IP: Oxley/Manton defeated 35-16

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

Date: Wed, 24 Sep 1997 20:33:03 -0400
To: farber () central cis upenn edu
From: Jonah Seiger <jseiger () cdt org>
Subject: Oxley/Manton defeated 35-16


The House Commerce Committee has approved a modified version of SAFE this
evening, rejecting the FBI-backed Oxley-Manton "Big Brother" amendment on a
vote of 35-16.   The export relief provisions of the original SAFE bill
were passed intact.


The Committee also approved an amendment offered by Reps. Markey (D-MA) and
White (R-WA).  The amendment create a National Electronic Technologies
Center (NET Center) which would assist law enforcement in research and
would provide assistance to federal, state, and local law enforcement
agencies in coping with encryption encountered in the course of
investigations.  The amendment also  would direct the National
Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to conduct a study
of the implications of mandatory key recovery, and  increases the criminal
penalties under SAFE for the use of encryption in the furtherance of a
federal felony.   The amendment passed 40-11.


The Committee then approved SAFE, with the Markey-White amendment, on a
vote of 44-6.


Today's vote is an important defeat for the FBI and its effort to impose
domestic controls on encryption and its attempt to require all Americans to
use encryption that guarantees law enforcement "immediate access" to their
private online communications.


The bill now must be reconciled with versions approved by four other
committees before moving to the House floor.  Rules Committee Chairman
Gerald Solomon (R-NY) has stated that he will not bring SAFE up for
consideration unless it contained the Oxley-Manton amendment.  As a result,
it is unlikely that the bill will be voted on by the House any time soon.


More information, along with the text of the amendments, will be posted
soon at http://www.cdt.org/crypto.












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"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
 safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."       - Ben Franklin, ~1784
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