[117337] in Cypherpunks
Re: ACTION ALERT: Crypto Legislation
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Jim Dempsey)
Tue Aug 31 16:57:39 1999
Date: Tue, 31 Aug 1999 16:39:31 -0400 (EDT)
Message-Id: <v03007802b3f194f5a953@[207.226.3.15]>
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To: jya@pipeline.com
From: Jim Dempsey <jdempsey@cdt.org>
Cc: cypherpunks@cyberpass.net
Reply-To: Jim Dempsey <jdempsey@cdt.org>
John,
It would be a disaster if the rehash of CDT's history were to lead people
to stay out of the Congressional fight on SAFE, or to obscure what is at
stake this Fall.
The Republican leadership of the House have said they intend to bring SAFE
before the full House for a vote this Fall. If so, SAFE will likely pass,
with or without CDT's support. The only question is whether what passes is
close to the current SAFE Act or is an UN-SAFE Act.
Like it or not, here's the lineup: if the SAFE Act is brought before the
full House of Representatives, the allies of the FBI will be allowed to
offer one or more gutting amendments, preserving the export controls and
maybe even mandating key recovery. They will characterize these amendments
as balanced alternatives that protect privacy and national security, etc,
etc.
The vote on the FBI's gutting amendments will be the cyber-liberties vote
of the year in Congress. It will be close. If a gutting amendment passes,
SAFE as amended will pass the House. If the FBI amendments are beaten
back, something close to the original SAFE will pass.
In our view, the main task is to beat the FBI's gutting amendments. If you
don't like SAFE, urge your Member of Congress to vote against it too. But
be careful, he or she may think you support the FBI's anti-SAFE position.
In either event, you can use CDT's online respource to find out where your
elected representative currently stands, and to look up his or her phone
number in DC: http://www.cdt.org/action
Sincerely,
Jim Dempsey
Center for Democracy and Technology
1634 I Street, NW Suite 1100
Washington DC, 20006
voice: 202.637.9800 fax: 202.637.0968
jdempsey@cdt.org
* WORKING FOR DEMOCRATIC VALUES IN A DIGITAL AGE *
Protecting Free Speech and Privacy on the Internet
http://www.cdt.org/
