FC: Janet Reno calls for a ban on Internet encryption

[Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>]

Janet Reno's proposal would bar downloads of even current versions of Internet
Explorer, Netscape Navigator, or PGP. It would also no longer let students and
academics collaborate. For instance, an undergraduate at Carnegie Mellon
University yesterday released crypto-enabled IM software and is
distributing it
online -- and would be a criminal if Janet Reno gets her way:
  http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/~bucy/IM

Even if we stipulate that Reno's objective is a worthy one, it surely makes
sense to weigh the cost of regulation against its benefits (as Chicago law
prof. Richard Epstein said in his testimony before a Senate subcommittee last
year). In this case, it seems, the cost is real, and the benefit ephemeral.

-Declan


>Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1999 21:17:08 -0400
>From: John Young <jya@pipeline.com>
>Subject: US Urges Ban of Internet Crypto
>
>The Austrian journal Telepolis today published a letter from
>Janet Reno to the German Justice Minister urging a ban
>of crypto products on the Internet. We've made a translation
>of the report which includes Reno's letter:
>
>   http://jya.com/reno-ban.htm
>
>Here's an excerpt of Reno's letter:
>
>"Much work remains to be done. In particular, I believe we must 
>soon address the risks posed by electronic distribution of 
>encryption software. Although the Wassenaar Nations have 
>now reached agreement to control the distribution of mass 
>market encryption software of certain cryptographic strength, 
>some Wassenaar Nations continue not to control encryption 
>software that is distributed over the Internet, either because 
>the software is in the "public domain" or because those 
>Nations do not control distribution of intangible items. While 
>I recognize that this issue is controversial, unless we address 
>this situation, use of the Internet to distribute encryption products 
>will render Wassenaar's controls immaterial."



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