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Crypto Restrictions to Ease?
Shad0
OSAll Volunteer
On June 24th, Congress heard arguments for and against easing the regulations surrounding strong cryptography. For years, key escrow and other issues have been hotly debated. On the 24th, however, the debate wasn´t about increasing encryption controls -- but rather about loosening them.
Senate and House committees both approved bills to ease restrictions on strong crypto. One of the bills, sponsored by John McCain (R- Arizona) would allow the export of 64-bit encryption, with the possibility of 128-bit export by 2002. McCain said "The bill carefully balances our national security and law enforcement interests while updating current laws on encryption technology,"
The Senate Intelligence Committee, which has previously stopped encryption legislation, is now set to consider the bill. Many pundits predict that the committee is ready to consider an ease of restrictions, however. "They know opinion´s turning against them. People want privacy more than anything these days," said one Senate staffer close to the Intelligence Committee.
The House encryption legislation, called SAFE (Security And Freedom through Encryption) is also scheduled for review in the near future. SAFE requires that all encryption software be subject to a one-time review before export is allowed. It does, however, make it a felony to use encryption in the furtherance of criminal activity.
The legislation comes after a Federal court in California ruled the source code for the algorithm "snuffle" exportable. The rationale was that computer source code is speech, and therefore protected under the First Amendment.
The first steps towards the loosening of encryption law have been reached. Only time will tell how the initiatives stand up to legislative review. OSAll will, of course, be there to tell you when it happens. |
