FC: Privacy coalition names crypto-enemies "Villians of the Week"

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

Here's a note from ABC News' John Stossel:
> Tonight at 10 PM, I hope to air a piece about the conflict between safety
> and freedom.  71% of Americans..acccording to an ABC News/ Wash Post poll...
> support giving up some personal liberties and privacy...if it makes it
> easier for authorities to investigate terrorism.  Senate Minority Leader
> Richard Gephardt says,  "Were going to have to change the balance between
> freedom and security."
>
> But if we invite police to limit our freedom to speak and travel, aren't we
> helping the terrorists win?
>
> I don't know if they'll air this tonight...

----

Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 17:24:58 -0400
From: James Plummer <jplummer () consumeralert org>
Subject: NCP: Privacy Villain of the Week, Sept. 20

Privacy Villain of the Week:
Would-be crypto-banners

It has been written that with crisis comes the growth of Leviathan 
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/019505900X/>, and since the 
horrible terror attacks last week, many have been doing their best to keep 
that cycle going.  Some have attempted to reinvigorate the idea that since 
terrorists may use secure encryption, Americans should be barred from doing 
so.

Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) <http://cryptome.org/gregg091301.txt>, reopened 
the issue last week, calling for an end to private, secure 
communications.  He was soon followed by some in cyberspace 
<http://www.politechbot.com/p-02536.html>, even as others were already 
resisting <http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,46900,00.html>. What 
the Senator and other misguided souls refuse to recognize is that when a 
key to the back door of your communications is handed to someone (a 
government agency, a "trusted third party"), potentially anyone could 
exploit it.  Permanently crippling secure encryption doesn't just leave 
your electronic love letters vulnerable, it makes important 
business-to-business, and yes, even law-enforcement communications to those 
ho would exploit.  And it leaves the future of secure electronic cash -- 
perfectly anonymous and fungible, a boon to consumers -- virtually 
dead.  And in the meantime, the bin Ladens of the world can hire their own 
programmer for secure encryption or use any number of potential creative 
ways <http://www.privacilla.org/default.htm?press10.htm&2> to activate 
their sleeper agents.

Fortunately, reports indicate 
<http://www.wartimeliberty.com/article.pl?sid=01/09/20/198219> that the 
Administration recognizes all this and will not include a request for 
further cryptographic controls in their request for more "anti-terrorism" 
powers.  But those who would push for such restrictions on a free people 
deserve to be  . . . the Privacy Villain of the Week.

The Privacy Villain of the Week and Privacy Hero of the Month are projects 
of the National Consumer Coalition's Privacy Group. For more information on 
the NCC Privacy Group, see www.nccprivacy.org or contact James Plummer at 
202-467-5809 or jplummer () consumeralert org . To remove yourself from this 
list, just respond to this message with a removal request. To access this 
release directly, go to http://www.nccprivacy.org/handv/010920villain.htm




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