Political Quotes

“when the Administration first announced the encryption policy that has been in effect for the past two years, I warned on October 1, 1996, that: The general outline of the Administration's plan smacks of the government trying to control the marketplace for high- tech products. Only those companies that agree to turn over their business plans to the government and show that they are developing key recovery systems, will be rewarded with permission to sell abroad products with DES encryption, which is the global encryption standard. The Administration announced yesterday that it is finally fixing this aspect of its encryption policy. New Administration guidelines will permit the export of 56-bit DES encryption without a license, after a one time technical review, to all users outside the seven terrorist countries. No longer will the Administration require businesses to turn over business plans and make promises to build key recoverable products for the freedom to export 56-bit DES. In 1996, I also raised serious questions about the Administration's proposal to pull the plug on 56-bit DES exports in two years. I warned at the time that this "sunset" provision "does not promote our high- tech industries overseas." I specifically asked, Does this mean that U.S. companies selling sophisticated computer systems with DES encryption overseas must warn their customers that the supply may end in two years?”