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ACM WASHINGTON UPDATE
U.S. Office of Public Policy of the
Association for Computing
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June 16, 1997
Volume 1.4
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CONTENTS
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INTRODUCTION
USACM ACTIVITIES
USACM Participates In Hearings And Conferences
USACM Submits White Paper To TPWG
POLICY BRIEFS
Hundt Resigns As Chairman of the FCC
OECD Denounces Child Pornography on the Internet
Cryptographers Critique Government Encryption Schemes
"SAFE" Approved by House Judiciary Committee
Settlement Reached in Internet Litigation Over Framing
Senators Demand Rural States Be Included In NGI
Computer Executives Visit Washington DC
Anti-Spam Legislation Introduced
EPIC Releases Report on On-Line Privacy
Brown Analysis of Budget Agreement Shows R&D Drops 16%
Standards For Open-Architecture Healthcare Systems
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INTRODUCTION
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The Association for Computing is an international professional society
whose 75,000 members (60,000 in the U.S.) represent a critical mass of
computer scientists in education, industry, and government. The USACM
provides a means for promoting dialogue on technology policy issues with
United States policy makers and the general public. The WASHINGTON UPDATE
will report on activities in Washington which may be of interest to those
in the computing and information policy communities and will highlight
USACM's involvement in many of these issues.
To subscribe to the ACM WASHINGTON UPDATE send an e-mail to
listserv@acm.org with "subscribe WASHINGTON-UPDATE" (no quotes) in the
body of the message. Back issues are available at:
http://www.acm.org/usacm/update/
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USACM ACTIVITIES
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USACM PARTICIPATES IN HEARINGS AND CONFERENCES
Barbara Simons testified at a Social Security Administration public forum
on "Privacy and Customer Service in the Electronic Age". The forum,
hosted by Dr. John J. Callahan, Acting Commissioner of the SSA, was held
in San Jose, CA on May 28, 1997. USACM member Peter Neumann also
testified. USACM Director Marc Rotenberg also testified on the Social
Security Administration and the PEBES Program before theWays and Means
Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives on May 6, 1997. Testimony
from the hearings is available at http://www.acm.org/usacm/privacy/ On
June 4, Simons testified in public hearings in San Francisco on privacy
issues in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (the
Kennedy-Kassenbaum Bill) before the National Committee on Vital and Health
Statistics. In addition, Simons moderated a panel on Key Escrow at the
7th Annual EPIC Cryptography and Privacy Conference on June 2 in
Washington, DC. USACM member Matt Blaze also participated on the panel,
along with Susan Landau, Eric Hughes, and Ed Roback from NIST.
USACM SUBMITS WHITE PAPER TO TPWG
On June 1, USACM submitted a White Paper on "Bandwidth to the Home: Vital
Component in Developing the Potential of the Internet?" to the Technology
Policy Working Group. The paper focused on the opportunities that can be
developed by increasing bandwidth to the home. Graphics are an integral
part of creating a user-friendly environment on the World Wide Web.
Currently many home users do not even turn the graphics on unless there is
something compelling to see or the images are needed to navigate the page.
We show how the graphics made possible by increased bandwidth to and from
the home can provide entirely new applications for and resolve technical
challenges of the GII (more effective user-computer interfaces,
accommodating diverse users, organizing information more effectively,
increasing the effective delivery speed even more, and reducing the
information deluge from searches and queries). Under the terms of the
Telecommunications Act of 1995, and as a result of intense competition,
the industry has been inattentive to these issues. Additionally, there is
currently too little funding available for R&D (from public or private
sources) to develop the graphical interfaces this paper discusses.
http:www.acm.org/usacm/access/usacm_bandwidth.html
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POLICY BRIEFS
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HUNDT RESIGNS AS CHAIRMAN OF THE FCC
On May 27, 1997 Reed Hundt, Chairman of the Federal Communications
Commission, announced he intends to leave before the end of his term, upon
appointment of his successor. Hundt was named Chairman by President
Clinton on November 29, 1993 to a term that would have expired on June 30,
1998. On May 23, 1997, Clinton nominated William E. Kennard and Harold W.
Furchtgott-Roth to the FCC. Kennard, of Los Angeles, California,
presently serves as General Counsel of the Federal Communications
Commission, a position he has held since December, 1993. Furchtgott-Roth,
of Bethesda, Maryland, is Chief Economist for the House Committee on
Commerce, which is responsible for telecommunications. The Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency established by
Congress to oversee interstate and international communications including
wireline, broadcast, cable, satellite and cellular services. The FCC is
comprised of five individuals appointed by the President with the advice
and consent of the United States Senate. By statute, no more than three
members of any single political party may serve at one time.
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OECD DENOUNCES CHILD PORNOGRAPHY ON THE INTERNET
The OECD, in a rare statement unrelated to its agenda of economics and
free trade, denounced the use of the Internet to transmit child
pornography. The 29 industrial nations urged quick action to remedy the
problem and officials said they had set up a meeting for July to compare
national laws on misuse of the global computer network. "Ministers ...
strongly condemned the dissemination on the Internet of child pornography
and information that promotes child abuse," the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development said in a statement after an annual finance
summit.
http://www.pathfinder.com/time/magazine/1997/dom/970602/business.cyberspace_cr.html
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CRYPTOGRAPHERS CRITIQUE GOVERNMENT ENCRYPTION SCHEMES
The final version of the report "The Risks of Key Recovery, Key Escrow and
Trusted Third-Party Encryption" is now available. The report, by Hal
Abelson, Ross Anderson, Steve Bellovin, Josh Benaloh, Matt Blaze, Whit
Diffie, John Gilmore, Peter Neumann, Ron Rivest, Jeff Schiller, and Bruce
Schneier examines the technical implications, risks, and costs of the "key
recovery," "key escrow" and "trusted third-party" encryption systems being
promoted by various governments. According to the abstract "A variety of
"key recovery," "key escrow," and "trusted third-party" encryption
requirements have been suggested in recent years by government agencies
seeking to conduct covert surveillance within the changing environments
brought about by new technologies. This report examines the fundamental
properties of these requirements and attempts to outline the technical
risks, costs, and implications of deploying systems that provide
government access to encryption keys." The report is available on-line at
http://www.crypto.com/key_study
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"SAFE" APPROVED BY HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
On May 14th, the House Judiciary Committee approved HR 695 "The Security
and Freedom through Encryption Act (SAFE)", designed to enhance the
ability of Internet users to protect their privacy and security on-line.
The bill now moves to the House International Relations Committee, where
it is expected to face tougher opposition from the FBI, NSA, and the
Clinton Administration. SAFE will prohibit the government from imposing
mandatory law enforcement access to private on-line communications inside
the US, affirm the right of American Citizens to use whatever from of
encryption they choose, and relax current export restrictions which
prevent the development of strong, easy-to-use encryption technologies.
The Clinton Administration, led by the FBI and the National Security
agency, opposes SAFE and is pushing for a policy of domestic restrictions
on the use of encryption, guaranteed law enforcement access to private
communications via government designed "key-recovery" systems, and
continued reliance export controls.
http://www.privacy.org/ipc/safe_letter.html
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SETTLEMENT REACHED IN INTERNET LITIGATION OVER "FRAMING"
A settlement was reached today in the Internet "framing" litigation over
the "TotalNews" website http://totalnews.com. Under the settlement
announced by the parties, TotalNews will stop "framing" the plaintiffs'
websites, but is expressly permitted to link to them. The lawsuit,
Washington Post Co. et al. v. Total News, Inc. et al., 97 Civ. 1190 (PKL)
(S.D.N.Y.), was commenced in the U.S. District Court for the Southern
District of New York on February 20, 1997. The plaintiffs are six media
companies (and their subsidiaries) that operate news websites and/or
license news and information to websites run by others. The plaintiffs
contended in their lawsuit that the defendants' combination of linking
with "framing" caused violations of plaintiffs' rights under the doctrine
of commercial misappropriation, the copyright and trademark laws, and
other legal doctrines. Users who linked to websites through totalnews.com
would see those websites wrapped by a "frame" made up of advertising sold
by TotalNews and other material generated by totalnews.com.
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SENATORS DEMAND RURAL STATES BE INCLUDED IN NGI
Development of the next generation of the Internet must involve rural
states or Congress will not fund it, powerful senators warned President
Clinton's technical advisers. The senators said at a hearing they were
unhappy that elite urban universities seem to have the best representation
on a White House planning committee for a new generation of the Internet,
promised to run 100 to 1,000 times as fast as the existing one. "Why
proceed with a proposal that will isolate the rural universities?" Sen.
Ted Stevens, an Alaska Republican who chairs the Appropriations Committee,
said during a hearing before the Senate Commerce subcommittee on
communications. "This proposal leaves us entirely out. You go back to the
drawing boards."
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COMPUTER EXECUTIVES VISIT WASHINGTON DC
Nine top computer industry executives visited Washington DC last week to
call on the government to ease export rules on software encryption
technology, press forward with international agreements on intellectual
property protection and continue efforts to rein in shareholder lawsuits
against high-tech companies. The officials, including Microsoft Corp.
Chairman Bill Gates, declared the administration's policy restricting
export of most high-powered data-scrambling technology a failure. At a
press conference at the National Press Club, they urged Congress to
swiftly pass two bills liberalizing the overseas sale of so-called
encryption technology or risk putting U.S. companies at a permanent
competitive disadvantage. The executives spent the morning with
congressional leaders and held an afternoon meeting with Vice President Al
Gore and Commerce Secretary William Daley. They came to Washington in a
rare group appearance, fortified by a study they commissioned showing the
importance of the industry to the nation's economy. "The companies here
represent 9 percent of the (research and development) spending in the
United States," said Gates, who has been a frequent visitor to Washington
in the past year.
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ANTI-SPAM LEGISLATION INTRODUCED
Two bills designed to regulate unsolicited commercial e-mail were recently
introduced in Congress. On May 23, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) introduced
H.R. 1748, the Netizen Protection Act of 1997, while Sen. Frank Murkowski
(R-AK) introduced S. 771, the Unsolicited Commercial Electronic Mail
Choice Act of 1997 on May 21. Both bills attempt to control "spam," or
junk e-mail, through the imposition of civil liability or civil penalties.
However, the two measures are fundamentally different in the way they
attempt to control unsolicited commercial e-mail. Smith's bill takes an
"opt-in" approach. This means that unsolicited commercial e-mail would be
prohibited unless a potential recipient gives his or her consent to
receive the communication. It also includes a provision permitting the
transmission of commercial e-mail where there is a pre-existing business
or personal relationship between the sender and the recipient. Murkowski's
bill contains an "opt-out" provision. This means that unsolicited
commercial e-mail could be sent unless a potential recipient affirmatively
indicates that they do not want to receive the communication. Such a
preference could be sent to the party sending the unsolicited commercial
e-mail or to the potential recipient's Internet service provider. The
bill would also require that a sender of unsolicited commercial e-mail
include the term "advertisement" in the subject line as well as contact
information and correct routing information so recipients can identify and
contact the sender. http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c105:H.R.1748:
and http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c105:S.771:
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EPIC RELEASES REPORT ON ON-LINE PRIVACY
On June 9, 1997, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) released
a report on consumer privacy and the Internet. "Surfer Beware: Personal
Privacy and the Internet" is based on a review of the privacy practices of
top Internet web sites. The report examines the current state of privacy
policies on the Internet and includes recommendations to protect on-line
privacy. The Federal Trade Commission will held a week-long public
workshop on consumer privacy issues, beginning June 10. Topics will
include consumer privacy on-line, children's privacy, unsolicited email
(spam), and computer databases. Several surveys, reports, and proposals
are expected to be released. The hearing follows a similar hearing last
year when the FTC first began exploration of consumer privacy issues. The
EPIC report reviewed 100 of the most frequently visited web sites and
checked whether sites collected personal information; had established
privacy policies; made use of cookies; and allowed people to visit without
disclosing their actual identity. The survey found that few web sites
today have explicit privacy policies (only 17 of the sample) and none of
the top 100 web sites meet basic standards for privacy protection.
However, anonymity continues to play an important role in on-line privacy,
with many sites allowing users to access web services without disclosing
personal data. The report is available at:
http://www2.epic.org/reports/surfer-beware.html
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BROWN ANALYSIS OF BUDGET SHOWS R&D DROPS 16%
George E. Brown, Jr. (D-CA), ranking Democrat on the House Science
Committee, released a staff analysis of the budget deal negotiated between
the President and Republican leaders in the House and Senate. That
analysis shows overall R&D (civilian and defense) declining by 2% in
FY1998 and by 16% in real terms by 2002 compared to FY1997 levels. This is
in stark contrast to the Science Committee's authorized 3% annual
increases in civilian R&D programs, the Brown Investment Budget proposal
which called for 5% annual increases, and Senator Gramm's call for 7%
annual increases. Brown commented, "Despite the greater activity of the
science community in Washington on science policy questions, neither the
President nor Republican Congressional leaders acted to protect R&D
programs in the budget agreement. I think this shows that the community
needs to redouble its efforts at public education to guarantee that the
next cycle of budgeting does a better job of protecting these investments
than this one has."
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STANDARDS FOR OPEN-ARCHITECTURE HEALTHCARE SYSTEMS
On May 28, 1997, The HOST consortium and the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) will bring together members of standards developing
organizations, relevant government agencies, vendors, and healthcare
providers to promote standards for open-architecture healthcare systems.
Collaborators include the Food & Drug Administration (FDA), the Department
of Health and Human Services Office of Women's Health and the Federal
Interagency Joint Working Group on Telemedicine (JWGT). The meeting will
be held at the Washington headquarters of the FCC this July 17. HOST
Executive Director, Lewis Lorton, said, "the lack of standards-driven
plug-and-play technology is an enormous barrier to cost-effective
telehealth solutions. Since HOST was created to promote the deployment of
open-architecture healthcare systems and the FCC wants to encourage the
adoption of standards in general, our cooperation makes a lot of sense."
http:\\www.hostnet.org
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Washington Update is a biweekly publication of the U.S. Public Policy
Office of the Association for Computing http://www.acm.org/usacm/ 666
Pennsylvania Ave., SE, Suite 302B, Washington, DC 20003. 202/298-0842
(tel), 202/547-5482 (fax).
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