Well I am inclined to jump on the bandwagon like everyone else and cry Hitler and George Orwell and on and on. I love my privacy and I am definitely inclined to support SAFE over anything the FBI introduces. But it's kind of ludicrous. I mean encryption has gotten to the point that there are hundreds of methods and product with virtually unbreakable keys, even given Moore’s law into consideration the governement couldn't break some software of the street. So it wouldn't be very en-forcible. But then again, I think: wow, eventually the government is not going to have a way to monitor anything. Organized crime and criminals will run free and control the country again. I know how all of AO hates child pornographers based on another thread. What if those *******s could exchange their wares and never get caught? Except perhaps, by accident when actually physically caught with camera in hand. Makes me think, but for now I actually read parts of the bill and formed my own opinion. This is a democracy and if you don't like it vote the f@ckers out - call their offices and talk to them.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
Mssrs, McCain, Kerrey and Hollings introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on…
There they are the culprits….
Quote:
SEC. 101. LAWFUL USE OF ENCRYPTION.
Except as otherwise provided by this Act or otherwise provided by law, it shall be lawful for any person within any State to use any encryption, regardless of encryption algorithm selected, encryption key length chosen, or implementation technique or medium used.
Ok that's cool; I can USE encryption and anything that is on the market.
Quote:
SEC. 102. PROHIBITION ON MANDATORY THIRD PARTY ESCROW OF KEYS USED FOR ENCRYPTION OF CERTAIN COMMUNICATIONS.
Neither the Federal Government nor a State may require the escrow of an encryption key with a third party in the case of an encryption key used solely to encrypt communications between private persons within the United States.
That stated the government can't force someone to participate in the Key Management system. That's OK as well.
Quote:
SEC. 103. VOLUNTARY PRIVATE SECTOR PARTICIPATION IN KEY MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE.
The participation of the private persons in the key management infrastructure enabled by this Act is voluntary.
Again that states from a citizen perspective that participation is voluntary.
Quote:
SEC. 104. UNLAWFUL USE OF ENCRYPTION
Whoever knowingly encrypts data or communications in furtherance of the commission of a criminal offense for which the person may be prosecuted in a court of competent jurisdiction and may be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of more than one year shall, in addition to any penalties for the underlying criminal offense, be fined under title 18, United States Code, or imprisoned not more than five years, or both, for a first conviction or fined under title 18, United States Code, or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both, for a second or subsequent conviction. The mere use of encryption shall not constitute probable cause to believe that a crime is being or has been committed.
That says if you knowingly encrypt communications that leads to unlawful acts, like planning a bank robbery over email, you could go to jail. OK, that’s fine too...
Quote:
SEC. 105. PRIVACY PROTECTION.
(a) In General. It shall be unlawful for any person to intentionally --
(1) obtain or use recovery information without lawful authority for the purpose of decrypting data or communications;
(2) exceed lawful authority in decrypting data or communications;
(3) break the encryption code of another person without lawful authority for the purpose of violating the privacy, security or property rights of that person;
(4) intercept on a public communications network without lawful authority the intellectual property of another person for the purpose of violating the intellectual property rights of that person;
(5) impersonate another person for the purpose of obtaining recovery information of that person without lawful authority;
(6) issue a key to another person in furtherance of a crime;
(7) disclose recovery information in violation of a provision of this Act; or
(8) publicly disclose without lawful authority the plaintext of information that was decrypted using recovery information obtained with or without lawful authority.
(b) Criminal Penalty. Any person who violates this section shall be fined under title 18, United States Code, or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.
Guys/Gals this actually puts in safeguards that DO NOT EXIST!! Our internet communications do not have the same protection our phone lines do. This would give some of that protection.
More...
The rest of section 1 goes into detail on how the government can recover a key, assuming you take part in their secure network. I see something out of line here with what media is reporting. There is a lot more to the bill but I am out of time for now. Let's look at it and comment on the actual bills and what their strengths and weakness is. Not what Dan Rather, Ted or CNN say. I like article 1 so far.... more later. Peace.
Make your own assumptions… DA BILL