FC: Majority of Americans want anti-encryption laws, poll says

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

The following excerpts come from Monday's Hotline, a daily political 
newsletter read by just about everyone in DC. This message should be read 
in a non-proportional typeface like Courier. If your mail reader can't do 
that, go to the politechbot.com archives and read it there.

Unfortunately for the clarity of debate here, the 
ban-crypto-without-backdoors question is poorly worded ("Should Encryption 
Laws Be Reduced To Aid CIA/FBI Surveillance?"), but then again I suspect 
most people figured it out. This poll is noteworthy not only for what it 
found, but that the pollsters included the crypto question in the first 
place. It shows that, all of a sudden, this has become a serious debate in 
Washington.

Also note that 72 percent of those surveyed said anti-encryption laws would 
be "somewhat" or "very" helpful in preventing similar terrorist attacks.

-Declan

*********

Conducted 9/13-14/01 by Princeton Survey Research Associates; surveyed 
1,001 adults aged 18 and over; margin of error +/- 3% (release, 9/15).

Favor Or Oppose The Following?
                                          Favor Oppose
Attack suspected terrorists like bin
Laden even if we're not sure they're
responsible for last week's attack          54%   40%
Attack terrorist bases and countries
that support them even if there is a
high likelihood for civilian casualties     71     21


Fav/Unfav Ratings ----Fav---- ---Unfav---
                  Very Mostly Mostly Very
Military         58%   36%      2%  2%
FBI                37     48       9   3
CIA                28    44       9   6


How Confident That National And Local Law Enforcement Can Stop
Terrorist Plots In The U.S.
Very Somewhat Not Too Confident Not At All
 32%      42%            17%        7%


How Much Would The Following Prevent Similar Terrorist Attacks?
                      Very Somewhat Not Too Much Not At All
Reduce encryption to
aid CIA/FBI             35       37          12         9


Should Encryption Laws Be Reduced To Aid CIA/FBI Surveillance?
   Yes No
   54% 39%


U.S. Put Arabs and Arab-Americans Under Special Surveillance?
   Agree Disagree
   32%   62%

*********

http://www0.mercurycenter.com/premium/business/docs/bizletters16.htm
Headline inflammatory
2001-09-17 05:45:23

I hope, in light of this terrible tragedy, that Dan Gillmor will cease his 
whining about personal privacy and recognize that our national security and 
the safety of our citizens override his concern about privacy, ``We have 
been tested before and survived: Don't let criminals shut down our 
freedoms'' (Aug. 12). The government absolutely must have the ability to 
monitor all encrypted messages, and anyone sending or receiving encrypted 
messages on our soil that cannot be decoded by the appropriate federal 
agency must be subject to arrest and seizure of the encryption equipment. 
We are at war, and we all, including Gillmor, need to recognize that.
Al Colby
Corralitos

*********




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