[843] in cryptography@c2.net mail archive
Re: SAFE vote and cutting crypto-deals, report from House J
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Marc Horowitz)
Thu May 15 16:10:02 1997
To: trei@process.com
Cc: Phil Helms <phil@cccs.cccoes.edu>, cryptography@c2.net, trei@c2.net
From: Marc Horowitz <marc@cygnus.com>
Date: 15 May 1997 15:53:59 -0400
Peter, I'm not yet sure of what I think of the new wording, but your
arguments are all ludicrous. Let's look at the wording again:
"Any person who, in the commission of a felony under
a criminal statute of the United States, knowingly
and willfully encrypts incriminating information
relating to that felony with the intent to conceal
such information for the purposes of avoiding
detection by law enforcement agencies or
prosecution..."
"Peter Trei" <trei@process.com> writes:
>> Crypto enthusiasts picture a future where crypto is embedded in
>> almost every electronic device, to authenticate users and protect
>> communication privacy (ie, to prevent crime!).
Ok, this isn't ludicrous.
>> In such a future, almost any act, from making a phone call to
>> locking a door, could involve crypto, possibly without the
>> user even being aware of it.
"knowingly and willfully" is hard when you're unaware you're using
crypto.
>> Thus, even the most minor crime might well find the perpetrator
>> facing a 5-year term.
"in the commission of a felony", not "any minor infraction".
>> "Yes, we know that when you scanned Miss November onto your hard
>> drive, it was only a misdemeanor copyright enfringement, but since
>> your HD is factory shipped with a sector level encryption system,
>> we're sending you up the river for 5 years."
"under a criminal statute". copyright infringement of this sort is
civil.
>> To crypto enthusiasts, this provision is equivalent to adding 5 years
>> to the sentence if you were breathing at the time the crime was
>> committed.
If I, as a crypto enthusiast, think that your arguments are this
absurd, you have no chance at all of convincing the people you need to
convince. Please come up with a straw man which doesn't explode when
light falls on it.
Marc
