[635] in cryptography@c2.net mail archive
Re: Prewarning: Key Escrow in Germany
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Declan McCullagh)
Mon Apr 28 16:40:36 1997
In-Reply-To: <m0wLZse-0003utC@as-node.jena.thur.de>
Date: Mon, 28 Apr 1997 16:26:20 -0400
To: lutz@as-node.jena.thur.de (Lutz Donnerhacke)
From: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>
Cc: cryptography@c2.net
At 9:45 PM +0200 4/27/97, Lutz Donnerhacke wrote:
>Mr. Kanther's (Federal Minister of the Interior, Germany) speach tomorrow
>will claim, that Germany needs a GAK law. Please keep a look at
>de.comp.security, the text of the speach will be posted and discussed
>there. Feed or NNTP rights on reply. English is ok there.
Thanks for the heads-up. Check out this Reuters dispatch.
-Declan
*************
Copyright © 1997 Nando.net
Copyright © 1997 Reuter Information Service
BONN (April 28, 1997 12:32 p.m. EDT) - A German cabinet minister called on
Monday for increased efforts to fight crime on the Internet and demanded
that cyber-sheriffs have keys to unlock coded messages.
Interior Minister Manfred Kanther told a conference in Bonn the government
did not want to stifle development of the Internet through excessive
regulation, particularly in the area of encryption, which protects data from
unwanted access.
"But we will not be able to avoid a certain involvement of the state," he
told a conference in Bonn. "The technical and organizational competence of
agencies charged with fighting computer crime must be strengthened."
Reminiscent of debates over surveillance of mobile phone networks, Kanther
said while it was necessary to provide secure communications to improve
acceptance of the Internet this could not interrupt routine police work.
In one of the clearest statements yet on how Bonn wants to control
encryption technology, Kanther proposed allowing only technologies whose
manufacturers agree to provide "keys" for police to allow surveillance
activities.
The opposition Social Democrats rejected Kanther's proposal, saying it would
create "a surveillance state of Orwellian proportions."
"This is a deep blow for domestic information technology companies," said
SPD parliamentary deputy Joerg Tauss.
Secure encryption is necessary to guarantee safe electronic transactions,
but it can also be used to cloak illicit activity or to hide illegal images
and writings on computer networks.
Germany currently has several police teams that surf the Internet in search
of criminal activity ranging from illegal pornography and child prostitution
rings to extremist writings.
Officials say the Internet is used increasingly by organized crime and law
enforcement officials fear they are falling behind.
"The criminals are hiding in the anonymity of the networks, wiping their
electronic tracks." Kanther said. "Investigating agencies and police are
faced with completely new challenges."
Speaking at a conference of the Federal Agency for Information Technology
Security, Kanther added fuel to a raging debate over control of the Internet
and who should be held liable crimes committed over computer networks.
Prosecutors in Munich earlier this month indicted the head of the German
subsidiary of U.S. on-line service CompuServe Corp. on allegations of aiding
in the trafficking of pornography, neo-Nazi writings and games that glorify
violence.
The indictment followed a year-long investigation into whether CompuServe
allowed members to access computers on the Internet that contained
pornography and neo-Nazi writings.
Kanther welcomed efforts by on-line services and Internet service providers
to voluntarily take efforts to prevent misuse of their networks and sought
to counter what he said was an impression that the Internet was largely a
den of crime.
"The artificial world is in the end a lot like the real world. Where there
is light there is shadow. We will confront the dark sides and fight them
decisively," he said.
By WILLIAM BOSTON, Reuter
-------------------------
Declan McCullagh
Time Inc.
The Netly News Network
Washington Correspondent
http://netlynews.com/
