gnu@hoptoad.uucp (John Gilmore) (09/19/86)
In article <228@dione.rice.EDU>, scorpion@titan.UUCP writes: > What is the status of this dread bill? Sad to say, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed the bill on to the full Senate. The Senate is trying madly to pass everything in sight before they recess, so there will be a lot of pressure to get it passed next week. NOW IS THE TIME to pick up the phone and call Western Union. Tell them you want to send a telegram to your Congressmen. They have a special cheap rate for this. A list of all the Senators is at the bottom of this message. Identify the bill by name and/or number (S.2575), state that you are opposed, e.g.: "I strongly oppose passage of S.2575, the Electronic Communicaions Privacy Act." then give them a reason to believe you and a reason to delay or kill the bill. E.g. "I have been using electronic mail for XX years and I believe this bill will make things worse than they are now. We will do better by creating our own security via encryption, rather than having the government step in." "I have been a ham for XX years and I believe that the radio provisions provide an intolerable burden on citizens' rights in order to make life easier for a few companies, who should be using secure encryption." "I believe this bill reduces civil liberties while claiming to increase them. Its definitions are sufficiently vague that I cannot determine what data in my computer system is protected by the bill or even if it applies to my system." "The bill makes it illegal to intercept data 'not readily available to the general public' but this is not defined. I believe that any data that is transmitted through my house is readily available to me, but I'm sure the courts will not see it that way. Much of the bill hinges on the definition of what is public and until it is very clearly defined, the act is harmful and should not be passed." "The act lightly reverses 50 years of doctrine around radio reception. I believe that this reversal is unsound. The proposed restrictions on public ownership of radio receivers are a threat to liberty." "My company builds equipment that comes under this law. I believe it would make it harder for our customers to communicate with each other due to the possible criminal and civil penalties it places on such communication." "I believe this bill would allow a court to define my computer as a 'surreptitious interception device', since it can be used to decrypt encrypted material, and confiscate it. This is insane." "I believe that reasonable and cheap means of encryption exist which could be employed by the cellular, satellite TV, and other industries, which would provide them true security rather than the legal sham security provided by the bill. The sham security comes at a cost in civil rights and in government interference in private life, which I feel is intolerable." etc, etc, etc. Here's a recent excerpt on the bill from Robert Horvitz (hoptoad!well!rh) who has been lobbying against the bill on Capitol Hill and reporting on it on the Well: Item: 171 R 12 - ECPA Update Continued Date: Wed, Sep 17, 1986 (18:01) From: rh (Robert Horvitz) Continuing discussion with the drafters of the bill reveals that COMPUTERS may, under certain circumstances, qualify as "surreptitious interception" devices - if they are designed or configured for the specific purpose of decryption. Language spelling out what devices, or what capabilities, would be banned hasn't been adopted yet, but my understanding is that software does not in itself constitute a "device," so the ban would be primarily aimed at hardware, particularly dedicated hardware, as opposed to general purpose devices. The most likely outcome is that the bill will rushed into law without clarification on this point, and a court will have to decide what computers are legal to own, manufacture, etc. Here is the list of Senators, copied from an earlier posting so it's right here and you have no excuse to not call now! Save a copy of this message and you can 'grep' for your 2-letter state abbreviation (eg. "CA"). (List of Senators, addresses and Washington phone numbers follows. Much thanks to Chris Tucker of North Kingstown, Rhode Island, for having the patience to type this into his Commodore.) Hart=Hart Senate Office Building Dirksen=Dirksen Senate Office Building Russell=Russell Senate Office Building Address your telegram to: The Honorable (Senator's Name) (Number and office building name) Washington, D.C. 20510 Name Office Bldg Phone (area code 202) ---- ------ ------ -------- James Abdnor(R-SD) SH-309 Hart 224-2321 Mark Andrews(R-ND) SH-724 Hart 224-2043 William L. Armstrong(R-CO) SH-258 Hart 224-5941 Max Baucus(D-MT) SH-706 Hart 224-2651 Loyd D. Bentsen(D-TX) SH-703 Hart 224-5922 Joseph R. Biden, Jr.(D-DE) SR-453 Russell 224-5042 Jeff Bingaman(D-NM) SH-502 Hart 224-5521 David L. Boren(D-OK) SR-453 Russell 224-4721 Rudy Boschwitz(R-NM) SH-506 Hart 224-5641 Bill Bradley(D-NJ) SH-731 Hart 224-3224 Dale Bumpers(D-AR) SD-229 Dirksen 224-4843 Qentin N. Burdick(D-ND) SH-511 Hart 224-2551 Robert C. Byrd(D-WV) SH-311 Hart 224-3951 John H. Chafee(R-RI) SD-567 Dirksen 224-2921 Lawton Chiles(D-FL) SR-250 Russell 224-5274 Thad Cochran(R-MS) SR-326 Russell 224-5054 William S. Cohen(R-ME) SH-322 Hart 224-2523 Alan Cranston(D-CA) SH-112 Hart 224-3553 Alfonse D'Amato(R-NY) SH-520 Hart 224-6542 John C. Danforth(R-MO) SR-497 Russell 224-6154 Dennis DeConcini(D-AZ) SH-328 Hart 224-4521 Jeremiah A. Denton(R-AL) SH-516 Hart 224-5744 Alan J. Dixon(D-IL) SH-316 Hart 224-2854 Christopher J. Dodd(D-CT) SH-324 Hart 224-2823 Robert Dole(R-KS) SH-141 Hart 224-6521 Pete V. Domenici(R-NM) SD-434 Dirksen 224-6621 David Durenberger(R-MN) SR-154 Russell 224-3244 Thomas F. Eagleton(D-MO) SD-197 Dirksen 224-5721 Daniel J. Evens(R-WA) SH-702 Hart 224-3441 J. James Exon(D-NB) SH-330 Hart 224-4224 Wendall H. Ford(D-KY) SR-173A Russell 224-4343 Jake Garn(R-UT) SD-505 Dirksen 224-5444 Barry Goldwater(R-AZ) SR-363 Russell 224-2235 Albert Gore, Jr.(D-TN) SR-393 Russell 224-4944 Slade Gorton(R-WA) SH-513 Hart 224-2621 Phil Gramm(R-TX) SR-370 Russell 224-2934 Charles E. Grassley(R-IA) SH-135 Hart 224-3744 Tom Harkin(D-IA) SH-317 Hart 224-3254 Gary Hart(D-CO) SR-237 Russell 224-5852 Orrin G. Hatch(R-UT) SR-135 Russell 224-5251 Mark O. Hatfield(R-OR) SH-711 Hart 224-3753 Paula Hawkins(R-FL) SH-313 Hart 224-3041 Chic Hecht(R-NV) SH-302 Hart 224-6244 Howell T. Heflin(D-AL) SH-728 Hart 224-4124 John Heinz(R-PA) SR-277 Russell 224-6324 Jesse Helms(R-NC) SD-403 Dirksen 224-6342 Ernest F. Hollings(D-SC) SR-125 Russell 224-6121 Daniel K. Inouye(D-HI) SH-722 Hart 224-3934 J. Bennett Johnston(D-LA) SH-136 Hart 224-5824 Nancy Landon Kassebaum(R-KS)SR-302 Russell 224-4774 Robert W. Kasten, Jr.(R-WI) SH-110 Hart 224-5323 Edward M. Kennedy(D-MA) SR-113 Russell 224-4543 John F. Kerry(D-MA) SR-362 Russell 224-2742 Frank R. Lautenberg(D-NJ) SH-717 Hart 224-4744 Paul Laxalt(R-NV) SR-323A Russell 224-3542 Patrick J. Leahy(D-VT) SR-433 Russell 224-4242 Carl Levin(D-MI) SR-459 Russell 224-6221 Russel B. Long(D-LA) SR-225 Russell 224-4623 Richard G. Lugar(R-IN) SH-306 Hart 224-4814 James A. McClure(R-ID) SD-361 Dirksen 224-2752 Mitch McConnell(R-KY) SR-120 Russell 224-2541 Charles Mathias, Jr.(R-MD) SR-387 Russell 224-4654 Spark M. Matsunaga(D-HI) SH-109 Hart 224-6361 Mack Mattingly(R-GA) SH-320 Hart 224-3643 John Melcher(D-MT) SH-730 Hart 224-2644 Howard M. Metzenbaum(D-OH) SR-140 Russell 224-3215 George J. Mitchell(D-ME) SR-176 Russell 224-5344 Daniel P. Moynihan(D-NY) SR-464 Russell 224-4451 Frank H. Murkowski(R-AK) SH-709 Hart 224-6665 Don Nickles(R-OK) SH-713 Hart 224-5754 Sam Nunn(D-GA) SD-303 Dirksen 224-3521 Bob Packwood(R-OR) SR-259 Russell 224-5244 Claiborne Pell(D-RI) SR-335 Russell 224-4642 Larry Pressler(R-SD) SR-407A Russell 224-5842 William Proxmire(D-WI) SD-530 Dirksen 224-5653 David Pryor(D-AR) SR-264 Russell 224-2353 Dan Quayle(R-IN) SH-524 Hart 224-5623 Donal W. Riegle, Jr.(D-MI) SD-105 Dirksen 224-4822 John D. Rockefeller(D-WV) SD-241 Dirksen 224-6472 William V. Roth, Jr.(R-DE) SH-104 Hart 224-2441 Warren B. Rudman(R-NH) SH-530 Hart 224-3324 Paul S. Sarbanes(D-MD) SD-232 Dirksen 224-4524 Jim Sasser(D-TN) SR-298 Russell 224-3344 Paul Simon(D-IL) SD-462 Dirksen 224-2152 Alan K. Simpson(R-WY) SD-261 Dirksen 224-3424 Arlen Specter(R-PA) SH-331 Hart 224-4254 Robert T. Stafford(R-VT) SH-133 Hart 224-5141 John C. Stennis(D-MS) SR-205 Russell 224-6253 Ted Stevens(R-AK) SH-522 Hart 224-3004 Steven D. Symms(R-IN) SH-509 Hart 224-6142 Strom Thurmond(R-SC) SR-218 Russell 224-5972 Paul Trible(R-VA) SH-517 Hart 224-4024 Malcolm Wallop(R-WY) SR-206 Russell 224-6441 John W. Warner(R-VA) SR-421 Russell 224-2023 Lowell P. Weicker,Jr.(R-CT) SH-303 Hart 224-4041 Pete Wilson(R-CA) SH-720 Hart 224-3841 Edward Zorinsky(D-NB) SR-443 Russell 224-6551 -- John Gilmore {sun,ptsfa,lll-crg,ihnp4}!hoptoad!gnu jgilmore@lll-crg.arpa May the Source be with you!