"...Policy makers might be tempted to enforce a
top-down encryption and authentication scheme which includes back
doors for various parties. Such measures may receive strong backing
from certain vendors of proprietary encryption solutions and web
commerce interests, because they stand to benefit from an exclusive
government contract. Such a proprietary lock-out would lead to a
disastrous outcome in wartime, because back doors will certainly be
found and exploited by our enemies leading to unnecessary loss of
life. Moreover, a uniform encryption scheme leaves the US with far
greater vulnerability, when the scheme is inevitably broken by our
enemies. Monolithic authentication schemes are clearly not the
answer, whereas broad based diversity is a part of America's
strength. Americans must be free to make their own choices about
encryption and authentication software, especially now that we are
all coming together for a common purpose.
Strong encryption can present certain problems for law
enforcement and national security agents, but good citizens will
immediately turn their encryption keys over to government agents in
order to aid investigation in the event that foul play is
suspected. If they do not divulge their keys, then the government
may pursue a warrant and demand that the keys be made available. It
may be necessary to give such warrants additional legal force, by
adding penalties for those who do not comply with them. Moreover,
certain government agencies should be provided with additional
funding so that they can use world class computers and cryptology
in order to break the encryption devices of our enemies. This
approach will quickly lead to dramatic improvements in the existing
cryptographic software, especially for the widely available free
software encryption programs, which are benefited by the open
source development dynamic. We would suggest that this compromise
is in the best interest of our freedom and national security during
wartime preparations.
All US citizens should immediately start open-signing their
email messages as a voluntary act of patriotic duty. In addition,
any information which would assist our terrorist enemies should be
encrypted as a matter of course. Let's use this powerful software
to help us win the war against terrorism."
