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C D T  P O L I C Y  P O S T

A BRIEFING ON PUBLIC POLICY ISSUES
AFFECTING CIVIL LIBERTIES ONLINE
from
THE CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND TECHNOLOGY

Volume 5, Number 12 June 24, 1999

CONTENTS:

  1. Mandatory Filtering for Schools & Libraries Approved by Senate Committee
  2. Encryption Bills Clear Hurdles in House, Some Privacy Concerns Remain
  3. Senate Committee Passes Its Version Of Encryption Reform
  4. Subscription Information
  5. About the Center for Democracy and Technology

** This document may be redistributed freely with this banner intact **

Excerpts may be re-posted with permission of ari@cdt.org

This document is also available at:

http://www.cdt.org/publications/pp_5.12.html

(1) MANDATORY FILTERING FOR SCHOOLS & LIBRARIES APPROVED BY SENATE COMMITTEE

The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee held a markup today to discuss the Childrens' Internet Protection Act (S.97) introduced by its chairman, John McCain (R-AZ), and ranking Democrat, Ernest Hollings (D-SC). The bill mandates that all schools and libraries receiving federal e-rate assistance select a technology for computers with Internet access that:

  • blocks or filters obscene material,
  • blocks or filters child pornography, and
  • may be -- but are not required to be -- used by local authorities to block or filter materials deemed "inappropriate for minors."

The schools and libraries must then enforce a policy that ensures that all minors use such technologies while on the Internet. This language is different from previous drafts of this bill in several respects:

  • It requires filtering or blocking only when minors are using the computer.
  • It narrows the federal filtering requirement from material deemed "harmful to minors" to obscene material or child pornography,
  • It broadens the optional filtering category to include a great deal of speech that is protected by the First Amendment.

Senator McCain made it clear that such material determined to be "inappropriate for minors" may include sites promoting hate groups or other controversial material, although such material in each of these categories is protected speech under the First Amendment. The bill's only other amendment refined the time period available to schools and libraries to come into compliance with new law, if passed.

Senator John Kerry (D-MA) voiced concerns about the bill, drawing attention to the way in which it infringes on the rights of communities to self-determination regarding their own access to the Internet and that of their children. However, the Committee as a whole approved the bill by voice vote. A floor vote has not yet been scheduled.

For more information regarding S.97 and the debate surrounding free speech on the net, visit CDT's Free Speech page at http://www.cdt.org/speech/

(2) ENCRYPTION BILL CLEARS ANOTHER HURDLE IN THE HOUSE, SOME PRIVACY CONCERNS REMAIN

Significant movement towards encryption reform continued on Capitol Hill yesterday as committees in both the House and Senate approved export relief bills. The Security and Freedom through Encryption (SAFE) Act (H.R.850) cleared a major hurdle with passage by the House Commerce Committee. The committee did pass several amendments to the bill including a troubling new federal crime, proposed by Rep. Stearns (R-FL), requiring the production of decryption keys or other forms of decryption assistance when presented with a court order. This amendment raised signficant privacy and fifth amendment concerns by leaving encryption users open to prosecution without clear guidelines for compliance.

Rep. Oxley proposed an amendment that would have allowed government agencies to require non-government contractors to use key recovery systems. This amendment was withdrawn after substantial opposition from other members of the Committee. Three minor amendments sponsored by Reps. Oxley and Wilson were adopted, all relating to national security.

The SAFE Act, as approved by the House Commerce Committee, would:

  • Affirm the right to user and sell encryption and will allow stronger encryption software than the existing 56 bits to be distributed without export licensing requirements.
  • Prohibit the government from requiring a backdoor into peoples' email and computer files ("mandatory key recovery").
  • Modernize U.S. export controls to permit the export of generally available software and hardware if a product with comparable security is commercially available from foreign suppliers.
  • Create criminal penalties for the knowing and willful use of encryption to conceal evidence of a crime, BUT specifies that the use of encryption does not constitute probable cause of a crime.
  • Require the production of decryption keys or other forms of decryption assistance when presented with a court order
  • Prohibit export of encryption products to the PLA and companies owned by the Chinese military
  • Call upon the Attorney General to compile examples in which encryption has interfered with law enforcement.
  • Call upon the President to convene an international conference to draft encryption policy agreement
  • Allows allows the Secretary of Commerce to deny the export of encryption products to specific groups and organizations if it would be used to harm national security, used to sexually exploit children or used for illegal activities by organized crime.

Although the export relief provisions of the original bill stayed intact, as the bill proceeds to the House floor, CDT will continue to look out for and oppose amendments that raise these privacy concerns.

Background information on the SAFE bill is available at:

http://www.cdt.org/crypto/legis_106/SAFE/

CDT encourages encryption activists to call members of the House Committees that still must look at SAFE before it gets to the floor. Please see our Digital Democracy page to see if your member is on one of these important committees: http://www.cdt.org/action/

(3) SENATE COMMITTEE PASSES ITS VERSION OF ENCRYPTION REFORM

The Senate PROTECT Act (S.798) passed the full Senate Commerce Committee by voice vote Wednesday. While falling short of the immediate access to products needed to protect privacy online, the bill represents a major shift in position for key Senators once opposed to encryption reform. Although the PROTECT Act takes an important step forward for encryption reform, CDT believes that more comprehensive export relief is needed to protect individual privacy.

The PROTECT Act, as approved by the Senate Commerce Committee, would:

  • Allow the immediate export of 64-bit encryption products
  • Require the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) to complete development of the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) and decontrols export of AES and equivalent products by 2002
  • Allow export of strong encryption products to certain trusted end-users, export of recoverable products, and export of "crypto-ready" products
  • Allow export of generally available products over 64-bits after a one-time review
  • Create an Encryption Export Advisory Board to make recommendations to the Secretary of Commerce about the general availability of encryption products (The Secretary's decision is subject to judicial review, and the President may override the Board's determinations for purposes of national security without review.)
  • Prohibits domestic controls and mandatory plaintext access
  • Permit the immediate exportation of non-military encryption (above 64 bits) to "responsible" entities and governments of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The bill will next be considered by the Intelligence Committee, with two other committees also receiving subsequent referrals. As the bill proceeds through the Senate, CDT will continue to advocate for greater export relief. CDT's letter to the Senate Commerce Committee on PROTECT is available online at

http://www.cdt.org/crypto/legis_106/PROTECT/McCainletter062299.html

Background information on the PROTECT bills is available at:

http://www.cdt.org/crypto/legis_106/PROTECT/

(4) SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION

Be sure you are up to date on the latest public policy issues affecting civil liberties online and how they will affect you! Subscribe to the CDT Policy Post news distribution list. CDT Policy Posts, the regular news publication of the Center for Democracy and Technology, are received by Internet users, industry leaders, policymakers, the news media and activists, and have become the leading source for information about critical free speech and privacy issues affecting the Internet and other interactive communications media.

To subscribe to CDT's Policy Post list, send mail to

  • majordomo@cdt.org
  • In the BODY of the message (leave the SUBJECT LINE BLANK), type
  • subscribe policy-posts
  • If you ever wish to remove yourself from the list, send mail to the above
  • address with NOTHING IN THE SUBJECT LINE and a BODY TEXT of:
  • unsubscribe policy-posts

(5) ABOUT THE CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND TECHNOLOGY/CONTACTING US

The Center for Democracy and Technology is a non-profit public interest organization based in Washington, DC. The Center's mission is to develop and advocate public policies that advance democratic values and constitutional civil liberties in new computer and communications technologies.

Contacting us:

 

Snail Mail:

The Center for Democracy and Technology
1634 Eye Street NW * Suite 1100 * Washington, DC 20006
(v) +1.202.637.9800 * (f) +1.202.637.096

 

 

 

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