by Stewart Baker
[email protected]
During the week of August 25, 1997, the Administration circulated a new encryption legislation proposal on the Hill. The proposal, which would amend S. 909 (the McCain/Kerrey bill), would regulate the domestic use of encryption by requiring a plaintext recovery feature in any encryption manufactured in, distributed in, or imported into the United States. The following summarizes the Administration's proposal.
THE LANGUAGE
The draft borrows heavily from the structure and content of the Kerrey/McCain legislation--it even retains the title, the "Secure Public Networks Act". In fact, the provisions in Titles IV through X of McCain/Kerrey regarding the registration of certificate authorities and key recovery agents, liability, criminal penalties, defenses, international negotiations, authority of the Secretary of Commerce to investigate compliance with the Act, and authority for the Attorney General to bring actions to enjoin violations of
