[1238] in cryptography@c2.net mail archive
Cryptography Regulation In Belgium
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Axel H. Horns)
Wed Jul 23 17:19:51 1997
To: cryptography@c2.net
Date: Wed, 23 Jul 1997 23:05:30 +0100
From: Horns@t-online.de (Axel H. Horns)
>From recent CLA Bulletin Vol.12, No. 2, 1997, p. 62 a short note from
Els Kindt-De Brandt of Van Hecke & Lagae, Brussels, concerning crypto
regulation in Belgium:
---------------------------- BEGIN QUOTE ----------------------------
Article 95 of the Law of 21 March 1991 on the Reform of Certain Public
Enterprises ("the 1991 Law") has been recently modified. This Article
relates to the appro-val of telecommunications end-equipment in
Belgium. Although anyone is permitted to connect to the public
telecommunication infrastructure and install and maintain
end-equipment, the endequipment which is directly connected must be
ap-proved by a Minister (or an official of the B.I.P.T.) on being
proposed by the Belgium Institute for Post and Telecommu-nication
(B.I.P.T.).
The modification permits a Minister to refuse an approval or withdraw
a previous granted approval of end-equipment which renders telephone
tapping ineffective. The aim of this regulation is to restrict the
abuse of encryption in organized crime networks and to guarantee the
enforceability of the Law on the protection of privacy, prohibiting
listening in, and taking note of and recording private com-munication
and telecommunication. However, this Law does allow interceptions
with the authorization of an investiga-ting judge.
The exact scope of this encryption regulation is unclear. Some fear
it could serve as a basis for general prohibition on encrypted
telecommunication and data transmission. Others claim that crypto
systems embedded on end-equipment devices have to be agreed by the
B.I.P.T. and that B.I.P.T.'s intends to impose an obligation to
deposit the encryption keys at the B.I.P.T.
The Ministry of Justice has stated it is not their intention to
prohibit encryption as a rule. In any case, it was acknowledged that
the legislation, as enacted, may not be very efficient because
encryption can also be software based.
The present regulation needs to be further implemented by Royal
Decrees. Before it is enforced there will be proposals for further
specifications, and the issue of encryption needs to be fully
discussed. Already a proposal to abolish the encryption regulation in
the 1991 Law has been filed by Senator Hatry.
In conclusion, the present encryption regulation in Belgium only
applies to end-equipment for which an approval for connection on the
public telecommunication infrastructure is required. To the extent
that any encryption mechanism is embedded in software, which is not
part of the end-equipment, the encryption regulation does not apply to
such software.
----------------------------- END QUOTE -----------------------------
Does anyone know more details and background?
Axel H. Horns
--
Patentanwalt (German Patent Attorney) Dipl.-Phys. Axel H. Horns
D-80796 Munich horns@t-online.de http://www.horns.netplace.de
Voice: ++49.89.30630112 * * * Fax: ++49.89.30630113
