======================================================================== __ _________ __ \ \ / /_ _\ \ / / Voters Telecommunications Watch \ \ / / | | \ \ /\ / / (vtw@vtw.org) \ V / | | \ V V / May 2, 1996 \_/ |_| \_/\_/ Redistribute only until 5/28/96 SENATORS FIRE BROADSIDE SALVO AT CLINTON ADMINISTRATION'S HEINOUS AND ANTIQUATED ENCRYPTION EXPORT POLICIES Please widely redistribute this document with this banner intact until May 28, 1996 ________________________________________________________________________ CONTENTS The Latest News Chronology of the 1996 Crypto Bills For More Information ________________________________________________________________________ THE LATEST NEWS Today, a core contingent of the US Senate proposed legislation that would free public domain software such as Phil Zimmerman's PGP (Pretty Good Privacy), allow for the export of products that have competitive encryption abroad, and limit the government's ability to propose another Clipper-style standard. The latest proposal, sponsored by Sen. Burns (R-MT) is the third in a series of bills this year that blatantly attack the Clinton Administration's policies of restricting the export of encryption that is already found outside the United States. Text of the legislation is now available on http://www.crypto.com/ and http://www.vtw.org/ as soon as we get it. In another bold move, Senators Conrad Burns (R-MT) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) have scheduled online chats to discuss this legislation with the people who understand the issue the best: the net community. As a part of the Whistlestop96 campaign by VTW and CDT (Center for Democracy and Technology) to bring members of Congress in touch with the net community during the 1996 campaigns, Senators Burns and Leahy will be attending live online chat sessions on HotWired and America Online. The schedule as currently available is: Sen. Burns America Online, News Room auditorium: Monday May 6, 9pm EST Hotwired: Monday May 13, 9pm EST Sen. Leahy America Online: date not yet available Hotwired: date not yet available In addition, volunteers have begun maintaining a resource page at http://www.crypto.com/ with a corresponding mailing list for encryption policy news. You can subscribe to it from the WWW page http://www.crypto.com/ or by sending mail to majordomo@panix.com. ________________________________________________________________________ CHRONOLOGY OF THE 1996 ENCRYPTION BILLS May 2, '96 Bi-partisan group of Senators introduce PRO-CODE Act, which would free public-domain encryption software (such as PGP) for export, free much commercial encryption for export, and reduce the government's ability to push Clipper proposals down the throats of an unwilling public. Original sponsors include: Senators Burns (R-MT), Dole (R-KS), Faircloth (R-NC), Leahy (D-VT), Murray (D-WA), Nickles (R-OK), Pressler (R-SD), and Wyden (D-OR). Mar 5, '96 Sen. Leahy (D-VT) and Rep. Goodlatte (R-VA) introduce bills to liberalize cryptography exports. Cosponsoring this legislation on the Senate side at Sen. Burns (R-MT) and Sen. Murray (D-WA). On the House side are the following cosponsors: DeLay, Campbell, Eshoo, Moorhead, Doolittle, Barr, Ewing, Mica, Everett, Bono, Lofgren, and McKeon. ________________________________________________________________________ FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT ENCRYPTION Encryption Policy Resource Page: http://www.crypto.com/ Voters Telecommunications Watch: http://www.vtw.org/ Internet Privacy Coalition: http://www.privacy.org/ ======================================================================== ======================================================================== __ _________ __ \ \ / /_ _\ \ / / Voters Telecommunications Watch \ \ / / | | \ \ /\ / / (vtw@vtw.org) \ V / | | \ V V / May 6, 1996 \_/ |_| \_/\_/ Redistribute only until 5/28/96 TRANSCRIPT OF ONLINE CHAT WITH SENATOR BURNS (R-MT) AVAILABLE AT ENCRYPTION POLICY RESOURCE CENTER (HTTP://WWW.CRYPTO.COM) SENATOR BURNS IS SCHEDULED TO APPEAR AT HOTWIRED: MONDAY 5/13/96 9PM EST Please widely redistribute this document with this banner intact until May 28, 1996 ________________________________________________________________________ CONTENTS The Latest News Schedule of upcoming chats related to encryption About VTW and Whistlestop96 ________________________________________________________________________ THE LATEST NEWS Senator Burns went online tonight and discussed encryption and his new bill, PRO-CODE, with Internet users in America Online's News Room auditorium. The full transcript of this session is available at http://www.crypto.com/. Some highlights from the fifty minute discussion: Question : Senator Burns, As a small business in Montana that provides web-space to local Montana businesses, I'm concerned that the lack of privacy and security on the Net will keep many of my potential customers from purchasing online. How will this bill help? Sen Burns : That's exactly why I introduced this bill. Right now I don't think any of us feel safe transmitting our credit card numbers over the Internet, and many companies who have workers around the nation or world are worried about how they can safely send sensitive information back and forth between them. If we can raise their level of security, we can guarantee that that information will be sent without unwanted eyes looking in. Question : What do you think the Administration, FBI, and NSA reaction to your bill will be? Have you already heard from them? (I run an ISP in Missoula, Montana.) Sen Burns : We expect them to have some concern with this, and we will work with them but we have to undertsnad that the people we are concerned with can already gain encryption that is already longer than 40 bits on teh international market. The transcript is the property of America Online, who retains the copyright. ________________________________________________________________________ SCHEDULE OF UPCOMING CHATS RELATED TO ENCRYPTION Sen. Burns Hotwired: Monday May 13, 9pm EST Sen. Leahy America Online: date not yet available Hotwired: date not yet available You can connect to AOL over the Internet through a SLIP/PPP connection or by dialing up one of their services. Download the AOL client software from URL:ftp://ftp.aol.com/ and install it. HotWired's Club Wired is easy to reach. Go to the WWW page URL:http://www.hotwired.com/club/ and follow the instructions. ________________________________________________________________________ ABOUT VTW AND WHISTLESTOP96 VTW (Voters Telecommunications Watch) is an Internet-based grass-roots advocacy group concentrating on issues of civil liberties and telecommunications. Whistlestop96 is VTW's project to bring more members of Congress and Congressional candidates to online chats to talk about core Internet issues with net users. We do not accept unsolicited donations at this time. If you want to help, register to vote at URL:http://www.vtw.org/ivoter/ . For more information on encryption policy, please see the following resources: Encryption Policy Resource Page: http://www.crypto.com/ Internet Privacy Coalition: http://www.privacy.org/ ...run by these fine organizations: Center for Democracy and Technology: http://www.cdt.org/ Electronic Frontier Foundation: http://www.eff.org/ Electronic Privacy Information Center: http://www.epic.org/ Voters Telecommunications Watch: http://www.vtw.org/ ________________________________________________________________________ Copyright 1994-1996, Voters Telecommunications Watch ======================================================================== þ