[2542] in cryptography@c2.net mail archive
RE: Deputy atty gen says U.S. crypto-position is not changing
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Ernest Hua)
Tue Apr 21 16:50:52 1998
From: Ernest Hua <Hua@teralogic-inc.com>
To: "'Declan McCullagh'" <declan@well.com>, cryptography@c2.net
Cc: Ernest Hua <Hua@teralogic-inc.com>
Date: Tue, 21 Apr 1998 13:39:00 -0700
This sort of PR response is just that ... PR. There are many rules of
PR, but one of them seems to be that you must insist that you've always
had this position and that you've never changed your mind and that
everyone else is finally understanding the infinite wisdom of your
position. In short, "this is what I've been saying all along ...".
"Unwavering", "solid", "firm" and other PR words are often used. But
the bottom line is that it's just PR, and it's bullshit. It could
easily be that there was no position because there were too many
powerful and conflicting interests involved, though in this case, it's
probably not so.
The administration probably had mostly pro-business (probably not
pro-privacy) supporters, but the FBI and the NSA strong-armed everyone
(remember the "aiding and abetting terrorists and pedophiles"
rhetoric?). Now that the FBI and the NSA have had to back down on their
rhetoric a little, and the pro-business lobby is putting their money
where their mouth is, there is a teeny bit more political will to stand
up to the FBI and the NSA bullies.
HOWEVER, no matter what happens, the administration cannot admit to
waffling. That would be, in their own mind, a PR disaster, and a
political vulnerability for the Republicans to exploit.
Mind you, none of this PR shit has anything to do with which side is
more "correct" on the merits. And the FBI and the NSA only needs to
have ONE strong enough friend anywhere in a linear legislative or
judicial process to stop crypto liberalization. We have to convince
EVERYONE in the chain.
Ern
-----Original Message-----
From: Declan McCullagh [SMTP:declan@well.com]
Sent: Monday, April 20, 1998 4:02 PM
To: cryptography@c2.net
Subject: Deputy atty gen says U.S. crypto-position is not
changing
Last Thursday, Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder was asked
about the
Commerce Department's admission that U.S. crypto-regulations
harm U.S.
companies. Was the administration's position changing? His
response:
"Well, I think the administration's position is still
consistent,
is consistent with what it has been, which is to find a way to
resolve the
issue, taking into account the very real interests that we in
law
enforcement have as well as what we want to do in a business
sense around
the world. It's a difficult issue to resolve, but it's one that
we are
continually trying to work out."
Is the U.S. position going to shift?
No, Holder replied. "I do not believe that the position is about
to
shift."
-Declan
