Robert Hettinga asks:
Anyone out there know whether GWBush has said anything on the crypto front?
Yes. He has. Here are some references. And some articles one Gore's and
McCain's positions. Let's not even talk about Hatch and Bauer.
-Declan
http://www.georgewbush.com/Message/proposals.html
we must allow American companies to sell products in the international
marketplace when those products are readily available from their foreign
competitors. That means easing export controls on computers and encryption
products that can already be purchased on the open market. At the same
time, as
the use of encryption programs increases, American law enforcement must always
have the resources to stay ahead of the criminal use of that technology.
The Bulletin's Frontrunner
July 02, 1999
Bauer Attacks Bush On High-Tech Export Policy.
The Frontrunner (7/1) reports that Gary Bauer pounced on a piece of the
George W. Bush high-tech agenda Thursday, saying "Bush's willingness to
ease
export controls on items such as high-performance supercomputers.and data
encryption software is a 'very dangerous policy' with great potential to
compromise America's national security." Bauer's charge came in a 7/1 Bauer
for
President release.
Newsweek
April 19, 1999
Pg. 51
In fact, the Netscape division of AOL now has 2,100 employees, many newly
wealthy with AOL stock, a fact that allows Barksdale to plot his future with a
clear conscience. Beyond starting the as-yet-unnamed angel investment
company,
he plans to help raise funds for GOP presidential contender George W.
Bush.
(He says that Al Gore, though outspoken on tech issues, has hurt the industry
with a restrictive policy on encryption. )
http://cgi.pathfinder.com/time/digital/daily/0,2822,14267,00.html
Among Gore's antiprivacy misdeeds: He championed the notorious Clipper chip
that the White House eventually abandoned, internal e-mail obtained by EPIC
through the Freedom of Information Act shows. Gore endorsed Clipper publicly,
too, saying when it was unveiled on February 4, 1994, that "today's
announcements on encryption represent important steps."
http://www.wired.com/news/news/politics/story/18903.html
McCain's bill allows the export of encryption products with up to 64-bit
length
keys, an increase over current 56-bit limits.
http://www.wired.com/news/news/politics/story/20078.html
[McCain on] encryption: Modified his anti-encryption stance this spring by
introducing a compromise bill. Civil liberties groups found it "uninspired."
http://www.wired.com/news/news/politics/story/19979.html
One free-market advocate turned presidential contender needed little
convincing. When Lassman met with Steve Forbes to talk about taxes and
regulation, the magazine magnate brought up technology. "He asked specifically
about encryption. I told him to keep the position he had," Lassman says.
In a 1997 magazine column, Forbes wrote that enacting legislation to override
White House restrictions on encryption is "critical to protecting privacy on
the Internet and to thwarting theft and industrial espionage."
http://www.wired.com/news/news/politics/story/19979.html
Over the last six years, Gore has championed many Clinton administration
projects that are viewed as anti-privacy. He took the lead in supporting the
reviled Clipper Chip, saying when it was unveiled in February 1994, that
"today's announcements on encryption represent important steps." Gore has been
a key defender of the White House's encryption restrictions, announcing the
still-current regulations in a briefing for reporters in 1996, though recently
he's been more circumspect.
Gore also headed the Commission on Aviation Safety and Security, which cobbled
together a US$2.8-billion monitoring system that will use computer profiles to
single out airline passengers for investigation and scrutiny. Representatives
of the American Civil Liberties Union, which warned of the privacy perils of
such databases, were left spluttering in outrage.
