[118640] in Cypherpunks
Re: IP: NSA Recognizes Media Status - Will Do Hubbell FOIA
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Declan McCullagh)
Mon Oct 4 17:39:13 1999
Date: Mon, 04 Oct 1999 17:19:20 -0400
To: Robert Hettinga <rah@shipwright.com>, cypherpunks@cyberpass.net
From: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>
Cc: ignition-point@precision-d.com, softwar@us.net
In-Reply-To: <v04210136b41e9b43ba48@[207.244.110.174]>
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Message-Id: <19991004211946.OUAT26062@alaptop.hotwired.com>
Reply-To: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>
What's the big deal? The Electronic Privacy Information Center (epic.org),
an advocacy group, got media status for purposes of FOIA requests years ago.
-Declan
>Date: Mon, 4 Oct 1999 05:33:37 -0400 (EDT)
>To: 0400 (EDT)
>To: ignition
>From: (CharlesSmith)
>Subject: IP: NSA Recognizes Media Status - Will Do Hubbell FOIA
>Sender: owner-ignition-point@precision-d.com
>Reply-To: softwar@us.net (CharlesSmith)
>
>On September 23, 1999 the National Security Agency (NSA)
>determined that this reporter "should be considered a 'media'
>requestor." The NSA determination came after years of legal
>battles, a long series of (paid) published articles, radio and
>TV show appearances and threats of Court action.
>
>"Based upon this information regarding your publication record,"
>wrote NSA attorney Barbara McNamara. "You have demonstrated
>that you qualify as a representative of the news media, and as
>such, will be charged only for duplication in excess of 100
>pages."
>
>The NSA recognition follows similar official letters recognizing
>this reporter from the CIA, the Defense Dept., the Dept. of
>Justice, the FAA and the Commerce Dept. The NSA letter that
>finally recognizes this reporter as "media" also noted that the
>most recent Freedom of Information Request will be served.
>
>More importantly, that request is on former Attorney General
>WEBSTER HUBBELL.
>
>Few people know that Clinton associate, and convicted felon,
>Webster Hubbell participated in a TOP SECRET project intended to
>bug every phone in America called "CLIPPER". Documents obtained
>by the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) show that Attorney
>General Janet Reno tasked Webster Hubbell to run the project.
>
>According to a March 1993 Justice Dept. memo from Stephen
>Colgate, Assistant Attorney General for Administration, to
>Webster Hubbell, "FBI, NSA and NSC want to push legislation
>which would require all government agencies and eventually
>everyone in the U.S. to use a new public-key based cryptography
>method."
>
>The method that Colgate wrote about was embodied in the CLIPPER
>chip, a special device developed by the NSA that would allow the
>Federal government to tap any phone, fax or computer so
>equipped.
>
>Colgate's memo to Hubbell was for a meeting with Vice President
>Al Gore. Gore chaired the meeting with Hubbell, Reno, Commerce
>Secretary Ron Brown, and Leon Panetta in March 1993. Since
>1993, Vice President Gore has issued several statements in
>support of the wire tap project:
>
> "We want to assure users of key escrow encryption products
> that they will not be the subject of unauthorized
> surveillance. As we have done with the CLIPPER chip, future
> key escrow systems must contain safeguards to provide for key
> disclosure only under legal authorization."
>
> Al Gore
> http://www.softwar.net/al2000.html
>
>Gore's promise that "safeguards" were in place to provide only
>legal access to the CLIPPER back-door was actually yet another
>tall tale from the Vice President. According to NASA engineer
>Benita Cooper, the CLIPPER project was filled with illegal holes
>and security risks.
>
> "Devices using the EES (CAPSTONE and CLIPPER), which
> implement the classified SKIPJACK algorithm, must be
> programmed. The chip programmer is a device provided by the
> National Security Agency (NSA). There is no assurance,
> without scrutiny, that all keying material introduced during
> the chip programming is not already available to the NSA.
> Thus, not only do the key escrow agents have a decryption
> capability, the NSA also retains this capability. Moreover,
> compromise of the NSA keys, such as in the Walker case,
> could compromise the entire EES system."
>
> Benita A. Cooper - NASA Associate Administrator for
> Management Systems and Facilities
> http://www.softwar.net/nist.html
>
>
>===============================================================
>
>
>NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY
>FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, MARYLAND 20755-6
>
>23 September 1999
>Serial: J9663A-99
>
>Mr. Charles R. Smith
>7707 Whirlaway Drive
>Midlothian, VA 23112
>
>Dear Mr. Smith:
>
>This replies to your letter dated 5 April 1999 appealing the
>National Security Agency's decision to place you in the
>"commercial" fee category rather than the "media" category to
>process your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for
>various records related to project Clipper from 1993 to the
>present. I have reviewed your original request dated 25 February
>1999, the Deputy Director of Policy's 30 March 1999 letter
>informing you of your placement in the "commercial" fee
>category, and your letter of appeal. As a result of this review,
>I have concluded that you should be considered a "media"
>requester.
>
>A FOIA requester has the burden of demonstrating that he is
>entitled to be treated as a "media" requester. Your 25 February
>1999 request, as well as your past requests to this agency, did
>not provide the necessary documentation to support the "media"
>category you sought. The only documentation you provided to this
>agency in the past as evidence of prior publication were general
>historical perspectives on the importance of codes which were
>derived from publicly available material. They did not relate to
>the information you sought in your requests, and did not
>demonstrate any particular expertise with the subject of the
>requested information. In addition, the articles were printed by
>and for government publications which are not entities that are
>"organized and operated to publish...news to the public."
>Because you did not prove your qualifications, you were not
>placed in the "media" category.
>
>In your appeal letter, you indicate that we placed you in the
>"commercial" fee category based on the fact that newsletters
>were available for subscription or cost from your internet
>website. That was not the case. The information available to us
>at the time of your initial requests in 1997 indicated that
>SOFTWAR specialized in offensive and defensive information
>warfare techniques. It appeared that your primary interest in
>obtaining the information was for commercial gain by enhancing
>the sales of your products and services, rather than to inform
>the public about government activities.
>
>In your most recent appeal letter, you provided samples of
>articles written since 1997, as well as evidence of your
>freelance status with "The Washington Times." We also located
>additional articles authored by you from late 1997 to the
>present. Based upon this information regarding your publication
>record, you have demonstrated that you qualify as a
>representative of the news media, and as such, will be charged
>only for duplication in excess of 100 pages.
>
>
>Your 25 February 1999 FOIA request will be returned to the
>Office of Policy to be processed in the order in which it was
>received. If you have any questions, please contact the FOIA
>Office between 0700 and 1530 EST on (301) 688-6527.
>
>Sincerely,
>
>BARBARA A. MCNAMARA
>Freedom of Information Act/Privacy Act
>Appeals Authority
>
>
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