SLIGHTLY OFF SUBJECT...BUT -
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/ _ \| | | ____| _ \_ _| | Congress gears up for a Spring fight on
| |_| | | | _| | |_) || | | | encryption. Call Rep. Bliley and
| _ | |___| |___| _ < | | |_| your Senators Robb and Warner before
|_| |_|_____|_____|_| \_\|_| (_) April 15, 1998. (va07)
Please forward where appropriate until April 20, 1998
Posted April 10, 1998
This alert brought to you by The Center for Democracy & Technology
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Table of Contents
Let your voice be heard
Adopt-Your-Legislator campaign gears up for Spring fight on encryption
*What you can do to help*
What's happening right now
What's at stake
About this alert / How to unsubscribe / Register to vote
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LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD
The FBI is demanding the keys to your private online communications and
business transactions.
Your two Senators Robb (D-VA) and Warner (R-VA), and your
Congressman, Rep. Bliley (R-VA), are home for the Spring recess through
April 20. Now is a great time to meet them personally and let them know that
privacy on the Internet is important to you. Urge them to oppose domestic
encryption controls and to support easing export restrictions.
Please read the ALERT below and find out what you can do to help.
________________________________________________________________________
ADOPT-YOUR-LEGISLATOR CAMPAIGN GEARS UP FOR SPRING FIGHT ON ENCRYPTION
Dear Adopt-Your-Legislator Member,
Last year you signed up to be part of the Adopt-Your-Legislator
campaign, an Internet advocacy campaign designed to help individuals
become involved in the ongoing Congressional debate over encryption.
At key moments in that debate last year, Adopt members were able to
generate phone calls and letters that had a real impact on members of
Congress voting on encryption issues.
Encryption legislation is at a critical juncture. Rep. Bliley and
Senators Robb and Warner may be asked to vote on encryption
legislation as early as late May. As Members of Congress head home for
the Spring Recess, now is a great time to make sure your voice is heard
on this important issue.
YOUR RIGHTS HANG IN THE BALANCE
Congress faces a stark choice. On the one hand, the original Security
and Freedom through Encryption (SAFE) Act and the Leahy bill in the
Senate would give Americans the freedom to use whatever encryption
products they choose to protect their privacy, and would liberalize the
current export controls.
On the other hand, the FBI continues to push an amendment that would
impose, for the first time ever, domestic regulations making it a crime
to distribute encryption in the U.S. without a "back door" that
guarantees government access to all of our most sensitive
communications and personal information. Some Senators have proposed
"compromise" legislation that is still intended to lead to widespread
adoption of key recovery "backdoors." If the FBI's version of the SAFE
bill passes, or if key recovery is otherwise established as a de facto
mandate, it would devastate electronic privacy and security.
Encryption is a complicated issue, and Congress MUST hear from
constituents. Please take a moment to read the simple instructions
below and contact Rep. Bliley and Senators Warner and Robb.
Tell them you are a constituent and you want them to protect your right
to privacy. All the information you need is attached below. Fifteen
minutes of your time could make all the difference
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WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP
Between April 2 and April 20, Congress is in recess and Rep. Bliley
and Senators Warner and Robb will be in your area meeting with
constituents at town hall meetings, breakfasts, and individual
appointments. These meetings are a great opportunity to show your
Representative and Senators that the folks back home care about privacy
on the Internet.
If you can't make a meeting, consider sending a letter or making a
phone call to their home offices. Whatever you can do to show your
support for privacy and security on the Net will make a big difference
when the issue is voted on by the full Senate and House of
Representatives.
Instructions:
1. Call Rep. Bliley and Senators Warner and Robb at the
numbers below (call the office nearest you):
Rep. Thomas Bliley
(804) 771-2809 (Richmond), (540) 825-8960 (Culpeper)
Sen. John Warner
(757) 441-3079 (Norfolk), (540) 857-2676 (Roanoke)
(804) 771-2579 (Richmond), (540) 628-8158 (Abingdon)
Sen. Charles Robb
(804) 771-2221 (Richmond), (540) 985-0103 (Roanoke)
(804) 791-0330 (Danville), (757) 441-3124 (Norfolk)
(540) 926-4104 (Clintwood)
2. Tell them you are a constituent calling to encourage them to vote for
privacy and security when encryption legislation comes to the floor this
Spring. Feel free to use your own words (some suggested points are listed
below):
Urge them to OPPOSE DOMESTIC ENCRYPTION CONTROLS and key recovery, and to
support export relief for encryption products. Specifically, urge House
members to support the Rep. Goodlatte's SAFE bill (HR695), and urge
Senators to oppose the McCain-Kerry "key recovery" bill (S909). See
below for links to additional information about these bills.
Remind them that as a constituent, you will be watching how they vote and
expect Rep. Bliley and Senators Warner and Robb to defend
your right to privacy.
3. IMPORTANT: Visit us and let us know you called and how it went. Your
feedback allows us to track your member of Congress' position and target
the most important members.
For Rep. Thomas Bliley, visit:
crypto.com
For Sen. John Warner, visit:
crypto.com
For Sen. Charles Robb, visit:
crypto.com
4. Forward this ALERT to your friends and colleagues. Urge them to join
Adopt Your Legislator campaign at crypto.com
Last Fall, members of the Adopt campaign responded in great numbers to
ultimately defeat in the House Commerce Committee an effort by the FBI
to impose sweeping domestic controls on encryption. While Adopt
members were able to make a difference in that vote, the threat to
Internet privacy and security has not disappeared.
Now is the time to renew the fight, before it's too late.
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WHAT'S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW
The FBI, the National Security Agency and others are pressuring
Congress to pass legislation to force you to use programs with built-in
"back doors" which would allow law enforcement (and anyone else
sophisticated enough to find a weakness) access to your private
communications.
This effort to force the domestic use of government-approved "key
recovery" encryption represents a very real threat to your privacy and
security in the Information Age.
Fortunately, a bill known as the "Security and Freedom Through
Encryption Act" (HR 695) is making its way through the House of
Representatives. The bill, known as SAFE, would help protect privacy
and security on the Internet by:
* Prohibiting the government from imposing key recovery or key escrow
encryption inside the United States or abroad.
* Allowing Americans the ability to use whatever form of encryption they
choose.
* Encouraging the widespread availability of strong, easy-to-use encryption
technologies by relaxing cold war-era export restrictions.
SAFE enjoys support from a bipartisan majority of 250 Members of the
House of Representatives, and has been endorsed by civil liberties and
public interest groups from both sides of the political spectrum, as
well as a broad cross-section of the computer and communications
industries.
The original SAFE bill has cleared three key House committees.
Unfortunately, an FBI substitute that would impose domestic controls on
encryption was adopted by the House Intelligence Committee last Fall.
The full House of Representatives may vote on these starkly different
proposals sometime this Spring. It is essential that legislators hear
from constituents in support of the original, pro-privacy version of
the SAFE bill.
In the Senate, the Pro-CODE legislation of Sen. Conrad Burns, which
would have lifted the export controls, was rejected by the Senate
Commerce Committee and replaced by S. 909, the McCain-Kerrey bill.
S.909 would continue export controls, using them and the government
procurement power and other "incentives" to force adoption of key
recovery or other "backdoor" schemes.
With your elected representatives back home on recess, now is a great
time to let them know that you care about protecting privacy on the
Internet.
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WHAT'S AT STAKE
Encryption technologies are the locks and keys of the Information age,
enabling individuals and businesses to protect sensitive information as
it is transmitted over the Internet. As more and more individuals and
businesses come online, the need for strong, reliable, easy-to-use
encryption technologies has become a critical issue to the health and
viability of the Net.
Current US encryption policy limits the strength of encryption products
US companies can sell abroad. Last summer, the debate took a most
disturbing turn when the FBI proposed DOMESTIC RESTRICTIONS on the
ability of Americans to use encryption to protect their privacy and
security online.
All of us care about our national security, and no one wants to make it
any easier for criminals and terrorists to commit criminal acts. But
encryption technologies can aid law enforcement and protect national
security by limiting the threat of industrial espionage and foreign
spying, promote electronic commerce and protecting privacy.
We will keep you apprised with further ALERTS as the legislative battle
heats up. Take advantage of this Spring recess period to contact your
legislators back home.
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ABOUT THIS ALERT / HOW TO UNSUBSCRIBE
This alert is part of a revolutionary new campaign called "Adopt Your
Legislator", which allows us to keep you informed of your member of
Congress' activities on the encryption issue. For more information,
please see crypto.com where you will find complete
background information on the encryption issue, including:
* A down-to-earth explanation of why this debate is important to all
computer users
* Text of Congressional bills to reform US encryption policy, including SAFE
* Audio transcripts and written testimony from recent Congressional hearings
on encryption policy reform
* And more!
To unsubscribe from the Adopt Your Legislator campaign, simply send a
note to webmaster@crypto.com with "unadopt" in the subject line. |
