At 06:34 PM 6/24/99 -0400, David Lesher wrote:
>NPR's ATC has a story at the end of their first segment; i.e. 4:25
>Eastern. I missed most of it but it was about some aspect of
>Osama bin Laden's group being arrested. Mention was made of
>encrypted files, and the inference that they were cracked.
And Vin McLellan replied:
>Whether the Yeminis and the Western LEAs had already obtained access
>to the contents of the encrypted files was left unclear, although it
>was implied.
> If so, it seems likely that we (or at least selected judges and
>legislators) will hear a lot about the incident in future debates over
>Wassenaar and crypto export controls.
Yet it appears folks who make this argument won't be able to say the info.
remained encrypted despite their best efforts.
All of which begs a question: why has the crypto debate been so quiet this
year?
Perhaps the govt. is nearing its end game. One highly placed LEA source told
me he expects crypto liberalization to pass _this year_ -- in all likelihood
something like McCain's PROTECT Act which would do away with essentially all
controls once the Advanced Encryption Standard is done. That, BTW, is
supposed to happen no later than 1/1/2002, the bill says flatly.
Of course, Clinton still won't sign it.
For years I thought it would be 2005 or later before we saw the end of
controls. What's happening now seemed almost impossible just a year ago...
My story: http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/ctf452.htm
Will Rodger
USAToday.com
