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IP: Canadian cryptography policy announced (fwd)
From: Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>
Date: Thu, 01 Oct 1998 15:27:12 -0400
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) -- A host is a host from coast to coast.................wb8foz () nrk com & no one will talk to a host that's close........[v].(301) 56-LINUX Unless the host (that isn't close).........................pob 1433 is busy, hung or dead....................................20915-1433
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