--- begin forwarded text Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2000 11:44:39 -0700 (PDT) To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (rah) From: Somebody Subject: Wired News : U.S. Endorses New Crypto Regs <snippage...> ============================================================ From Wired News, available online at: http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,37617,00.html U.S. Endorses New Crypto Regs by Nicholas Morehead 11:10 a.m. Jul. 17, 2000 PDT WASHINGTON -- The Clinton Administration wants to relax encryption export controls and harmonize privacy standards for electronic communications. In a speech at the National Press Club on Monday, White House Chief of Staff John Podesta announced proposed legislation being sent to Congress that would relax existing export controls on encryption technology. Under the new policy, American companies will be able to export any encryption product to any end user within the 15 nations of the European Union as well as Australia, New Zealand, Norway, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Japan, and Switzerland. In addition, American exporters would no longer have to wait for a complete technical review or incur the 30-day delay which is the standard under existing policy. Instead, American exporters would be able to ship their products to these nations immediately after filing a commodity classification request to the Department of Commerce. Stressing the relationship between strong encryption technologies and strong cyber-security, Podesta chided the Republican-controlled Congress for failing to appropriate strong security measures through legislation. "Good security needs to be updated constantly -- and it costs money," Podesta said. "We've proposed $90 million to help detect computer attacks, to conduct research on security technology, to hire and train more security experts, and to create an internal expert review team for non-defense agencies. "Unfortunately, the Congress still refuses to appropriate one dime to put these initiatives in place. It's time they picked up the pace and provided the protections that are essential to America's cyber security." Podesta also announced Administration efforts to bring existing privacy laws into the current technology age -- applying the same legal standards to all electronic communications that are given to telephone conversations. "It's time to adopt legislative principles that map these important privacy principles onto the latest technology," Podesta said. "It's time to update and harmonize our existing laws to give all forms of technology the same legislative protections as our telephone conversations." "Our aim should be to enhance law enforcement's ability to address unlawful conduct, but also to enhance privacy and civil liberties on the Internet," Podesta said. Podesta illustrated his example with the current "tap and trace" regulations that were written for the telephone era. The Administration proposal, for example, would grant state or federal courts the right to issue one order to trace a communication to its source, regardless if it's been channeled through numerous telephone or Internet providers. But the proposal also seeks greater judicial oversight of trap and trace authorities. "Federal law should make clear that such orders should only be issued after a judicial officer has determined that the proper factual showing has been made," Podesta said. "These are steps that will protect our public safety while preserving our civil liberties." The Administration proposal also seeks to amend existing wiretapping statutes that are hardware-specific and written with "outmoded" language and replace them with technology-neutral language. "In other words, the legislation would apply equal standards to both hardware and software surveillance," Podesta said. The proposal also seeks to update the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act -- applying penalties to the computer crimes appropriate to the damage they cause. Whereas small attacks causing under $5,000 worth of damage should be treated as a misdemeanor, multiple small attacks would be treated would be lumped together and treated accordingly. Related Wired Links: Is Encryption Tax-Protective? Jul. 15, 2000 Europe Stalls on Crypto Exports May. 26, 2000 Crypto Regs Challenged Again Apr. 4, 2000 Copyright 1994-2000 Wired Digital Inc. All rights reserved. --- end forwarded text -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED]> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'