=============================================================

       @@@@  @@@@  @@@  @@@@      @    @     @@@@  @@@@  @@@@@
       @     @  @   @   @        @ @   @     @     @  @    @
       @@@@  @@@    @   @       @@@@@  @     @@@   @@@     @
       @     @      @   @       @   @  @     @     @  @    @
       @@@@  @     @@@  @@@@    @   @  @@@@  @@@@  @   @   @
 
    =============================================================
    Volume 2.16                                 December 11, 1995
    -------------------------------------------------------------
  
                             Published by the
               Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)
                             Washington, D.C.
                              info@epic.org
                           http://www.epic.org

        ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
           JOIN THE INTERNET DAY OF PROTEST ON DECEMBER 12
        http://www.epic.org/free_speech/censorship/protest.txt
        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

=======================================================================
  Table of Contents 
=======================================================================
    
   [1] House Conferees Adopt Unconstitutional Speech Restrictions
   [2] EPIC Files Suit to Obtain Secret Gov't Crypto Report
   [3] Privacy International Publishes Report on Surveillance Trade 
   [4] House To Vote on Revised Terrorism Bill
   [5] Avrahami Case Delayed
   [6] Anonymous Cash System wins EU Award (Press Release)
   [7] EPIC Alert to Move to New Distribution System
   [8] Upcoming Conferences and Events
  

=======================================================================
[1] House Conferees Adopt Unconstitutional Speech Restrictions
=======================================================================

On December 6, members of the House of Representatives working on the
telecommunications reform legislation agreed to adopt a provision that
would censor "indecent" speech on the Internet.  The language is widely
viewed by civil liberties organizations and Constitutional scholars as
an impermissible restraint on free speech.

The ACLU, EFF, EPIC, ACA, NWU, and a number of other civil liberties
organizations had sent a letter to the conferees urging them to oppose
all restrictions on speech. Unfortunately, the committee continued to
press for a Washington-style deal as they had been urged by some 
lobbyists and produced a measure that is one of the most sweeping 
restrictions on speech ever proposed by the US Congress.

More information about Internet Censorship is available at:

   http://www.epic.org/free_speech/censorship/


=======================================================================
[2] EPIC Files Suit to Obtain Gov't Crypto Report
=======================================================================

EPIC filed suit on December 4 against the U.S. Department of Commerce
under the Freedom of Information Act to force the release of a survey
conducted by the Department on the foreign availability of encryption
software. According to Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown the study has 
been completed and is being held up by the White House Office of 
Science and Technology Policy and the National Security Agency, the 
two agencies most strongly pushing the Mandatory Key Escrow (MKE) 
initiative.

Observers believe that the report will confirm the existence of a
substantial amount of commercial and free software available from
non-U.S. companies worldwide. An ongoing survey conducted by the
Software Publishers Association has found over 450 products from 27
countries. Of those products, 179 use the U.S. Data Encryption Standard
(DES). The existence of a substantial amount of commercial software
overseas cuts against arguments that export controls on encryption
software should be maintained.

The report was created after Congress decided not to pass legislation
last year that would have relaxed export controls on encryption. 
The legislation would have required the Department of Commerce to 
complete the foreign availability report by April 1995. Although the 
legislation was not enacted, the Commerce Department nonetheless agreed 
to conduct the study.

More information on U.S. Cryptography Policy is available at: 

   http://www.epic.org/crypto/

In a related development EPIC Legal Counsel David Sobel appeared before
the National Institute of Standards and Technology on December 5th to 
offer comments on NIST's "Draft Export for Key Escrow Encryption". Sobel
blasted the latest proposal for Mandatory Key Escrow (MKE) and said that 
the administration continues to ignore the interests of the public.  

EPIC also put forward seven recommendations to reform national 
cryptography policy.  The recommendations follow from a presentation to
the National Research Council earlier this year.  The EPIC Statement on 
the NIST standard and the  EPIC proposal for cryptography policy is 
available at:

  http://www.epic.org/crypto/EPIC_Statement.html
  

=======================================================================
[3] Privacy International Publishes Report on Surveillance Trade
=======================================================================
  
Privacy International, a London-based international human rights group
dedicated to improving privacy worldwide, has published a 150 page
report on the international trade in surveillance technologies. The
report, entitled _Big Brother Incorporated_, provides details on over
100 companies worldwide that sell surveillance technologies, especially
to developing countries with poor records on human rights, including 
China, Indonesia, Nigeria, Angola, Rwanda and Guatemala.

According to the report, the U.S. and the United Kingdom are leaders in
exporting surveillance technology, and much of the activity is related 
to the arms trade. Western surveillance technology is providing
invaluable support to military and totalitarian authorities throughout
the world. Much of this technology is used to track the activities of
dissidents, human rights activists, journalists, student leaders,
minorities, trade union leaders and political opponents.

The report is available at 

   http://www.privacy.org/pi/reports/big_bro/

PI has also initiated a listserv for people interested in international
privacy issues. To subscribe, email pi-news@privacy.org with the word
"subscribe" (no quotes) in the subject line.

December 10 also marked International Human Rights Day, the annual 
celebration of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  Article 12 
of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that "No one shall 
be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or
correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone 
has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or 
attacks."

The complete text of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is
available at:

   http://cpsr.org/cpsr/privacy/privacy_international/
   international_laws/intl-decl-human-rights.txt


=======================================================================
[4] House To Vote on Revised Terrorism Bill
=======================================================================

A vote on HR 1710, the Comprehensive Antiterrorism Act of 1995, may 
occur before the Christmas vacation. The Republican leadership continues
to oppose several provisions in the bill that would extend federal law 
enforcement authority.

The bill was approved by the House Judiciary Committee on June 20, but 
held up by the House of Representatives after several Republicans led by
Rep. Bob Barr, a former federal prosecutor, objected to many of the 
provisions on civil liberties grounds. 

A compromise between Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry Hyde and Barr 
has been reached with the removal of the wiretap provisions, a scaling 
back on the broad definition of "terrorism," rejection of provisions 
allowing increased military involvement in law enforcement 
investigations, and the removal of funding for last year's Digital 
Telephony bill. 

However, troublesome provisions that allow access to consumer credit 
card and travel information without a requirement of a court order, and
provisions increasing use of pen registers still remain. In addition, 
sections allowing for the use of secret information in extradition 
hearings and broad discretion for the President to arbitrarily designate
groups as "terrorist organizations" also are retained.

A broad coalition of groups are still opposing the bill. At a press
conference on December 6, civil liberties organizations, gun 
owners, immigration and law enforcement groups released a letter from 
25 organizations opposing the bill including the ACLU, EPIC, Privacy
International, the National Rifle Association, Gun Owners of America,
Law Enforcement Alliance of America, National Association of Criminal 
Defense Lawyers and the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee. 
Former Senator Malcolm Wallop, chairman of Frontiers of Freedom called 
the bill a "fishing expedition into everyone's private lives."

If the bill passes the House, a conference committee must be created to
reconcile differences with the Senate bill, S-735. The Senate passed a
counter-terrorism bill on June 7.

More information on the various terrorism bills is available at:

   http://www.epic.org/privacy/terrorism/


=======================================================================
[5] Avrahami Case Delayed
=======================================================================

On November 27 Ram Avrahami appeared in Arlington district court to 
pursue his claim against US News & World Report.  Mr. Avrahami is
charging that the magazine violated his property rights when it sold 
his personal information to another publication without his permission.

About a month prior to the scheduled court date, US News & World
Report hired the Washington law firm of Shaw, Pittman. Subsequently,
the magazine filed two elaborate procedural motions, attempting to
deny Mr. Avrahami the opportunity to pursue the case in district
court.  In one motion, US News & World Report urged the circuit court,
a court higher up than the district court where Mr. Avrahami filed
suit, to accept a motion for declaratory judgment in effect ruling
that Mr. Avrahami could not proceed with his case.

In a second motion to the district court, USN&WR urged the judge to
stay the November 27 proceeding until the circuit court had ruled on the
motion for declaratory judgment.  When Avrahami's attorney Jonathan
Dailey responded to both motions, USN&WR then hastily moved for a 
continuance, arguing that it could not be fully prepared to go to trial
on the scheduled trial date. (Shaw, Pittman is one of the largest law
firms in Washington.)

On November 27, the district court judge denied the magazine's motion 
for a stay but granted the motion for continuance.  The trial has been
rescheduled for early February.

Additional information about the Avrahami case is available at:

   http://www.epic.org/privacy/junk_mail/


=======================================================================
[6] Anonymous Cash System wins EU Award (Press Release)
=======================================================================
 
                    DigiCash Wins ITEA Award
 
On November 29, European Commissioner Martin Bangemann awarded DigiCash
the Information Technology European Award 1995 (ITEA `95). The prize was
awarded for DigiCash's e-cash technology and consists of a trophy plus 
200,000 ECU (almost US$ 300,000).
 
E-cash technology was selected by the jury, based on the following
criteria: technical excellence, innovative content, potential for
improving competitiveness, potential market value, capacity the
generate employment by opening new markets, contribution towards
extending the acceptance and understanding of Information Technology
by society, and anticipated societal benefits.
 
Of the almost 300 applicants, 20 were invited to demonstrate their
product at the European Information Technology Conference EITC
conference in Brussels.


=======================================================================
[7] EPIC Alert to Move to New Mailing List
=======================================================================

As part of the upgrade of our infrastructure, EPIC will be moving 
distribution of its materials to an in-house listserver.

EPIC-News will carry the EPIC-Alert newsletter, EPIC press releases,
action alerts and other related material. Beginning in January, EPIC 
will no longer distribute EPIC-Alert over the CPSR-Announce listserv,
so persons who wish to continue receiving it need to subscribe to the
EPIC-News list.

To subscribe to EPIC-News, email epic-news@epic.org with the message
subject "subscribe" (no quotes).

Back issues of the Alert are available at http://www.epic.org/alert/
  
=======================================================================
[8] Upcoming Privacy Related Conferences and Events
=======================================================================

11th Annual Computer Security Applications Conference. December 11-15,
1995, New Orleans, Louisiana. Contact Vince Reed at (205) 890-3323 or
vreed@mitre.org.

RSA 6th Annual Data Security Conference:Cryptography Summit. January
17-19, 1996. FairmontHotel, San Francisco. Contact Layne Kaplan
Events, at (415) 340-9300, email at info@lke.com, or register at
http://www.rsa.com/.

The Gathering: The Computer Security Conference with a Difference.
February 13-15, 1996.University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Speakers include Fred Cohen, Chris Goggans, Bruce Schneier, Winn
Schwartau, Robert Ellis Smith, and Philip Zimmermann.

Computers Freedom and Privacy '96. March 27-30, 1996. Cambridge, Mass.
Sponsored by MIT, ACM and WWW Consortium. Contact cfp96@mit.edu or
http://web.mit.edu/cfp96/

Conference on Technological Assaults on Privacy, April 18-20, 1996.
Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York. Papers should
be submitted by February 1, 1996. Contact Wade Robison
privacy@rit.edu, by FAX at (716) 475-7120, or by phone at (716)
475-6643.

IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy, May 6-8, 1996. Oakland, CA.
Sponsored by IEEE. Contact: sp96@cs.pdx.edu or
http://www.cs.pdx.edu/SP96.

Australasian Conference on Information Security and Privacy June
24-26, 1996. New South Wales, Australia. Sponsored by Australasian
Society for Electronic Security and University of Wollongong. Contact:
Jennifer Seberry (jennie@cs.uow.edu.au).

Visions of Privacy for the 21st Century: A Search for Solutions. May
9-11, 1996. Victoria, British Columbia. Sponsored by The Office of
Information and Privacy Commissioner for the Province of British
Columbia and the University of Victoria. Program at
http://www.cafe.net/gvc/foi

Privacy Laws & Business 9th Annual Conference. July 1-3, 1996. St.
JohnÕs College, Cambridge, England.Contact: Ms. Gill Ehrlich +44 181
423 1300 (tel), +44 181 423 4536 (fax).

Advanced Surveillance Technologies II. Sponsored by EPIC and Privacy
International. September 17, 1996. Ottawa, Canada. Contact
pi@privacy.org or http://www.privacy.org/pi/

18th International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy
Commissioners. Sponsored by the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.
September 18-20, 1996. Ottawa, Canada.

International Colloquium on the Protection of Privacy and Personal
Information. Commission d'acces a l'information du Quebec. May 1997.
Quebec City, Canada.

           (Send calendar submissions to Alert@epic.org)
  
=======================================================================

The EPIC Alert is a free biweekly publication of the Electronic
Privacy Information Center.To subscribe, send the message
"subscribe" (no quotes) as the subject to epic-news@epic.org.

Back issues are available via http://www.epic.org/alert/ or
FTP/WAIS/Gopher/HTTP from cpsr.org /cpsr/alert/ and on Compuserve (Go
NCSA), Library 2 (EPIC/Ethics).

=======================================================================

The Electronic Privacy Information Center is a public interest 
research center in Washington, DC.It was established in 1994 to focus 
public attention on emerging privacy issues relating to the National 
Information Infrastructure, such as the Clipper Chip, the Digital 
Telephony proposal, medical record privacy, and the sale of consumer 
data. EPIC is sponsored by the Fund for Constitutional Government, a 
non-profit organization established in 1974 to protect civil liberties 
and constitutional rights. EPIC publishes the EPIC Alert, pursues 
Freedom of Information Act litigation, and conducts policy research. For 
more information, email info@epic.org, WWW at HTTP://www.epic.org or 
write EPIC, 666 Pennsylvania Ave., SE, Suite 301, Washington, DC 20003.
+1 202 544 9240 (tel), +1 202 547 5482 (fax).

If you'd like to support the work of the Electronic Privacy Information
Center, contributions are welcome and fully tax-deductible. Checks 
should be made out to "The Fund for Constitutional Government" and sent 
to EPIC, 666 Pennsylvania Ave., SE, Suite 301, Washington DC 20003.

Your contributions will help support Freedom of Information Act
litigation, strong and effective advocacy for the right of privacy and
efforts to oppose government regulation of encryption and funding of
the National Wiretap Plan.

Thank you for your support.

------------------------ END EPIC Alert 2.16 ------------------------

======================================================================