IP: Canadian cryptography policy announced (fwd)

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

From: David Lesher <wb8foz () nrk com>
Subject: Canadian cryptography policy announced (fwd)
To: farber () cis upenn edu (David Farber)
Date: Thu, 1 Oct 1998 12:30:37 -0400 (EDT)


The following is from a speech delivered this morning by John Manley,
Minister of Industry, Government of Canada announcing Canada's
cryptography policy. For a complete copy of the speech, go to the News
Room section at Industry Canada's site: http://www.ic.gc.ca

"THE POLICY

After taking all points of view into consideration, I am pleased to
announce today the Government of Canada's cryptography policy:


*First, the Government affirms the freedom of Canadians to develop,
import and use whatever cryptography products they wish. We want
Canadian businesses and citizens to have access to a wide range of
products and services, including the very strongest forms of encryption.


*Second, the Government will not implement mandatory key recovery
requirements or licensing regimes for certification authorities or
trusted third parties.


*Third, we will encourage industry to establish responsible practices,
such as key recovery techniques for stored data and industry-led
accreditation of private sector certification authorities. This will
build consumer and business confidence in these products and services,
and assure business continuity in case of loss or corruption of keys. We
will use government procurement to encourage commercial key back-up - it
makes sense for us as government using these products, so we know it
makes good business sense.


*Fourth, we will continue to implement cryptography export controls
within our commitments to the Wassenaar Arrangement; however, we will
ensure that Canadian cryptography manufacturers face a level playing
field - our controls will take into account the practices of other
countries so that Canadian manufactures will not be at a competitive
disadvantage.


*Fifth, we will streamline the export permit process and make it more
transparent. For many products, users or destinations, after a "one time
review" of the product, general or multi-destination, multiuser permits
will be issued. Our intention is to simplify and speed up decision
making, and significantly reduce the "regulatory drag" on exporters. We
do not want them to be late to market.


*Finally, the Government proposes to make legislative amendments which
will protect consumers' privacy and will also give law enforcement
agencies and national security agencies the legal framework they need to
ensure public safety. This includes making it an offence to wrongfully
disclose private encryption key information and to use cryptography to
commit or hide evidence of a crime. We also need to make it clear that
warrants and assistance orders also apply to situations where encryption
is encountered - to obtain the decrypted material or decryption keys.
Representatives of the Office of the Solicitor General are available
today to answer questions on this component of the policy.

CONCLUSION

Ladies and gentlemen, I strongly believe that we have reached a
consensus that is good for the Canadian economy.

Our policy supports electronic commerce in Canada and it provides tools
for privacy protection that will help implement forthcoming legislation.
It encourages the use of information technologies to protect business
transactions, critical infrastructures and prevent economic espionage.
It better positions Canadian manufacturers of cryptography and
cryptography-related products and services to increase their sales and
share in global markets. And it addresses the needs of law enforcement
and national security agencies in their efforts to continue to ensure
the safety of Canadians.

The policy underscores that Canada is open for electronic business. We
are encouraging the widespread use of strong encryption, and growth of
export markets for Canadian technologies. We want encryption technology
suppliers to regard Canada as a preferred location for investment,
product development and global marketing.

To conclude, let me emphasize that there will be no mandatory solutions
imposed by government. The freedom of choice the private sector has
enjoyed in the past will continue in the future."

Michael Power
Assistant Director-Policy
Interdepartmental PKI Task Force
CIO Branch
Treasury Board Secretariat
275 Slater Street, 6th Floor
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0R5
power.michael () tbs-sct gc ca
613.946.5056(tel)
613.946.9893(fax)



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