kerrey (D-Nebraska) introduced the Secure Public Networks Act last month. Privacy advocates and much of the high-tech industry oppose domestic key recovery on grounds that it would violate civil rights and be impractical and expensive to build and manage. McCain said he met with Microsoft representatives recently to discuss a new technology being developed by the software giant that could be less intrusive and problematic than key recovery. The senator also said he plans to meet with Netscape officials next week to discuss yet another alternative. Officials from Netscape were not immediately available for comment. "I'm saying, OK, if you have another solution, I'd like to hear it," McCain said, though he stressed that protecting national security remains his "first obligation." The McCain-Kerrey bill includes provisions for setting up a voluntary domestic key recovery system, including incentives for those who participate. Critics say participation in the key-management infrastructure wouldn't really be voluntary - it would be a prerequisite to conducting electronic commerce. Encryption, or data-scrambling technology, is widely viewed as the cornerstone to e-commerce because it conceals credit card numbers and other personal information traveling over networks. Key recovery, as outlined in the bill, would create a system of certificate authorities to whom users would give a copy of their data keys. Law enforcement could then access that copy of your key through a court order. McCain's flexibility on the issue could influence the debate over how to protect national security while allowing a free market to flourish in the digital age. Just two days ago, at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the bill, FBI director Louis Freeh testified on the need for mandatory domestic key recovery, and some senators on the committee, notably the chairman, Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), seemed to agree that some sort of domestic key recovery is needed to allow law enforcement to wiretap suspect digital communications and transactions.
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