[1665] in cryptography@c2.net mail archive
Forwarded from Edupage
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Perry E. Metzger)
Sun Sep 28 14:03:22 1997
Date: Sun, 28 Sep 1997 13:59:15 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Perry E. Metzger" <perry@piermont.com>
To: cryptography@c2.net
Reply-to: perry@piermont.com
Forwarded from Edupage:
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INTERNET NEEDS MORE, NOT LESS SECURITY SAYS BARKSDALE
Netscape CEO James Barksdale says encryption legislation proposed by FBI
Director Louis Freeh could trigger the downfall of U.S. dominance in the
software industry. The FBI-backed Oxley-Manton amendment would "require
makers of encryption software to provide the government with immediate
access to the information in a computer or network without the knowledge of
the owner or user of the computer." Barksdale says that rather than
reducing crime by giving law enforcement officials to digital transmissions,
the legislation likely would result in more crime: "By taking away
encryption as we know it today, the FBI proposal would expose computer users
to assault by hackers intent on economic espionage, blackmail and public
humiliation. At a recent congressional hearing, one witness testified that
with the $1 billion and 20 people using existing technology, he could
effectively shut down the nation's information infrastructure, including all
computer, phone and banking networks... The FBI cannot catch every hacker.
But there will be fewer and fewer of them trying to penetrate sensitive
networks if those networks are adequately protected and communications
secured through the use of strong encryption." (Wall Street Journal 26 Sep 97)
FBI SAYS PRIVACY "EXTREMISTS" ARE "ELITIST"
Alan McDonald, a senior executive with the Federal Bureau of Investigation,
says that "extremist" positions on electronic encryption are a threat to
normal law enforcement and are elitist and nondemocratic. Insisting that
the United States had remained true to the Constitution and to a system of
ordered liberties, McDonald says: "When people don't know much about
electronic surveillance, they are fearful of it. But when they know Congress
passed laws and the Supreme Court reviewed them and that there are numerous
constraints and procedures, then it makes sense to them. It seems rational
and balanced." (TechWire 25 Sep 97)
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