------------------------------ Date: Tue, 15 Feb 1994 12:31:32 EST From: David Sobel Subject: File 3--Response to Gore's Key Escrow Comments Re:Vice President Gore Questions Current Key Escrow Policy! Stanton McCandlish writes: >National Information Infrastructure Advisory Committee met today in >Washington at the Old Executive Office Building. In comments made >after a question and answer period, Vice President Al Gore said that >key escrow policy announced last Friday (2/4/94) had serious flaws and >that he hope the issue of who holds the keys and under what terms >would be given more serious, careful consideration. > >Gore made it clear that some amount of control of cryptography >technology was necessary for national security. However, the key >escrow policies announced by the Departments of Justice, Commerce & >State, and the NSA, were "low level decisions" that got out before >thorough analysis. "Low level decisions"? Announced "before thorough analysis"? For those of you who haven't been following this saga closely, a bit of background. The White House announced the Clipper initiative on April 16 of last year. At that time, the President "directed government agencies to develop a comprehensive policy on encryption." The results of that policy process, including the identities of the escrow agents, were announced at a briefing on February 4. The Vice President's aide, Mike Nelson, participated in the announcement and the following statement from the Vice President was released: Today's announcements on encryption represent important steps in the implementation of the Administration's policy on this critical issue. Our policy is designed to provide better encryption to individuals and businesses while ensuring that the needs of law enforcement and national security are met. Encryption is a law and order issue since it can be used by criminals to thwart wiretaps and avoid detection and prosecution. It also has huge strategic value. Encryption technology and cryptoanalysis turned the tide in the Pacific and elsewhere during World War II. The likely identities of the escrow agents -- NIST and the Treasury Department -- have been known for months. On September 27, CPSR submitted comments to NIST on the Clipper proposal and noted that In a recent briefing for Congressional staffers ... Justice Department representatives indicated that NIST and a "non-law enforcement" component of the Treasury Department will be designated as the escrow agents. If the Vice President was unaware of the proposed identities of the escrow agents, he may be as "out of the loop" as a recent predecessor. I suspect he's been well-briefed on these issues. I have to disagree with Stanton's statement that the Vice President's remarks "suggest that the key escrow policies to date do not have full support of the White House." I think they suggest that the Administration is attempting to look "reasonable" and "open-minded" when, in fact, they have already bought into the FBI/NSA mindset on encryption. As far as I'm concerned, the identity of the escrow agents is a non-issue. Debating that question is like death penalty opponents debating the relative merits of lethal injections and electrocution. For those of us opposed to key escrow *in principle*, it makes no difference who holds the keys. The decision to embrace key escrow must be reversed. CPSR is organizing an Internet petition drive to oppose the Clipper proposal. We will deliver the signed petition to the White House. In little more than a week, he petition has already generated more than 10,000 responses. Say "No" to key escrow! To sign on to the petition, send e-mail to: Clipper.petition@cpsr.org with the message "I oppose Clipper" (no quotes) =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ + END THIS FILE + +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+===+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=