North American Network Operators Group

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Re: State Super-DMCA Too True

  • From: William Allen Simpson
  • Date: Sun Mar 30 19:38:49 2003

Jack Bates wrote:
> 
> William Allen Simpson wrote:
> > It outlaws all encryption, and all remailers.
> 
> I'm missing where it outlaws these? In fact, it outlaws others (say your
> ISP) from decryping your encrypted data.
> 
That is not correct. 

I'm very sensitive to these issues.  As those of you that have been 
around for awhile may recall, I was investigated by the FBI for "treason" 
merely for *WRITING* the specification for PPP CHAP and discussing it at 
the IETF (under Bush I).  I don't expect it to be different for Bush II. 

As Larry Blunk points out, to "possess" an encryption device is a felony!

Jack, you need to actually look at the text of the Act: 

    (1) A person shall not assemble, develop, manufacture, possess,
    deliver, offer to deliver, or advertise an unlawful
    telecommunications access device or assemble, develop, manufacture,
    possess, deliver, offer to deliver, or advertise a
    telecommunications device intending to use those devices or to allow
    the devices to be used to do any of the following or knowing or
    having reason to know that the devices are intended to be used to do
    any of the following:

    (a) ... 

    (b) Conceal the existence or place of origin or destination of any
    telecommunications service.

[no encryption, no steganography, no remailers, no NAT, no tunnels]
[no Kerberos, no SSH, no IPSec, no SMTPTLS]

    (c) To receive, disrupt, decrypt, transmit, retransmit, acquire,
    intercept, or facilitate the receipt, disruption, decryption,
    transmission, retransmission, acquisition, or interception of any
    telecommunications service without the express authority or actual
    consent of the telecommunications service provider.

[no NAT, no wireless, no sniffers, no redirects, no war driving, ...]

    (2) A person shall not modify, alter, program, or reprogram a
    telecommunications access device for the purposes described in
    subsection (1).

[no research, no mod'ing]

    (3) A person shall not deliver, offer to deliver, or advertise
    plans, written instructions, or materials for ...

[no technical papers detailed enough to matter]

    (4) A person who violates subsection (1), (2), or (3) is guilty of a
    felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than 4 years or a
    fine of not more than $2,000.00, or both. All fines shall be imposed
    for each unlawful telecommunications access device or
    telecommunications access device involved in the offense. Each
    unlawful telecommunications access device or telecommunications
    access device is considered a separate violation.

[big penalties]


    (a) �Telecommunications� and �telecommunications service� mean any
    service lawfully provided for a charge or compensation to facilitate
    the origination, transmission, retransmission, emission, or
    reception of signs, data, images, signals, writings, sounds, or
    other intelligence or equivalence of intelligence of any nature over
    any telecommunications system by any method, including, but not
    limited to, electronic, electromagnetic, magnetic, optical,
    photo-optical, digital, or analog technologies.

[everything from a DVD, to the network, to the monitor, to t-shirts]

-- 
William Allen Simpson
    Key fingerprint =  17 40 5E 67 15 6F 31 26  DD 0D B9 9B 6A 15 2C 32