[116968] in Cypherpunks
FW: Release: DOJ break-in request
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Matthew Gering (Cotelligent))
Tue Aug 24 14:44:03 1999
Message-ID: <C35556591D34D111BB5600805F1961B917F0163C@RED-MSG-47>
From: "Matthew Gering (Cotelligent)" <a-matger@microsoft.com>
To: "'cypherpunks@cyberpass.net'" <cypherpunks@cyberpass.net>
Date: Tue, 24 Aug 1999 11:22:12 -0700
Reply-To: "Matthew Gering (Cotelligent)" <a-matger@microsoft.com>
-----Original Message-----
From: announce@lp.org [mailto:announce@lp.org]
Sent: Monday, August 23, 1999 1:29 PM
To: announce@lp.org
Subject: Release: DOJ break-in request
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=======================================
NEWS FROM THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY
2600 Virginia Avenue, NW, Suite 100
Washington DC 20037
World Wide Web: http://www.lp.org/
=======================================
For release: August 24, 1999
=======================================
For additional information:
George Getz, Press Secretary
Phone: (202) 333-0008 Ext. 222
E-Mail: 76214.3676@Compuserve.com
=======================================
DOJ plan would give federal agents
the power to break into your house
WASHINGTON, DC -- A new proposal from the Department of Justice
that would allow police to break into people's homes to disable
computer security systems is a frightening violation of privacy that
will turn law enforcement into law-breakers, the Libertarian Party
charged today.
"This is the Blair Witch Project of law enforcement tactics:
It's simple, low-tech, and should scare the pants off every American,"
said Steve Dasbach, the party's national director. "By requesting the
power to break into people's homes, federal law enforcement officials
have essentially admitted that they want to act like criminals to catch
criminals."
Last week, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced it plans
to send a request to Congress asking lawmakers for the power to
secretly break into people's homes or offices to disable encryption
software on personal computers.
The proposal -- entitled the Cyberspace Electronic Security
Act -- would allow judges to issue secret, "sealed" warrants for
federal agents to enter private property, search computers, and
install software to override encryption programs. Then, police could
intercept computer communications without having to try to decode
encrypted messages.
DOJ officials said the proposal is needed to fight high-tech
criminals, and is "consistent with constitutional principles."
But Libertarians said that Americans -- who are already
concerned about the growing power of the federal government -- don't
want federal agents to add B&E (Breaking & Entering) to their law
enforcement arsenal.
"This is nothing more than a legal burglary tool," charged
Dasbach. "The Department of Justice doesn't want to just pick the lock
on your front door -- it wants to pick the lock on the Bill of Rights,
and steal our Fourth Amendment protections."
The major problem with the proposal, he said, is that it could
make secret search warrants a common law enforcement tool.
Normally, under the Fourth Amendment, the government must first
obtain a court order from a judge (based on a finding of probable
cause) before searching private property -- and must present that
search warrant to the suspect. Only under the most rare circumstances
is the government allowed to engage in covert searches.
"Under this new proposal, a rare and little-used law
enforcement tactic might become as common as computers," warned
Dasbach. "This represents a huge expansion of narrowly defined
exceptions to Fourth Amendment protections -- and represents a genuine
danger to anyone who uses computers and encryption software."
The DOJ proposal comes after the Clinton administration
repeatedly failed to pass legislation to allow the federal government
access to encrypted messages by giving law enforcement the "keys" to
decode them.
In fact, more than 250 members of Congress have co-sponsored
legislation that would encourage the use of encryption, and would
prohibit the federal government from mandating such encryption-busting
"back doors" in software.
"It's almost funny: Bureaucrats are thwarted in their efforts
to spy on your encrypted e-mail, so, instead, they request the power to
break into your house," said Dasbach. "We have to ask: Do they want to
fight criminals -- or act like criminals?"
Instead of proposing more ways to violate the civil liberties
of Americans in order to catch criminals, the federal government should
promise not to act like criminals in order to protect civil liberties,
suggested Dasbach.
"The cure for crime isn't more crime -- it's justice," he said.
"And justice demands that the DOJ drop the so-called Cyberspace
Electronic Security Act."
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The Libertarian Party
http://www.lp.org/
2600 Virginia Ave. NW, Suite 100 voice:
202-333-0008
Washington DC 20037 fax:
202-333-0072
For subscription changes, please mail to <announce-request@lp.org> with the
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