Time: Wed Apr 09 00:32:52 1997 by primenet.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id RAA23606; Tue, 8 Apr 1997 17:54:49 -0700 (MST) by usr04.primenet.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with SMTP id RAA08663; Tue, 8 Apr 1997 17:53:05 -0700 (MST) Date: Wed, 09 Apr 1997 00:30:41 -0700 To: (Recipient list suppressed) From: Paul Andrew Mitchell [address in tool bar] Subject: SLS: Internet Encryption Alert (fwd) <snip> > > This alert brought to you by: > Center for Democracy and Technology > Eagle Forum > Electronic Frontier Foundation > Voters Telecommunications Watch > Wired Magazine > >________________________________________________________________________ >Table of Contents What's Happening Right Now What You Can Do Now >Background What's At Stake Supporting Organizations >________________________________________________________________________ >WHAT'S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW > >On March 26, 1997, the Clinton Administration proposed draft legislation >which would, for the first time, impose DOMESTIC RESTRICTIONS on the >ability of Americans to protect their privacy and security online. > >In its current form, the draft bill seeks to impose a risky "key-recovery" >regime which would compel American citizens to ensure government access >to their private communications. Law enforcement and national security agents >would not even need a court order to access private decryption keys. > >Congress is currently considering three separate bills which would >prohibit the government from imposing "key-recovery" domestically, and >encourage the development of easy-to-use, privacy and security tools for >the Net. > >As more and more Americans come online, the Administration's plan is a >giant step backwards and would open a huge window of vulnerability to the >private communications of Internet users. Americans expect more when >conducting private conversations with their doctors, families, business >partners, or lawyers. > >Please read the Alert below to find out what you can do to protect your >privacy online. > >________________________________________________________________________ >WHAT YOU CAN DO > >1. Adopt Your Legislator > >Now is the time to increase our ranks and prepare for the fight that lies >a head of us in Congress. The time to blast Congress or the White House >with phone calls and emails will come, but now is not the appropriate >moment. > >Instead, please take a few minutes to learn more about this important >issue, and join the Adopt Your Legislator Campaign at >http://www.crypto.com/adopt/ > >This will produce a customized page, just for you with your own >legislator's telephone number and address. > >In addition, you will receive the latest news and information on the >issue, as well as targeted alerts informing you when your Representatives >in Congress do something that could help or hinder the future of the >Internet. > >Best of all, it's free. Do your part, Work the Network! > >Visit http://www.crypto.com/adopt/ for details. > >2. Beginning Monday March 31, call the White House > >Internet public interest advocates continue to work the Hill in support of >the three true encryption reform bills in Congress, Pro-CODE, SAFE, & ECPA >II. If you still feel a need to voice your opinion, however, you can call >the White House to express your opinion. > >; Step 1 - Beginning Monday March 31, call the White House > > Call 202-456-1111 9am-5pm EST. Ignore the voice mail survey and press > '0' to get a comment line operator. > >Step 2 - Tell them what you think about intrusions into your privacy! > > Operator: Hello, White House comment line! > > YOU SAY THIS - : > >I'm calling to oppose president's Internet encryption bill. It infringes >on the privacy of Americans. We need a solution to the encryption issue >that protects privacy, and this is not it. > > Operator: Thank you, I'll pass that along to the President. > >3. Spread the Word! > >Forward this Alert to your friends. Help educate the public about the >importance of this issue. > >Please do not forward after May 1, 1997. > >________________________________________________________________________ >BACKGROUND > >Complete background information, including: > >* A down-to-earth explanation of why this debate is important to Internet >users * Analysis and background on the issue * Text of the Administration >draft legislation * Text of Congressional proposals to reform US >encryption policy * Audio transcripts and written testimony from recent >Congressional Hearings on > encryption policy reform >* And more! > >Are all available at http://www.crypto.com/ > >________________________________________________________________________ >WHAT'S AT STAKE > >Encryption technologies are the locks and keys of the Information age - -- >enabling individuals and businesses to protect sensitive information as it >is transmitted over the Internet. As more and more individuals and >businesses come online, the need for strong, reliable, easy-to-use >encryption technologies has become a critical issue to the health and >viability of the Net. > >Current US encryption policy, which limits the strength of encryption >products US companies can sell abroad, also limits the availability of >strong, easy-to-use encryption technologies in the United States. US >hardware and software manufacturers who wish to sell their products on the >global market must either conform to US encryption export limits or >produce two separate versions of the same product, a costly and >complicated alternative. > >The export controls, which the NSA and FBI argue help to keep strong >encryption out of the hands of foreign adversaries, are having the >opposite effect. Strong encryption is available abroad, but because of the >export limits and the confusion created by nearly four years of debate >over US encryption policy, strong, easy-to-use privacy and security >technologies are not widely available off the shelf or "on the net" here >in the US. > >A recently discovered flaw in the security of the new digital telephone >network exposed the worst aspects of the Administration's encryption >policy. Because the designers needed to be able to export their products, >the system's security was "dumbed down". Researchers subsequently >discovered that it is quite easy to break the security of the system and >intrude on what should be private conversations. > >This incident underscores the larger policy problem: US companies are at a >competitive disadvantage in the global marketplace when competing against >companies that do not have such hindrances. And now, for the first time >in history, the Clinton Administration has DOMESTIC RESTRICTIONS on the >ability of Americans to protect their privacy and security online. > >All of us care about our national security, and no one wants to make it >any easier for criminals and terrorists to commit criminal acts. But we >must also recognize encryption technologies can aid law enforcement and >protect national security by limiting the threat of industrial espionage >and foreign spying, promote electronic commerce and protecting privacy. > >What's at stake in this debate is nothing less than the future of privacy >and the fate of the Internet as a secure and trusted medium for commerce, >education, and political discourse. > > >________________________________________________________________________ >SUPPORTING ORGANIZATIONS > >For more information, contact the following organizations who have signed >onto this effort at their web sites. > >Center for Democracy and Technology >http://www.cdt.org >Press contact: Jonah Seiger, +1.202.637.9800 >Eagle Forum >http://www.eagleforum.org >Press contact: Phyllis Schlafly, +1.314.721.1213 >Electronic Frontier Foundation >http://www.eff.org >Press contact: Stanton McCandlish, +1.415.436.9333 >Voters Telecommunications Watch >http://www.vtw.org >Press contact: Shabbir J. Safdar, +1.718.596.7234 >Wired Magazine >http://www.wired.com >Press contact: Todd Lappin, +1.415.276.5224 > >________________________________________________________________________ >end alert > >================================================================ >To subscribe or unsubscribe, email > >To subscribe or unsubscribe, email >majordomo@majordomo.pobox.com with the message >"subscribe ignition-point" or >"unsubscribe ignition-point". >http://ic.net/~celano/ip/ > >=============================================================== >This mailing list is for discussion of Clinton Administration Scandals. > >If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send electronic mail to >majordomo@majordomo.pobox.com. In the message body put: unsubscribe cas > >---------- >TO LEAVE THE LIST, send a message to: majordomo@primenet.com >with the one line message of: unsubscribe in_search_of > > > ======================================================================== Paul Andrew, Mitchell, B.A., M.S. : Counselor at Law, federal witness email: [address in tool bar] : Eudora Pro 3.0.1 on Intel 586 CPU web site: http://www.supremelaw.com : library & law school registration ship to: c/o 2509 N. Campbell, #1776 : this is free speech, at its best Tucson, Arizona state : state zone, not the federal zone Postal Zone 85719/tdc : USPS delays first class w/o this ========================================================================
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