> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> Date: Mon, 07 Feb 94 19:56:57 EST
> From: Joel Boutros <nihilis@mindvox.phantom.com>
> To: pda@engr.uark.edu
> Subject: Forwarded Mail from: mutant (Gregory Vassie)
> 
> Subject: Re: More Clipper/Capstone/Tessera stuph...
> From: mutant (Gregory Vassie)
> Message-ID: <NRJeHc1w165w@mindvox.phantom.com>
> Date: Mon, 07 Feb 94 19:12:34 EST
> In-Reply-To: <21JcHc3w165w@mindvox.phantom.com>
> Organization: [MindVox] / Phantom Access Technologies / (+1 800-MindVox)
> 
> 
>  
>                       * DISTRIBUTE WIDELY *
>  
>  Monday, February 7th, 1994
>  
>  From: Jerry Berman, Executive Director of EFF
>        jberman@eff.org
>  
>  
>  Dear Friends on the Electronic Frontier,
>  
>  I'm writing a personal letter to you because the time has now come for
>  action. On Friday, February 4, 1994, the Administration announced that it
>  plans to proceed on every front to make the Clipper Chip encryption scheme
>  a national standard, and to discourage the development and sale of
>  alternative powerful encryption technologies. If the government succeeds
>  in this effort, the resulting blow to individual freedom and privacy could
>  be immeasurable.
>  
>  As you know, over the last three years, we at EFF have worked to ensure
>  freedom and privacy on the Net. Now I'm writing to let you know about
>  something *you* can do to support freedom and privacy. *Please take a
>  moment to send e-mail to U.S. Rep. Maria Cantwell (cantwell@eff.org) to
>  show your support of H.R. 3627, her bill to liberalize export controls on
>  encryption software.* I believe this bill is critical to empowering
>  ordinary citizens to use strong encryption, as well as to ensuring that
>  the U.S. software industry remains competitive in world markets.
>  
>  Here are some facts about the bill:
>  
>  Rep. Cantwell introduced H.R. 3627 in the House of Representatives on
>  November 22, 1993.  H.R. 3627 would amend the Export Control Act to move
>  authority over the export of nonmilitary software with encryption
>  capabilities from the Secretary of State (where the intelligence community
>  traditionally has stalled such exports) to the Secretary of Commerce. The
>  bill would also invalidate the current license requirements for
>  nonmilitary software containing encryption capablities, unless there is
>  substantial evidence that the software will be diverted, modified or
>  re-exported to a military or terroristic end-use.
>  
>  If this bill is passed, it will greatly increase the availability of
>  secure software for ordinary citizens. Currently, software developers do
>  not include strong encryption capabilities in their products, because the
>  State Department refuses to license for export any encryption technology
>  that the NSA can't decipher. Developing two products, one with less secure
>  exportable encryption, would lead to costly duplication of effort, so even
>  software developed for sale in this country doesn't offer maximum
>  security. There is also a legitimate concern that software companies will
>  simply set up branches outside of this country to avoid the export
>  restrictions, costing American jobs.
>  
>  The lack of widespread commercial encryption products means that it will
>  be very easy for the federal government to set its own standard--the
>  Clipper Chip standard. As you may know, the government's Clipper Chip
>  initiative is designed to set an encryption standard where the government
>  holds the keys to our private conversations. Together with the Digital
>  Telephony bill, which is aimed at making our telephone and computer
>  networks "wiretap-friendly," the Clipper Chip marks a dramatic new effort
>  on the part of the government to prevent us from being able to engage in
>  truly private conversations.
>  
>  We've been fighting Clipper Chip and Digital Telephony in the policy arena
>  and will continue to do so. But there's another way to fight those
>  initiatives, and that's to make sure that powerful alternative encryption
>  technologies are in the hands of any citizen who wants to use them. The
>  government hopes that, by pushing the Clipper Chip in every way short of
>  explicitly banning alternative technologies, it can limit your choices for
>  secure communications.
>  
>  Here's what you can do: 
>  
>  I urge you to write to Rep. Cantwell today at cantwell@eff.org. In the
>  Subject header of your message, type "I support HR 3627." In the body of
>  your message, express your reasons for supporting the bill. EFF will
>  deliver printouts of all letters to Rep. Cantwell. With a strong showing
>  of support from the Net community, Rep. Cantwell can tell her colleagues
>  on Capitol Hill that encryption is not only an industry concern, but also
>  a grassroots issue. *Again: remember to put "I support HR 3627" in your
>  Subject header.*
>  
>  This is the first step in a larger campaign to counter the efforts of
>  those who would restrict our ability to speak freely and with privacy.
>  Please stay tuned--we'll continue to inform you of things you can do to
>  promote the removal of restrictions on encryption.
>  
>  In the meantime, you can make your voice heard--it's as easy as e-mail.
>  Write to cantwell@eff.org today.
>  
>  
>  
>  Sincerely,
>  
>  Jerry Berman
>  Executive Director, EFF
>  jberman@eff.org
>  
>  
>  
>  P.S. If you want additional information about the Cantwell bill, send
>  e-mail to cantwell-info@eff.org. To join EFF, write membership@eff.org.
>  
>  The text of the Cantwell bill can be found with the any of the following
>  URLs (Universal Resource Locaters):
>  
>  ftp://ftp.eff.org/pub/Policy/Legislation/cantwell.bill
>  http://www.eff.org/ftp/EFF/Policy/Legislation/cantwell.bill
>  gopher://gopher.eff.org/00/EFF/legislation/cantwell.bill



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