[House Report 105-108]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



105th Congress                                            Rept. 105-108
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 1st Session                                                     Part 1
_______________________________________________________________________


 
           SECURITY AND FREEDOM THROUGH ENCRYPTION (SAFE) ACT
                                _______
                                

                  May 22, 1997.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

Mr. Coble, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                             together with

                            ADDITIONAL VIEW

                        [To accompany H.R. 695]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

  The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the bill 
(H.R. 695) to amend title 18, United States Code, to affirm the 
rights of United States persons to use and sell encryption and 
to relax export controls on encryption, having considered the 
same, report favorably thereon with an amendment and recommend 
that the bill as amended do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
The Amendment....................................................     2
Purpose and Summary..............................................     4
Background and Need for Legislation..............................     5
  I. Background.......................................................5
        A. What is Encryption?...................................     5
        B. Issues in the Encryption Debate.......................     5
            1. Arguments Relating to the Domestic Use of 
                Encryption.......................................     6
            2. The Administration's Recent Initiative............     6
            3. Arguments Relating to Export Controls on 
                Encryption Products..............................     8
            4. Recent Litigation.................................     9
 II. Need for Legislation.............................................9
        A. Sections 2 and 4--Domestic Use of Encryption..........     9
        B. Section 3--Export Controls............................    10
Hearings.........................................................    11
Committee Consideration..........................................    12
Vote of the Committee............................................    12
Committee Oversight Findings.....................................    12
Committee on Government Reform and Oversight Findings............    12
New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures........................    12
Congressional Budget Office Estimate.............................    12
Constitutional Authority Statement...............................    14
Section-by-Section Analysis......................................    15
Agency Views.....................................................    17
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............    19
Additional Views.................................................    24

    The amendment is as follows:
    Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert in lieu 
thereof the following:

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Security and Freedom Through 
Encryption (SAFE) Act''.

SEC. 2. SALE AND USE OF ENCRYPTION.

    (a) In General.--Part I of title 18, United States Code, is amended 
by inserting after chapter 123 the following new chapter:

        ``CHAPTER 125--ENCRYPTED WIRE AND ELECTRONIC INFORMATION

``2801. Definitions.
``2802. Freedom to use encryption.
``2803. Freedom to sell encryption.
``2804. Prohibition on mandatory key escrow.
``2805. Unlawful use of encryption in furtherance of a criminal act.

``Sec. 2801. Definitions

  ``As used in this chapter--
          ``(1) the terms `person', `State', `wire communication', 
        `electronic communication', `investigative or law enforcement 
        officer', and `judge of competent jurisdiction' have the 
        meanings given those terms in section 2510 of this title;
          ``(2) the terms `encrypt' and `encryption' refer to the 
        scrambling of wire communications, electronic communications, 
        or electronically stored information, using mathematical 
        formulas or algorithms in order to preserve the 
        confidentiality, integrity, or authenticity of, and prevent 
        unauthorized recipients from accessing or altering, such 
        communications or information;
          ``(3) the term `key' means the variable information used in a 
        mathematical formula, code, or algorithm, or any component 
        thereof, used to decrypt wire communications, electronic 
        communications, or electronically stored information, that has 
        been encrypted; and
          ``(4) the term `United States person' means--
                  ``(A) any United States citizen;
                  ``(B) any other person organized under the laws of 
                any State, the District of Columbia, or any 
                commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United 
                States; and
                  ``(C) any person organized under the laws of any 
                foreign country who is owned or controlled by 
                individuals or persons described in subparagraphs (A) 
                and (B).

``Sec. 2802. Freedom to use encryption

  ``Subject to section 2805, it shall be lawful for any person within 
any State, and for any United States person in a foreign country, to 
use any encryption, regardless of the encryption algorithm selected, 
encryption key length chosen, or implementation technique or medium 
used.

``Sec. 2803. Freedom to sell encryption

  ``Subject to section 2805, it shall be lawful for any person within 
any State to sell in interstate commerce any encryption, regardless of 
the encryption algorithm selected, encryption key length chosen, or 
implementation technique or medium used.

``Sec. 2804. Prohibition on mandatory key escrow

  ``(a) Prohibition.--No person in lawful possession of a key to 
encrypted communications or information may be required by Federal or 
State law to relinquish to another person control of that key.
  ``(b) Exception for Access for Law Enforcement Purposes.--Subsection 
(a) shall not affect the authority of any investigative or law 
enforcement officer, or any member of the intelligence community as 
defined in section 3 of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 
401a), acting under any law in effect on the effective date of this 
chapter, to gain access to encrypted communications or information.

``Sec. 2805. Unlawful use of encryption in furtherance of a criminal 
                    act

  ``Any person who, in the commission of a felony under a criminal 
statute of the United States, knowingly and willfully encrypts 
incriminating communications or information relating to that felony 
with the intent to conceal such communications or information for the 
purpose of avoiding detection by law enforcement agencies or 
prosecution--
          ``(1) in the case of a first offense under this section, 
        shall be imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or fined in the 
        amount set forth in this title, or both; and
          ``(2) in the case of a second or subsequent offense under 
        this section, shall be imprisoned for not more than 10 years, 
        or fined in the amount set forth in this title, or both.''.
  (b) Conforming Amendment.--The table of chapters for part I of title 
18, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating 
to chapter 123 the following new item:

``125. Encrypted wire and electronic information............    2801''.

SEC. 3. EXPORTS OF ENCRYPTION.

  (a) Amendment to Export Administration Act of 1979.--Section 17 of 
the Export Administration Act of 1979 (50 U.S.C. App. 2416) is amended 
by adding at the end thereof the following new subsection:
  ``(g) Computers and Related Equipment.--
          ``(1) General rule.--Subject to paragraphs (2), (3), and (4), 
        the Secretary shall have exclusive authority to control exports 
        of all computer hardware, software, and technology for 
        information security (including encryption), except that which 
        is specifically designed or modified for military use, 
        including command, control, and intelligence applications.
          ``(2) Items not requiring licenses.--No validated license may 
        be required, except pursuant to the Trading With The Enemy Act 
        or the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (but only to 
        the extent that the authority of such Act is not exercised to 
        extend controls imposed under this Act), for the export or 
        reexport of--
                  ``(A) any software, including software with 
                encryption capabilities--
                          ``(i) that is generally available, as is, and 
                        is designed for installation by the purchaser; 
                        or
                          ``(ii) that is in the public domain for which 
                        copyright or other protection is not available 
                        under title 17, United States Code, or that is 
                        available to the public because it is generally 
                        accessible to the interested public in any 
                        form; or
                  ``(B) any computing device solely because it 
                incorporates or employs in any form software (including 
                software with encryption capabilities) exempted from 
                any requirement for a validated license under 
                subparagraph (A).
          ``(3) Software with encryption capabilities.--The Secretary 
        shall authorize the export or reexport of software with 
        encryption capabilities for nonmilitary end uses in any country 
        to which exports of software of similar capability are 
        permitted for use by financial institutions not controlled in 
        fact by United States persons, unless there is substantial 
        evidence that such software will be--
                  ``(A) diverted to a military end use or an end use 
                supporting international terrorism;
                  ``(B) modified for military or terrorist end use; or
                  ``(C) reexported without any authorization by the 
                United States that may be required under this Act.
          ``(4) Hardware with encryption capabilities.--The Secretary 
        shall authorize the export or reexport of computer hardware 
        with encryption capabilities if the Secretary determines that a 
        product offering comparable security is commercially available 
        outside the United States from a foreign supplier, without 
        effective restrictions.
          ``(5) Definitions.--As used in this subsection--
                  ``(A) the term `encryption' means the scrambling of 
                wire or electronic information using mathematical 
                formulas or algorithms in order to preserve the 
                confidentiality, integrity, or authenticity of, and 
                prevent unauthorized recipients from accessing or 
                altering, such information;
                  ``(B) the term `generally available' means, in the 
                case of software (including software with encryption 
                capabilities), software that is offered for sale, 
                license, or transfer to any person without restriction, 
                whether or not for consideration, including, but not 
                limited to, over-the-counter retail sales, mail order 
                transactions, phone order transactions, electronic 
                distribution, or sale on approval;
                  ``(C) the term `as is' means, in the case of software 
                (including software with encryption capabilities), a 
                software program that is not designed, developed, or 
                tailored by the software publisher for specific 
                purchasers, except that such purchasers may supply 
                certain installation parameters needed by the software 
                program to function properly with the purchaser's 
                system and may customize the software program by 
                choosing among options contained in the software 
                program;
                  ``(D) the term `is designed for installation by the 
                purchaser' means, in the case of software (including 
                software with encryption capabilities) that--
                          ``(i) the software publisher intends for the 
                        purchaser (including any licensee or 
                        transferee), who may not be the actual program 
                        user, to install the software program on a 
                        computing device and has supplied the necessary 
                        instructions to do so, except that the 
                        publisher may also provide telephone help line 
                        services for software installation, electronic 
                        transmission, or basic operations; and
                          ``(ii) the software program is designed for 
                        installation by the purchaser without further 
                        substantial support by the supplier;
                  ``(E) the term `computing device' means a device 
                which incorporates one or more microprocessor-based 
                central processing units that can accept, store, 
                process, or provide output of data; and
                  ``(F) the term `computer hardware', when used in 
                conjunction with information security, includes, but is 
                not limited to, computer systems, equipment, 
                application-specific assemblies, modules, and 
                integrated circuits.''.
  (b) Continuation of Export Administration Act.--For purposes of 
carrying out the amendment made by subsection (a), the Export 
Administration Act of 1979 shall be deemed to be in effect.

SEC. 4. EFFECT ON LAW ENFORCEMENT ACTIVITIES.

  (a) Collection of Information by Attorney General.--The Attorney 
General shall compile, and maintain in classified form, data on the 
instances in which encryption (as defined in section 2801 of title 18, 
United States Code) has interfered with, impeded, or obstructed the 
ability of the Department of Justice to enforce the criminal laws of 
the United States.
  (b) Availability of Information to the Congress.--The information 
compiled under subsection (a), including an unclassified summary 
thereof, shall be made available, upon request, to any Member of 
Congress.

                          Purpose and Summary

    The widespread use of strong encryption to encode digital 
communications will prevent crime, economic espionage, and 
information warfare. Unfortunately, our current encryption 
policy discourages the use of encryption. H.R. 695, the 
``Security And Freedom through Encryption (SAFE) Act,'' makes a 
series of changes to U.S. encryption policy which will 
facilitate the use of encryption.
    Current policy does not restrict the domestic use, sale, or 
import of encryption. Section 2 of H.R. 695 generally codifies 
that policy by affirmatively prohibiting restrictions on the 
domestic use and sale of encryption. It also prohibits any 
mandatory key escrow system, allowing voluntary systems to 
develop in the marketplace, and provides criminal penalties for 
the knowing and willful use of encryption to avoid detection of 
other federal felonies.
    At the same time, however, the export of strong encryption 
products is tightly restricted under the export control laws. 
Section 3 of H.R. 695 significantly relaxes those export 
controls. In addition, section 4 requires that the Attorney 
General compile statistics on instances in which these new 
policies may interfere with the enforcement of federal criminal 
laws.

                Background and Need for the Legislation

                             I. Background

A. What is encryption?

    Encryption is the process of encoding data or 
communications in a form that only the intended recipient can 
understand. Until fairly recently, society generally considered 
encryption to be the exclusive domain of national security and 
law enforcement agencies. However, with the advent of computers 
and digital electronic communications, encryption's importance 
to persons and companies in the private sector has increased 
because they want to transmit data securely. Many people feel 
that the Internet has not succeeded as a commercial medium as 
well as it might because those who want to use it do not feel 
the data transmitted is secure. For example, people do not want 
to transmit their credit card numbers when hackers may steal 
those numbers.
    To understand the issues involved, one must understand some 
basic terminology. In the digital world, data are communicated 
in a string of ones and zeroes that computers understand, but 
the average person does not. An encryption scheme converts ones 
to zeroes and zeroes to ones according to an algorithm or 
mathematical formula. The intended recipient knows the formula 
or ``key'' which he uses to decode the encrypted data.
    The complexity and quality of an encryption scheme 
determines how difficult it is to break the code and therefore 
how well the scheme protects the data. One factor determining 
the complexity of the encryption scheme is the length of the 
key. The length of the key is usually expressed as a number 
known as the ``bit length.'' A bit is one digit in the key. A 
bit length of 40 is considered relatively weak, whereas a bit 
length of 128 is considered very strong.
     However, a bit length of 40 is not 3.2 times weaker than a 
bit length of 128 because this is an exponential scale, not an 
arithmetic one. A bit length of 40 has 2\40\ possible keys, 
whereas a bit length of 128 has 2\128\ possible keys. To give 
some practical sense of the difference, one researcher 
estimated that a relatively inexpensive computer attempting a 
``brute force'' effort to decode--i.e. simply trying all the 
mathematical possibilities--could on average decode a 40-bit 
scheme in a few seconds, whereas a 128-bit scheme would on 
average take millions of years. Although there is no assurance 
that this estimate is accurate, it does give a general sense of 
the exponential differences in complexity that flow from an 
increase in bit length.

B. Issues in the encryption debate

    The encryption debate encompasses two main issues. The 
first issue is whether the domestic use and sale of encryption 
products should be restricted, and in particular, whether 
domestic users should be required to place their keys in escrow 
with the government or some other neutral third party, e.g. an 
existing computer company or an entity created solely for the 
purpose of holding keys. Current law does not have any such 
restrictions.
    The second issue is whether the export of encryption 
products should be restricted. As discussed in more detail 
below, current law regulates the export of encryption products 
under two statutes: (1) the Arms Export Control Act (``AECA''), 
22 U.S.C. Sec. 2751 et seq., and its accompanying International 
Trafficking in Arms Regulations (``ITAR''), 22 C.F.R. Sec. 120 
et seq., and (2) the Export Administration Act (``EAA''), 50 
U.S.C. App. Sec. 2401 et seq., and its accompanying Export 
Administration Regulations (``EAR''), 15 C.F.R. Sec. 730 et 
seq. Although the EAA expired in 1994, President Clinton kept 
its provisions in force by invoking his powers under the 
International Emergency Economic Powers Act, 50 U.S.C. 
Sec. 1701 et seq. Executive Order 12924 (August 19, 1994); 59 
Fed. Reg. 43437 (August 23, 1994).
            1. Arguments relating to the domestic use of encryption
    Law enforcement and national security agencies believe that 
they need some form of key escrow system to maintain their 
ability to perform legitimate wiretaps and to read computer 
data seized through lawful means. They argue that widespread 
use of strong encryption without key escrow would end the use 
of wiretapping as a tool for fighting crime. For example, they 
argue that instances occur when law enforcement agencies learn 
in the course of a wiretap that someone is about to commit a 
serious crime. If strong encryption prevented a contemporaneous 
understanding of this information, the agencies would not be 
able to prevent the crime. Likewise, if strong encryption 
prevented the reading of lawfully seized computer data, it 
could unreasonably delay criminal investigations. They further 
argue that a key escrow system would have the salutary side 
effect of providing a backup for those users who might lose 
their keys. Although they contend that they only favor a 
voluntary key escrow system, many believe that the use of 
export controls as leverage to encourage the use of a key 
escrow system effectively amounts to making such a system 
mandatory.
    The computer industry, the American business community, and 
privacy groups vehemently oppose any mandatory key escrow 
system. They argue that a mandatory system would unnecessarily 
invade the privacy of users and that the market should develop 
any voluntary key escrow system. They believe that law 
enforcement can gain access to keys through traditional means 
for obtaining evidence and that those with criminal intent will 
not use key escrow products, thus defeating the purpose of the 
Administration's policy. They argue that our law and tradition 
do not require private citizens to take positive action to 
assist the government in surveilling them in any other 
instance.
    Moreover, they contend that private citizens should not be 
required to give access to their most precious assets to anyone 
else regardless of whether it is the government or a third 
party. In the digital age, information is often the most 
valuable property that a company owns. They further argue that 
the good that widespread use of encryption can do in preventing 
crime far outweighs the harm done by the relatively few 
instances in which the use of encryption hampers law 
enforcement.
            2. The administration's recent initiative
    Until last fall, the Administration treated encryption 
products as munitions for export purposes. The State Department 
has jurisdiction over the export of munitions under AECA and 
ITAR, and it had, as a matter of practice, generally only 
allowed the export of encryption products with bit lengths of 
40 or less. The State Department treated these relatively weak 
encryption products as non-defense products subject to the 
jurisdiction of the Department of Commerce under the Export 
Administration Act, 50 U.S.C. App. Sec. 2401 et seq. Beyond 
that level, any export of encryption products required a 
special license.
    On October 1, 1996, Vice President Gore announced the 
Administration's intention to develop a new policy on the 
export of encryption products. The Vice President's 
announcement stated in part:

    Under this initiative, the export of 56-bit key length 
encryption products will be permitted under a general license 
after one-time review, and contingent upon industry commitments 
to build and market future products that support key recovery. 
This policy will apply to hardware and software products. The 
relaxation of controls will last up to two years.
          * * * * * * *
    Exporters of 56-bit DES or equivalent encryption products 
would make commitments to develop and sell products that 
support the key recovery system that I announced in July. That 
vision presumes that a trusted party (in some cases internal to 
the user's organization) would recover the user's 
confidentiality key for the user or for law enforcement 
officials acting under proper authority. Access to keys would 
be provided in accordance with destination country policies and 
bilateral understandings. No key length limits or algorithm 
restrictions will apply to exported key recovery products.
          * * * * * * *
    Under the relaxation, six-month general export licenses 
will be issued after one-time review, contingent on commitments 
from exporters to explicit benchmarks and milestones for 
developing and incorporating key recovery features into their 
products and services, and for building the supporting 
infrastructure internationally. Initial approval will be 
contingent on firms providing a plan for implementing key 
recovery. The plan will explain in detail the steps the 
applicant will take to develop, produce, distribute, and/or 
market encryption products with key recovery features. The 
specific commitments will depend on the applicant's line of 
business.
    The government will renew the licenses for additional six-
month periods if milestones are met. Two years from now, the 
export of 56-bit products that do not support key recovery will 
no longer be permitted. Currently exportable 40-bit mass market 
software products will continue to be exportable. We will 
continue to support financial institutions in their efforts to 
assure the recovery of encrypted financial information. Longer 
key lengths will continue to be approved for products dedicated 
to the support of financial applications.

Statement of the Vice President dated October 1, 1996.
     On November 15, 1996, President Clinton issued Executive 
Order 13026, 61 Fed. Reg. 58767 (November 19, 1996), and an 
accompanying Presidential Memorandum which began the 
implementation of the policy outlined in the October 1 
statement. Among other things, the executive order and the 
memorandum transferred all non-military encryption products to 
the Commerce Control List, meaning that their licensing for 
export would be overseen by the Department of Commerce under 
the EAA. The order and memorandum also gave the Department of 
Justice a significant voice in such licensing decisions.
    On December 30, 1996, the Department of Commerce 
promulgated regulations that implemented the new policy. 61 
Fed. Reg. 68572 (December 30, 1996). Although the policy has 
only been in place for a few months, much of the computer 
industry, particularly software companies, have criticized it.
            3. Arguments relating to export controls on encryption 
                    products
    The Administration has to date opposed any lifting of 
export controls beyond that in its recent initiative. It argues 
that the controls are still effective and that our allies would 
dislike the negative effect on law enforcement efforts if we 
lifted the controls. It also argues that the lifting of the 
controls might not help business because other countries would 
impose import controls. Finally, the Administration argues that 
it is making efforts under its new policy to find ways to relax 
the controls on a case by case basis.
    The computer industry and the privacy groups argue that the 
Administration ought to substantially relax, if not eliminate 
the controls. They argue that wrongdoers can easily evade them 
because many encryption products are available to anyone over 
the Internet. At least one study estimated that at least 500 
products are available worldwide. They also argue that the 
controls are easily evaded because as a practical matter, 
anyone can come into the United States, buy encryption 
products, and take them out of the country with little risk of 
detection. Because the controls are so easily evaded, they 
further argue that the controls serve only to put American 
companies at a competitive disadvantage and to discourage 
investment in the development of better encryption products. If 
the situation does not change, they believe that American 
companies will no longer dominate this field.
    In addition, they contend that the Administration's new 
policy is a backdoor attempt to force the domestic use of 
encryption with key escrow. Under the policy, a company that 
wants both to sell encryption products here and abroad must 
either make two versions of its product or sell only a product 
that meets the export restrictions. They also question whether 
the carrot and stick approach the new policy takes is a 
legitimate and logical use of export controls. Current 
encryption products of the 56-bit strength are either safe to 
export or they are not--a company's compliance or noncompliance 
with the Administration's directives regarding future products 
will not change that.
            4. Recent litigation
    Currently, at least two plaintiffs have ongoing lawsuits 
that challenge the Administration's policies regarding 
encryption. In one case, the United States District Court for 
the District of Columbia ruled that the government's decision 
to designate an encryption product as a munition, and therefore 
restrict its export, was not subject to judicial review. Karn 
v. Department of State, 925 F.Supp. 1 (D.D.C. 1996), remanded, 
107 F.3d 923 (D.C. Cir. 1997). The Court further held that the 
export restriction on the product was content neutral and 
narrowly tailored, and therefore did not violate the First 
Amendment. The United States Court of Appeals for the District 
of Columbia Circuit recently remanded the case for further 
consideration in light of the Administration's new policy, and 
the Committee understands that the Court has not made a further 
decision. The plaintiff in the case, Philip Karn, testified 
before the Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property at 
the March 20, 1997 hearing on H.R. 695.
    In the other case, the United States District Court for the 
Northern District of California ruled that the export 
restrictions on encryption products were unconstitutional prior 
restraints on free speech because they did not have adequate 
procedural safeguards. Bernstein v. Department of State, 945 
F.Supp. 1279 (N.D. Cal. 1996). The Committee understands that 
this case is still before the District Court for further 
consideration in light of the Administration's new policy.

                      II. Need for the Legislation

A. Sections 2 and 4--domestic use of encryption

    The Committee believes that sections 2 and 4 of H.R. 695, 
as reported by the Committee, will significantly aid the fight 
against crime. Both sides of the debate agree that the use of 
strong encryption will help users to prevent crimes before they 
happen. As we increasingly depend on computers to control our 
national infrastructure, the danger of information warfare and 
economic espionage also increase. The use of strong encryption 
diminishes that terrifying prospect.
    The affirmative statements in new sections 2802 and 2803 
that it is legal for persons in the United States and for 
United States persons abroad to use, and for persons in the 
United States to sell, encryption will encourage the use of 
encryption to fight crime. These sections only state what the 
Committee understands to be existing law, and therefore they 
should not worsen any law enforcement and national security 
concerns. By making these affirmative statements of positive 
law, the bill will prevent any reduction of the existing right 
to use or sell encryption domestically by administrative 
action, state law, or other means.
    New section 2804 effectively prohibits the imposition of 
any mandatory key escrow system. The Committee believes that 
Americans should not be forced to surrender the keys to their 
data without proper justification any more than they should be 
forced to surrender the keys to their homes. The limited 
circumstances under which law enforcement and national security 
officers may obtain access to the private spaces of Americans 
have stood the test of time. They exist for good reasons that 
are well understood by all. The advent of a new technology is 
not a sufficient justification for diminishing these historic 
protections.
    At the same time, however, new section 2804 preserves 
existing authorities for law enforcement and national security 
officers to obtain keys for legitimate purposes. Just as new 
technology should not take away the longstanding rights of 
citizens against government, it also should not take away the 
traditional means for legitimate law enforcement and national 
security investigations. However, the Committee does not 
believe that the advance of technology warrants a system of 
forcing people to deposit their keys with any third party 
without proper justification. Thus, new section 2804 prohibits 
any such system.
    Despite the Committee's opposition to any mandatory key 
escrow system, nothing in section 2804 should be construed to 
prevent or hinder the development of a voluntary key escrow 
system if the market demands it. Such a system may have many 
benefits so long as users are allowed to choose freely whether 
to join. If enough users desire it, the Committee believes that 
the market will develop it.
    In addition to the preservation of existing law enforcement 
authorities to obtain keys for legitimate purposes in new 
section 2804, new section 2805 further aids law enforcement and 
national security by making it a crime to avoid detection of 
another federal felony through the knowing and willful use of 
encryption. This section gives the government another tool with 
which to fight the misuse of encryption.
    Section 4 requires the Attorney General to compile and make 
available to Congress information on instances in which 
encryption interferes with the enforcement of the federal 
criminal law. This requirement will assist the Committee in 
determining whether to make any further changes to encryption 
policy. It will also foster a continuing dialogue between the 
Congress and the executive branch on these matters. Through all 
of these means, the Committee believes that it has carefully 
balanced the needs of law abiding citizens against those of the 
law enforcement and national security agencies as to the 
matters within its jurisdiction.

B. Section 3--export controls

    Section 3 of H.R. 695 significantly relaxes existing export 
controls on encryption products. Because Section 3 amends the 
Export Administration Act of 1979, it falls within 
thejurisdiction of the House Committee on International Relations. The 
International Relations Committee has been given a secondary referral 
of H.R. 695 for consideration of Section 3.
    For that reason, the Committee on the Judiciary did not 
address Section 3 during its consideration of H.R. 695. 
However, the Committee realizes that export controls must be 
addressed as part of any comprehensive national encryption 
policy. The Committee believes that it has carefully balanced 
the interests involved in the matters under its jurisdiction. 
It stands ready to work with the Committee on International 
Relations, the Administration, and all other interested parties 
in an effort to develop a similar, but more comprehensive, 
balancing of all the interests, including those relating to 
export controls, as this legislation moves forward.

                                Hearings

    The Committee's Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual 
Property held one day of hearings on H.R. 695 on March 20, 
1997. The Subcommittee received testimony from the following 
twelve witnesses: Hon. William Reinsch, Under Secretary, Bureau 
of Export Administration, Department of Commerce, Washington, 
D.C.; Hon. William Crowell, Deputy Director, National Security 
Agency, Fort Meade, Maryland; Hon. Robert Litt, Deputy 
Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division, United States 
Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.; Mrs. Phyllis Schlafly, 
President, Eagle Forum, St. Louis, Missouri; Mr. Ira 
Rubinstein, Senior Corporate Attorney, Microsoft Corporation, 
on behalf of the Business Software Alliance; Ms. Roberta Katz, 
Senior Vice-President, General Counsel, and Secretary, Netscape 
Communications Corporation, Mountain View, California, on 
behalf of the Information Technology Association of America and 
the Software Publishers Association; Mr. Jonathan Seybold, 
Chairman of the Executive Committee and Director, Pretty Good 
Privacy, Inc., San Mateo, California; Mr. Tom Morehouse, 
President and Chief Executive Officer, SourceFile, Inc., 
Oakland, California; Mr. Grover Norquist, President, Americans 
for Tax Reform, Washington, D.C.; Mr. Philip Karn, Staff 
Engineer, Qualcomm, Inc., San Diego, California; Mr. Marc 
Rotenberg, Director, Electronic Privacy Information Center, 
Washington, D.C.; and Mr. Jerry Berman, Executive Director, 
Center for Democracy and Technology, Washington, D.C. Two 
organizations submitted additional material for the record.
    In addition, Congressman Goodlatte introduced identical 
legislation, H.R. 3011, in the 104th Congress. The full 
Committee held one day of hearings on H.R. 3011 on September 
25, 1996 (Serial No. 100). The Committee received testimony 
from the following eight witnesses: Hon. Bob Goodlatte, United 
States Representative, 6th District of Virginia; Hon. Jamie 
Gorelick, Deputy Attorney General, United States Department of 
Justice, Washington, D.C.; Hon. William Crowell, Deputy 
Director, National Security Agency, Fort Meade, Maryland; Hon. 
William Reinsch, Under Secretary, Bureau of Export 
Administration, Department of Commerce, Washington, D.C.; Ms. 
Melinda Brown, Vice-President and General Counsel, Lotus 
Development Corporation, Cambridge, Massachusetts, on behalf of 
the Business Software Alliance; Ms. Roberta Katz, Senior Vice-
President, General Counsel, and Secretary, Netscape 
Communications Corporation, Mountain View, California, on 
behalf of the Information Technology Association of America and 
the Software Publishers Association; Ms. Patricia Ripley, 
Managing Director, Bear Stearns & Company, Inc., New York, New 
York; and Dr. Charles Deneka, Senior Vice-President and Chief 
Technology Officer, Corning, Inc., Corning, New York, on behalf 
of the National Association of Manufacturers. Two organizations 
submitted additional material for the record.

                        Committee Consideration

    On April 30, 1997, the Subcommittee on Courts and 
Intellectual Property met in open session and ordered reported 
the bill H.R. 695 without amendment, by a voice vote, a quorum 
being present. On May 14, 1997, the Committee met in open 
session and ordered reported favorably the bill H.R. 695 with a 
single amendment in the nature of a substitute, by a voice 
vote, a quorum being present.

                         Vote of the Committee

    During their consideration of H.R. 695, the Committee and 
the Subcommittee took no roll call votes.

                      Committee Oversight Findings

    In compliance with clause 2(l)(3)(A) of rule XI of the 
Rules of the House of Representatives, the Committee reports 
that the findings and recommendations of the Committee, based 
on oversight activities under clause 2(b)(1) of rule X of the 
Rules of the House of Representatives, are incorporated in the 
descriptive portions of this report.

         Committee on Government Reform and Oversight Findings

    No findings or recommendations of the Committee on 
Government Reform and Oversight were received as referred to in 
clause 2(l)(3)(D) of rule XI of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives.

               New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures

    Clause 2(l)(3)(B) of House rule XI does not apply because 
this legislation does not provide new budgetary authority or 
increased tax expenditures.

               Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate

    In compliance with clause 2(l)(3)(C) of rule XI of the 
Rules of the House of Representatives, the Committee sets 
forth, with respect to the bill, H.R. 695, the following 
estimate and comparison prepared by the Director of the 
Congressional Budget Office under section 403 of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                      Washington, DC, May 21, 1997.
Hon. Henry J. Hyde,
Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 695, the Security 
and Freedom Through Encryption (SAFE) Act.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contacts are Rachel 
Forward (for federal costs); Stephanie Weiner (for revenues); 
and Leo Lex (for the state and local impact).
            Sincerely,
                                              James L. Blum
                                   (For June E. O'Neill, Director).
    Enclosure.

H.R. 695--Security and Freedom Through Encryption (SAFE) Act

    Summary: H.R. 695 would allow individuals in the United 
States to use and sell any form of encryption and would 
prohibit states or the federal government from requiring 
individuals to relinquish the key to encryption technologies to 
any third party. The bill also would prevent the Bureau of 
Export Administration (BXA) in the Department of Commerce from 
restricting the export of most nonmilitary encryption products. 
H.R. 695 would establish criminal penalties and fines for the 
use of encryption technologies to conceal incriminating 
information relating to a felony from law enforcement 
officials. Finally, the bill would require the Attorney General 
to maintain data on the instances in which encryption impedes 
or obstructs the ability of the Department of Justice (DOJ) to 
enforce the criminal laws.
    Assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts, CBO 
estimates that enacting this bill would result in additional 
discretionary spending of between $1 million and $3 million 
over the 1998-2002 period of BXA and DOJ. Spending by BXA and 
DOJ for activities required by H.R. 695 would total between $5 
million and $7 million over the next five years. By comparison, 
CBO estimates that--under current policies--spending by BXA for 
reviewing the export of nonmilitary encryption products would 
total about $4.5 million over the same period. (Spending 
related to encryption exports by DOJ is negligible under 
current law.) Enacting H.R. 695 also would affect direct 
spending and receipts beginning in fiscal year 1998 through the 
imposition of criminal fines and the resulting spending from 
the Crime Victims Fund. Therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures 
would apply. CBO estimates, however, that the amounts of 
additional direct spending or receipts would not be 
significant.
    H.R. 695 contains no private-sector mandates as defined in 
the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA). The bill would 
prohibit states from requiring persons to make encryption keys 
available to another person or entity. This prohibition would 
be anintergovernmental mandate as defined in UMRA. However, 
states would bear no costs as a result of the mandate because none 
currently require the registration or availability of such keys.
    Estimated cost to the Federal Government: Under current 
policy, BXA would likely spend about $900,000 a year reviewing 
exports of encryption products. Assuming appropriation of the 
necessary amounts, CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 695 would 
lower BXA's encryption-related costs to about $500,000 a year. 
In November 1996, the Administration issued an executive order 
and memorandum that authorized BXA to control the export of all 
nonmilitary encryption products. If H.R. 695 were enacted, BXA 
would still be required to review requests to export most 
computer hardware with encryption capabilities but would not be 
required to review most requests to export computer software 
with encryption capabilities. Thus, enacting H.R. 695 would 
reduce the costs to BXA to control the exports of nonmilitary 
encryption products.
    According to the DOJ, maintaining data on the instances in 
which encryption impedes or obstructs the ability of the 
Department of Justice to enforce the criminal laws could cost 
$1 million or more per year. The cost of maintaining the data 
is difficult to ascertain because DOJ believes that if H.R. 695 
were enacted such instances would be numerous. But the agency 
is uncertain as to how much it would cost to track such 
classified information nationwide. For the purposes of this 
estimate, CBO projects that maintaining the data would cost DOJ 
between $500,000 and $1 million a year, assuming appropriation 
of the necessary amounts.
    CBO estimates that the collections of criminal fines for 
the use of encryption technologies to conceal incriminating 
information relating to a felony from law enforcement officials 
would not be significant.
    The costs of this legislation fall within budget functions 
370 (commerce and housing credit) and 750 (administration of 
justice).
    Pay-as-you-go considerations: Section 25 of the Balanced 
Budget and Deficit Control Act of 1985 sets up pay-as-you-go 
procedures for legislation affecting direct spending or 
receipts through 1998. Enacting H.R. 695 would affect direct 
spending and receipts through the imposition of criminal fines 
for encrypting incriminating information related to a felony. 
Collections from such fines are likely to be negligible, 
however, because the federal government would probably not 
pursue many cases under the bill. Any such collections would be 
recorded in the budget as governmental receipts, or revenues. 
They would be deposited in the Crime Victims Fund and spent the 
following year. Because the increase in direct spending would 
be the same amount as the amount of fines collected with a one-
year lag, the additional direct spending would also be 
negligible.
    Estimated impact on State, local, and tribal governments: 
H.R. 695 would prohibit states from requiring persons to make 
encryption keys available to another person or entity. This 
prohibition would be an intergovernmental mandate as defined in 
UMRA. However, states would bear no costs as the result of the 
mandate because none currently require the registration or 
availability of such keys.
    Estimated impact on the private sector: The bill would 
impose no new private-sector mandates as defined in UMRA.
    Estimate prepared by: Federal Costs: Rachel Forward--
Revenues: Stephanie Weiner--Impact on State, Local, and Tribal 
Governments: Leo Lex.
    Estimate approved by: Robert A. Sunshine, Deputy Assistant 
Director for Budget Analysis.

                   Constitutional Authority Statement

    Pursuant to rule XI, clause 2(l)(4) of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, the Committee finds the authority for 
this legislation in Article I, section 8 of the Constitution.

                      Section-by-Section Analysis

    Section 1. Short Title. Section 1 provides that H.R. 695 
may be cited as the ``Security And Freedom through Encryption 
(SAFE) Act.''
    Section 2. Sale and Use of Encryption. Subsection 2(a) of 
H.R. 695 creates a new chapter 122 in Title 18 of the United 
States Code. This chapter 122 would include new sections 2801-
05.
    New section 2801 provides for definitions of terms to be 
used in the chapter. Many of the definitions used are 
explicitly taken from the definitions in the existing federal 
wiretap statute, 18 U.S.C. Sec. 2510 et seq. During the 
Committee markup, Mr. Delahunt offered an amendment making 
technical changes to these definitions to conform them more 
closely with the existing definitions. The Delahunt amendment 
passed on a voice vote.
    New section 2802 affirmatively states that it is legal for 
any person in the United States, or any United States person in 
a foreign country, to use any form of encryption regardless of 
the algorithm, key length, or technique used in the encryption. 
New section 2803 affirmatively states that it is legal for any 
person in the United States to sell in interstate commerce 
encryption products using any form of encryption regardless of 
the algorithm, key length, or technique used. Some business 
groups have expressed concern that new sections 2802 and 2803 
might be construed to override their lawful policies for 
employee use of their computer systems. The Committee does not 
intend for these sections to be so read. The Committee intends 
that these sections should be read as limitations on government 
power. They should not be read as overriding otherwise lawful 
employer policies concerning employee use of the employer's 
computer systems, nor as limiting the employer's otherwise 
lawful means for remedying violations of those policies.
    Thus, even though employees cannot be prosecuted for an 
offense of unlawful encryption under Section 2802, employees 
may be prosecuted for failing to return business property, 
unlawful appropriation, or conversion. Consider, for example, 
the case in which an employer's information management policy 
calls for company-wide deployment of key recovery encryption, 
and a given employee refuses to comply, encrypting instead 
without key recovery using some other system. In that instance, 
the employer remains within his rights, under state statutory 
or common law, to sue to obtain the needed key to recover the 
business property--plans, designs, texts, databases, and the 
like--contained in the computer or computers under the 
employee's control.
    New section 2804 specifically prohibits requiring any 
person in lawful possession of an encryption key to turn that 
key over to another person. This section effectively prevents 
any form of mandatory key escrow system. As introduced, this 
section provided an exception for law enforcement personnel 
acting under any law in effect on the date of enactment. At the 
Committee markup, Mr. McCollum offered an amendment that 
expands the exception to include members of the intelligence 
community as defined in section 3 of the National Security Act 
of 1947 (50 U.S.C. Sec. 401a). The McCollum amendment passed by 
a voice vote.
    Finally, new section 2805 makes it a crime to use 
encryption unlawfully in furtherance of some other crime. This 
new crime is punishable by a sentence of 5 years for the first 
offense and 10 years for a subsequent offense. The Delahunt 
amendment that made technical changes to the definitions also 
changed the language of this section. The Delahunt amendment 
clarified two points relating to this new crime: (1) it applies 
only to the use of encryption to avoid detection of some other 
federal felony, and (2) it applies only when the encryption is 
knowingly and willfully used to avoid detection. In other 
words, this crime cannot occur without the commission of some 
other federal felony, and the use of encryption must be a 
deliberate attempt to avoid detection of that felony. It may 
not be unknowing or accidental. As noted above, the Delahunt 
amendment passed on a voice vote.
    Subsection 2(b) of H.R. 695 provides for a conforming 
amendment to the table of chapters in Title 18.
    Section 3. Exports of Encryption. Subsection 3(a) of H.R. 
695 amends the Export Administration Act by creating a new 
subsection (g) to 50 U.S.C. App. Sec. 2416. New subsection 
(g)(1) would place all encryption products, except those 
specifically designed or modified for military use, under the 
jurisdiction of the Secretary of Commerce. New subsection 
(g)(2) allows encryption software that is generally available 
or in the public domain, like mass-market software products, to 
be exported freely. New subsection (g)(3) requires the 
Secretary to allow other encryption software to be exported 
unless there is substantial evidence that it will be put to 
military or terrorist uses or that it will be reexported 
without U.S. authorization.
    New subsection (g)(4) requires the Secretary to allow the 
export of hardware with encryption capabilities when the 
Commerce Department finds that it is commercially available 
from foreign suppliers without effective restrictions. New 
subsection (g)(5) provides definitions.
    The Committee would like to clarify that with the ever 
increasing incorporation of computer-like intelligence 
(including hardware and software) into consumer products for 
the protection of privacy, information security, and 
intellectual property interests, it intends this legislation to 
cover all devices--whether traditional ``computing'' devices or 
``convergent'' consumer products--that incorporate encryption. 
Further, the applications covered by this legislation include 
video, audio, and data communications systems. Hardware and 
software containing encryption, such as encoders, decoders, and 
network terminals, which are essential to protect the video 
signal, are therefore included under section 3(a) of this Act. 
Video, audio, and data communications systems containing 
encryption and decryption capability are used by cable, 
satellite, and wireless delivery systems.
    Subsection 3(b) of H.R. 695 provides that for purposes of 
carrying out the amendment made by subsection 3(a), the Export 
Administration Act shall be deemed to be in effect. This 
statement is necessary because Congress allowed the Export 
Administration Act to lapse in 1994. To date, it has not been 
renewed, and its policies have been continued by executive 
order.
    Section 4. Effect on Law Enforcement Activities. Section 4 
was not part of the bill as introduced. An amendment offered by 
Mr. Hutchinson added this language to the bill. Subsection 4(a) 
requires the Attorney General to compile information on 
instances in which encryption has interfered with, impeded, or 
obstructed the ability of the Justice Department to enforce 
federal criminal law and to maintain that information in 
classified form. The Committee intends that information 
compiled by the Attorney General pursuant to this section also 
include instances in which encryption has prevented crimes from 
occurring, especially in protecting national infrastructures 
and preventing economic espionage (although not limited to 
those areas). Subsection 4(b) requires that the Attorney 
General shall make the information compiled under subsection 
4(a), including an unclassified summary, available to Members 
of Congress upon request. The Hutchinson amendment passed on a 
voice vote.

                              Agency Views

                        U.S. Department of Justice,
                             Office of Legislative Affairs,
                                    Washington, DC, April 30, 1997.
Hon. Howard Coble,
Chairman, Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property, Committee 
        on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: Your Subcommittee will soon begin mark-
up of H.R. 695, the ``Security and Freedom Through Encryption 
(SAFE) Act.'' Although the Department of Justice supports H.R. 
695's overall goal of promoting the wide dissemination of 
strong encryption, we believe that the bill would severely 
compromise law enforcement's ability to protect the American 
people from the threats posed by terrorists, organized crime, 
child pornographers, drug cartels, financial predators, hostile 
foreign intelligence agents, and other criminals. In addition, 
the bill would greatly impair the government's ability to 
prosecute those crimes when they do occur. We urge the 
Subcommittee to reject H.R. 695 in its present form.
    There is widespread agreement that strong encryption is 
essential to the success of the emerging Global Information 
Infrastructure (GII). Communications and data must be 
protected--both in transit and in storage--if the GII is to be 
used for personal communications, financial transactions, 
medical care, the development of new intellectual property, and 
myriad other applications. Having recognized the importance of 
encryption, we must ensure that its application is consistent 
with the larger goals of society. One approach, that taken by 
H.R. 695 advocates the proliferation of unbreakable encryption 
that would not only protect commerce and privacy, but also 
unintentionally protect criminals. A better approach, advocated 
by the Administration, encourages the use of data recovery 
products that fully protect commerce and privacy, but without 
sacrificing public safety and national security.
    Viewed in this light, the proposed legislation poses two 
major problems for federal, state, and local law enforcement. 
First, it would effectively eliminate all export controls 
onstrong encryption, thereby undermining public safety and national 
security by encouraging the proliferation of unbreakable encryption. 
Second, the bill discourages formation of a key management 
infrastructure that addresses the needs of public safety, economic 
security and privacy.
    The elimination of export controls would adversely affect 
national security and foreign policy interests and severely 
impair many law enforcement efforts at the federal, state and 
local level. We have heard, of course, the oft-repeated 
argument that the ``genie is already out of the bottle''--that 
strong encryption is already widely available overseas and over 
the Internet and that attempts to limit its spread are futile, 
and serve only to handicap U.S. manufacturers seeking to sell 
their encryption products overseas. In fact, this is not the 
case.
    Although strong encryption products can be found overseas, 
these products are not ubiquitous, in part because the export 
of strong encryption is controlled by both the U.S. and other 
countries. It is worth noting in this regard that export of 
encryption over the Internet, like any other means of export, 
is restricted under U.S. law. Although it is difficult to 
prevent completely encryption products from being sent abroad 
over the Internet, we believe that the legal restrictions will 
limit the use of the Internet as a means of evading export 
controls.
    In addition, the quality of encryption products offered 
abroad varies greatly, with some encryption products not 
providing the levels of protection advertised. Finally, the 
vast majority of businesses with a serious need for strong 
encryption are not likely to rely on encryption downloaded from 
the Internet from untested sources, but will prefer instead to 
deal with known and reliable suppliers. For these reasons, 
export controls continue to serve a critical function.
    A few other factors are important to consider regarding 
export controls. First, our allies strongly concur that 
unrestricted export of encryption would severely hamper law 
enforcement objectives. It would be a terrible irony if this 
government--which prides itself on its leadership in fighting 
international crime--were to enact a law that would jeopardize 
public safety and weaken law enforcement agencies worldwide.
    Second, critics of export controls have mistakenly assumed 
that the lifting of export controls would result in 
unrestricted access to markets abroad by U.S. companies. But 
this assumption ignores the likely reaction of foreign 
governments to the elimination of U.S. export controls. To 
date, most other countries have not needed to restrict imports 
or domestic use of encryption, largely because export controls 
in the U.S.--theworld leader in computer technology--and other 
countries have made such restrictions unnecessary. But given other 
countries' legitimate concerns about the potential worldwide 
proliferation of unbreakable encryption products, we believe that many 
of those countries would respond to any lifting of U.S. export controls 
by imposing import controls, or by restricting use of strong encryption 
by their citizens.
    France, Russia and Israel, for example, have already 
established domestic restrictions on the import, manufacture, 
sale and use of encryption products. In addition, a number of 
European Union countries are moving towards the adoption of a 
key-recovery-based key management infrastructure similar to 
that proposed by the Administration. In the long run, then, 
U.S. companies might not be any better off if U.S. export 
controls were lifted, but the would have undermined our 
leadership role in fighting international crime and damaged our 
own national security interests in the meantime.
    We also oppose H.R. 695 because it would impede or prevent 
the development of a key management infrastructure. The bill 
could be read as prohibiting the United States government from 
using appropriate incentives to support a key management 
infrastructure and key recovery. Without such an infrastructure 
supporting key recovery, federal law enforcement investigations 
will become far more difficult. The problems that enactment of 
H.R. 695 would pose for state and local law enforcement, which 
lack access to supercomputers, are even greater.
    In law enforcement, quick action can save lives, reduce 
crime and apprehend criminals. Criminals, therefore, rely on 
techniques that help them slow or prevent law enforcement 
officers from detecting and solving crimes and catching 
offenders. The passage of H.R. 695 could unintentionally add a 
powerful new technique--unbreakable encryption--to the 
collection of methods that criminals use to thwart law 
enforcement and prey upon the residents of the United States. 
It is difficult enough to fight crime without making criminals' 
tasks any easier.
    The Subcommittee should approve a bill that encourages the 
development of a key management infrastructure and key recovery 
system coupled with responsible export controls. We look 
forward to working with you in developing an approach to 
encryption that meets the dual goals of maintaining law 
enforcement's ability to fight crime and protecting the right 
to privacy within the burgeoning global information 
infrastructure. We are hopeful that by working together we can 
create a mutually acceptable national encryption policy. The 
Office of Management and Budget has advised that there is no 
objection from the standpoint of the Administration's program 
to the presentation of this report.
            Sincerely,
                                               Andrew Fois,
                                        Assistant Attorney General.

         Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported

    In compliance with clause 3 of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by 
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (new matter is 
printed in italic, and existing law in which no change is 
proposed is shown in roman):

                      TITLE 18, UNITED STATES CODE

          * * * * * * *

                             PART I--CRIMES

Chap.                                                               Sec.
1.     General provisions.........................................     1
     * * * * * * *
125.  Encrypted wire and electronic information...................  2801
          * * * * * * *

         CHAPTER 125--ENCRYPTED WIRE AND ELECTRONIC INFORMATION

2801. Definitions.
2802. Freedom to use encryption.
2803. Freedom to sell encryption.
2804. Prohibition on mandatory key escrow.
2805. Unlawful use of encryption in furtherance of a criminal act.

Sec. 2801. Definitions

  As used in this chapter--
          (1) the terms ``person'', ``State'', ``wire 
        communication'', ``electronic communication'', 
        ``investigative or law enforcement officer'', and 
        ``judge of competent jurisdiction'' have the meanings 
        given those terms in section 2510 of this title;
          (2) the terms ``encrypt'' and ``encryption'' refer to 
        the scrambling of wire communications, electronic 
        communications, or electronically stored information, 
        using mathematical formulas or algorithms in order to 
        preserve the confidentiality, integrity, or 
        authenticity of, and prevent unauthorized recipients 
        from accessing or altering, such communications or 
        information;
          (3) the term ``key'' means the variable information 
        used in a mathematical formula, code, or algorithm, or 
        any component thereof, used to decrypt wire 
        communications, electronic communications, or 
        electronically stored information, that has been 
        encrypted; and
          (4) the term ``United States person'' means--
                  (A) any United States citizen;
                  (B) any other person organized under the laws 
                of any State, the District of Columbia, or any 
                commonwealth, territory, or possession of the 
                United States; and
                  (C) any person organized under the laws of 
                any foreign country who is owned or controlled 
                by individuals or persons described in 
                subparagraphs (A) and (B).

Sec. 2802. Freedom to use encryption

  Subject to section 2805, it shall be lawful for any person 
within any State, and for any United States person in a foreign 
country, to use any encryption, regardless of the encryption 
algorithm selected, encryption key length chosen, or 
implementation technique or medium used.

Sec. 2803. Freedom to sell encryption

  Subject to section 2805, it shall be lawful for any person 
within any State to sell in interstate commerce any encryption, 
regardless of the encryption algorithm selected, encryption key 
length chosen, or implementation technique or medium used.

Sec. 2804. Prohibition on mandatory key escrow

  (a) Prohibition.--No person in lawful possession of a key to 
encrypted communications or information may be required by 
Federal or State law to relinquish to another person control of 
that key.
  (b) Exception for Access for Law Enforcement Purposes.--
Subsection (a) shall not affect the authority of any 
investigative or law enforcement officer, or any member of the 
intelligence community as defined in section 3 of the National 
Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 401a), acting under any law in 
effect on the effective date of this chapter, to gain access to 
encrypted communications or information.

Sec. 2805. Unlawful use of encryption in furtherance of a criminal act

  Any person who, in the commission of a felony under a 
criminal statute of the United States, knowingly and willfully 
encrypts incriminating communications or information relating 
to that felony with the intent to conceal such communications 
or information for the purpose of avoiding detection by law 
enforcement agencies or prosecution--
          (1) in the case of a first offense under this 
        section, shall be imprisoned for not more than 5 years, 
        or fined in the amount set forth in this title, or 
        both; and
          (2) in the case of a second or subsequent offense 
        under this section, shall be imprisoned for not more 
        than 10 years, or fined in the amount set forth in this 
        title, or both.
          * * * * * * *
                              ----------                              


          SECTION 17 OF THE EXPORT ADMINISTRATION ACT OF 1979

  Sec. 17. (a) * * *
          * * * * * * *
  (g) Computers and Related Equipment.--
          (1) General rule.--Subject to paragraphs (2), (3), 
        and (4), the Secretary shall have exclusive authority 
        to control exports of all computer hardware, software, 
        and technology for information security (including 
        encryption), except that which is specifically designed 
        or modified for military use, including command, 
        control, and intelligence applications.
          (2) Items not requiring licenses.--No validated 
        license may be required, except pursuant to the Trading 
        With The Enemy Act or the International Emergency 
        Economic Powers Act (but only to the extent that the 
        authority of such Act is not exercised to extend 
        controls imposed under this Act), for the export or 
        reexport of--
                  (A) any software, including software with 
                encryption capabilities--
                          (i) that is generally available, as 
                        is, and is designed for installation by 
                        the purchaser; or
                          (ii) that is in the public domain for 
                        which copyright or other protection is 
                        not available under title 17, United 
                        States Code, or that is available to 
                        the public because it is generally 
                        accessible to the interested public in 
                        any form; or
                  (B) any computing device solely because it 
                incorporates or employs in any form software 
                (including software with encryption 
                capabilities) exempted from any requirement for 
                a validated license under subparagraph (A).
          (3) Software with encryption capabilities.--The 
        Secretary shall authorize the export or reexport of 
        software with encryption capabilities for nonmilitary 
        end uses in any country to which exports of software of 
        similar capability are permitted for use by financial 
        institutions not controlled in fact by United States 
        persons, unless there is substantial evidence that such 
        software will be--
                  (A) diverted to a military end use or an end 
                use supporting international terrorism;
                  (B) modified for military or terrorist end 
                use; or
                  (C) reexported without any authorization by 
                the United States that may be required under 
                this Act.
          (4) Hardware with encryption capabilities.--The 
        Secretary shall authorize the export or reexport of 
        computer hardware with encryption capabilities if the 
        Secretary determines that a product offering comparable 
        security is commercially available outside the United 
        States from a foreign supplier, without effective 
        restrictions.
          (5) Definitions.--As used in this subsection--
                  (A) the term ``encryption'' means the 
                scrambling of wire or electronic information 
                using mathematical formulas or algorithms in 
                order to preserve the confidentiality, 
                integrity, or authenticity of, and prevent 
                unauthorized recipients from accessing or 
                altering, such information;
                  (B) the term ``generally available'' means, 
                in the case of software (including software 
                with encryption capabilities), software that is 
                offered for sale, license, or transfer to any 
                person without restriction, whether or not for 
                consideration, including, but not limited to, 
                over-the-counter retail sales, mail order 
                transactions, phone order transactions, 
                electronic distribution, or sale on approval;
                  (C) the term ``as is'' means, in the case of 
                software (including software with encryption 
                capabilities), a software program that is not 
                designed, developed, or tailored by the 
                software publisher for specific purchasers, 
                except that such purchasers may supply certain 
                installation parameters needed by the software 
                program to function properly with the 
                purchaser's system and may customize the 
                software program by choosing among options 
                contained in the software program;
                  (D) the term ``is designed for installation 
                by the purchaser'' means, in the case of 
                software (including software with encryption 
                capabilities) that--
                          (i) the software publisher intends 
                        for the purchaser (including any 
                        licensee or transferee), who may not be 
                        the actual program user, to install the 
                        software program on a computing device 
                        and has supplied the necessary 
                        instructions to do so, except that the 
                        publisher may also provide telephone 
                        help line services for software 
                        installation, electronic transmission, 
                        or basic operations; and
                          (ii) the software program is designed 
                        for installation by the purchaser 
                        without further substantial support by 
                        the supplier;
                  (E) the term ``computing device'' means a 
                device which incorporates one or more 
                microprocessor-based central processing units 
                that can accept, store, process, or provide 
                output of data; and
                  (F) the term ``computer hardware'', when used 
                in conjunction with information security, 
                includes, but is not limited to, computer 
                systems, equipment, application-specific 
                assemblies, modules, and integrated circuits.
                 ADDITIONAL VIEWS OF HON. BOB GOODLATTE

    H.R. 695, the Security And Freedom through Encryption 
(SAFE) Act of 1997, accomplishes three critical goals: 
preventing economic crime, promoting electronic commerce, and 
protecting the personal privacy of all law-abiding Americans. I 
am pleased that both the Courts and Intellectual Property 
Subcommittee and the full Judiciary Committee have approved 
this bipartisan legislation by voice vote. I would also like to 
thank the lead cosponsor of the SAFE Act, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-
CA), for her leadership. support, and dedication to this 
important issue.
    The Administration's encryption policies are at odds with 
its stated goals. For example, the Administration has stated in 
testimony before both the House and Senate that it supports the 
widespread use of strong encryption. However, the 
Administration continues to enforce antiquated Cold War export 
restrictions that prevent the widespread use of strong 
encryption.
    The Department of Justice has been particularly hostile to 
H.R. 695, even going so far as publicly stating that the bill 
would be devastating to international law enforcement. As an 
example, just hours prior to Subcommittee markup of H.R. 695 on 
April 30, 1997, the Department of Justice circulated a letter 
to Judiciary Committee members opposing the legislation. This 
letter contained a series of allegations which deserve a 
response.

          DOJ Claim: The bill ``discourages formation of a key 
        management infrastructure''.
          Response: The SAFE Act takes no position on the 
        development of a key management infrastructure.

    The term ``key management infrastructure'' refers to a 
system, yet to be fully developed, that would allow Internet 
users to know with whom they are communicating, to verify 
document signatures, and to identify whether documents are 
tampered with or altered in transmission. Such a system could 
partly operate through ``Certificate Authorities'', or 
commercial entities that would certify, like digital notary 
publics, that certain public keys are in fact the keys of 
particular individuals or corporations.
    Driven by user needs, the on-line world is developing such 
systems of assurance without government intervention. The 
security and effectiveness of these systems will be tested by 
the market. Consequently, it is impossible to know at this 
point which systems will succeed and which will fail--the 
intensely competitive global marketplace will decide that 
question. Government bureaucracy and regulation is neither 
necessary nor desirable.
    Perhaps the greatest impediment to the development of a 
widespread global key management infrastructure to date has 
been the Administration's restrictive export policies. By 
preventing American companies from exporting strong encryption, 
this Administration has perpetuated a sense of uncertainty in 
the global market that has discouraged these companies from 
developing commercial infrastructures. Contrary to the 
Administration's claim, therefore, H.R. 695 would actually 
promote development of' Certificate Authorities and key 
management infrastructures in the best way possible, by 
removing unwanted, unworkable, and unwise government 
bureaucracy and regulation.
    A recent report issued by nine of the world's top 
cryptographers, entitled ``The Risks of Key Recovery, Key 
Escrow, and Trusted Third Party Encryption'', offers further 
evidence that various key escrow, key recovery. and key 
management systems that have been proposed by the 
Administration are neither feasible nor advisable. As stated In 
this report:

          Government key recovery proposals call for one of the 
        most ambitious and far-reaching deployments of the 
        information age. The field of cryptography has no 
        experience in deploying secure systems of this scope 
        and complexity. * * * Attempts to force the widespread 
        adoption of key recovery encryption through export 
        controls, import or domestic use regulations, or 
        international standards should be considered in light 
        of these factors. The public must carefully consider 
        the costs and benefits of embracing government-access 
        key recovery before imposing the new security risks and 
        spending the huge investment required--potentially many 
        billions of dollars, in direct and indirect costs--to 
        deploy a global key recovery infrastructure.

The Administration has stated publicly that ``only industry can 
build a robust and scalable key management infrastructure''. 
This report shows quite clearly that proposals to establish 
global key management systems, including incentives to use such 
systems, are at best premature. As former British Prime 
Minister Margaret Thatcher aptly put it, ``Governments * * * 
are themselves `blind forces' blundering about in the dark, and 
obstructing the operations of markets rather than improving 
them.''

          DOJ Claim: Strong encryption is not widely available 
        overseas, in part because of U.S. export controls.
          Response: German, Dutch, Swedish, British, Russian 
        and other foreign manufacturers have created strong and 
        reliable encryption products that are available 
        internationally and on the Internet.

    As evidence of this, the following excerpt is from a recent 
New York Times article discussing the success of a German 
company, Brokat Informationsysteme, which produces a 128-bit 
encryption program:

          Far from hindering the spread of powerful encryption 
        programs * * * American policy has created a bonanza 
        for alert entrepreneurs outside the United States. When 
        America Online wanted to offer on-line banking and 
        shopping services in Europe, it turned to Brokat for 
        the software that encodes transactions and protects 
        them from hackers and on-line bandits. When Netscape 
        Communications and Microsoft wanted to sell Internet 
        software to Germany's biggest banks, they had to team 
        up with Brokat to deliver the security guarantees that 
        the banks demanded. * * * Besides America Online, 
        Brokat's customers include more than 30 big banking and 
        financial institutions around Europe.

    Perhaps a more vivid example of the folly of the 
Administration's export restrictions is the recent announcement 
that Sun Microsystems, one of the leading U.S. computer 
companies, will be entering into a partnership with Elvis+, a 
Russian encryption manufacturer, to distribute strong 
encryption worldwide. Since the U.S. has no import or domestic 
controls on the use of non-key escrow encryption, Sun can 
import the Russian product and distribute it domestically, 
while the Russian company distributes the same product 
overseas. Therefore, U.S. companies will now be able to 
securely communicate with their overseas offices and 
subsidiaries without violating the export control laws.
    The Sun announcement demonstrates three critical facts that 
reveal the absurdity of arguments the Administration uses to 
defend its current policies: (1) consumers are demanding strong 
encryption products to protect their digital communications; 
(2) strong encryption products are already available from 
foreign manufacturers, and reputable U.S. firms are willing to 
stake their corporate reputations on the quality of those 
products; and (3) the current export control scheme is taking 
jobs and revenue away from our economy.
    Additionally, many individuals and small businesses rely on 
the Pretty Good Privacy encryption program, which is available 
on the Internet worldwide. PGP is equivalent to 128-bit 
encryption, and has been tested again and again. It is based on 
a public algorithm, so every hacker, graduate student, and 
computer scientist in the world can try to break it. None have 
succeeded.

          DOJ Claim: If the U.S. were to relax its current 
        export controls on strong encryption, foreign 
        governments would respond by creating import controls 
        on U.S. products and thus those markets would not open 
        to U.S. companies.
          Response: The United States should not set its export 
        policies on the basis of actions that other countries 
        might take.

    The U.S. government should not stand in the way of our 
industry's ability to compete in the global marketplace--in 
fact, it should use any resources available to help American 
companies succeed in global markets. When foreign governments 
raise import barriers to keep out U.S. products, they do so to 
allow their own industries to dominate the marketplace. We 
should not allow ourselves to be fooled into believing 
otherwise.

          DOJ Claim: H.R. 695 would ``adversely affect national 
        security and foreign policy interests and severely 
        impair many law enforcement efforts at the federal, 
        state, and local level.''
          Response: Strong encryption prevents crime. Consider 
        the findings of the National Research Council on the 
        use of strong encryption:
        If cryptography can protect the trade secrets and 
        proprietary information of businesses and thereby 
        reduce economic espionage (which it can). it also 
        supports in a most important manner the job of law 
        enforcement. If cryptography can help protect 
        nationally critical information systems and networks 
        against unauthorized penetration (which it can), it 
        also supports the national security of the United 
        States.

    When criminals talk to other criminals, they will always be 
able to use strong encryption, with no mechanism for law 
enforcement access, to protect their communications. The 
Administration's policy will not prevent this, since it is not 
proposing direct domestic or import controls on strong 
encryption, and cannot prevent foreign companies from 
developing and distributing such products. However, when these 
criminals communicate with legitimate organizations, such as 
banks, law enforcement will always be able to obtain evidence 
from such organizations via court order or grand jury subpoena. 
Therefore, allowing law-abiding people to use strong encryption 
to protect themselves, and allowing U.S. companies to fully 
compete in the global marketplace, will not prevent law 
enforcement from pursuing and stopping criminals.
    It is truly ironic that law enforcement agencies would 
oppose legislation that prevents crime. Unfortunately, it seems 
that the Administration does not want to empower our citizens 
and our industries to protect themselves in the Information 
Age. Just as dead-bolt locks and alarm systems help people 
protect their houses against intruders, thereby assisting law 
enforcement in preventing crime, strong encryption allows 
people to protect their digital communications and computer 
systems against criminal hackers and computer thieves.
    The SAFE Act prevents crime, promotes commerce, and 
protects privacy. Additionally, it allows the free market to 
design its own standards and solutions for the development of 
global commerce, free from unwanted and unworkable government 
regulation. This bipartisan legislation ensures that all law-
abiding Americans will be able to communicate and conduct 
business securely in the Information Age.

                                                     Bob Goodlatte.
                       ADDITIONAL MINORITY VIEWS

    We offer these additional views not to foment dissent but 
to encourage dialogue with the Administration on the issues 
related to encryption. We would like to work with federal law 
enforcement and national security agencies to address their 
concerns.
    We sympathize with the difficulties faced by investigative 
and security agencies in combating crime, terrorism, and 
espionage. We believe it is quite legitimate for the 
Administration to be concerned about the uncertain impact that 
strong and ubiquitous encryption products may have on law 
enforcement and national security agencies. We realize that it 
may ultimately become impossible for government agencies to 
decipher intercepted or retrieved data and communications that 
have, by encryption, been transformed into a seemingly 
unintelligible form.
    We recognize the days of cracking strong codes are nearly 
gone. Unbreakable codes (256-bit key algorithms can generate 
more possible solutions than there are particles in the known 
universe) are already widely known. Private security experts 
and sophisticated hackers have already realized this and are 
beginning to develop ways of attacking the vulnerable points 
before and after the information is encrypted (i.e., on the 
sender's hard drive or at a ``good-guy'' recipient such as a 
bank). We suspect that law enforcement and national security 
experts within the government are acquiring similar 
capabilities. But these alternative (and more subtle) 
approaches are not reflected in the Administration's current 
public policy toward encryption.
    The Administration's current encryption policy, a policy 
that runs back at least to the Bush Administration, creates 
more problems than it resolves. The policy is a combination of 
encryption export controls and a key escrow system by which the 
key to the code encrypting the information is to be held by a 
third party (so it may be made available to the government).
    We need to be honest about this situation. We don't expect 
most narcotics traffickers, terrorists, or criminals to respect 
export restrictions on encryption when they don't respect our 
underlying drugs or weapons laws. And we don't generally expect 
anyone who employs encryption in furtherance of a crime to 
readily give their keys to some third party so they may be made 
available to the government.
    The Administration maintains that there is a commercial 
need for key recovery. While that may be true to some extent, 
there appears to be little or no demand for the all-
encompassing system they want to mandate. Experts have 
uniformly concluded the government's proposed system is either 
excessively costly and complex or insecure. In part, this is 
true because the government seeks access to real-time 
communications and data transmissions, rather than the ability 
to recover stored data.
    The Administration insists it doesn't want domestic 
restrictions on encryption. We are concerned, however, that the 
Administration policy does have this effect. Development of 
software programs, including those utilizing encryption, occurs 
at an amazingly rapid pace, so it is not feasible for computer 
software and hardware companies to develop separate products 
for export and for domestic use. As a result, as a practical 
matter, only products that are exportable, with weaker 
encryption or with government-approved key recovery-escrow, can 
be marketed at present.
    We fear that current encryption policy, encouraging as it 
does weaker encryption, makes every American more vulnerable to 
illicit or surreptitious access to our computer files, our 
phone conversations, and personal information, and thus exposes 
our citizens to hackers, terrorists, and thieves. It is ironic 
that what is trumpeted as an aid to law enforcement may 
insteadcompromise individual and corporate security.
    What we have here is not only a combination of export 
controls and a key recovery system that does not work, we have 
a system that compromises the competitiveness and security of 
this nation's software and hardware industry, as well as our 
privacy rights. As conceded by Administration witnesses, the 
proposed key recovery system can succeed only as long as there 
is no non-conforming encryption software readily available in 
the market. But there is already an abundance of such software, 
some of it freeware, that is readily available over the 
Internet.
    The proposed key recovery system can not work unless the 
United States persuades every other nation to adopt key 
recovery. We can safely say we are unlikely to obtain the 
agreement of Libya, Iran, Iraq, or North Korea. In addition, 
the efforts to date of David Aaron, U.S. Ambassador to the 
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), 
to obtain a consensus in support of key recovery resulted 
instead in a consensus opposing it.
    The Administration's policy has therefore been a strong 
market incentive:
          (a) for non-participants (in the Administration's key 
        escrow program) to make non-standard, secure encryption 
        available, and
          (b) for U.S. companies to set up abroad in 
        ``encryption havens'' so they may legally market 
        strong, secure encryption products to customers who 
        decline to make their ``international key'' available 
        to diverse governments around the world.
There are already U.S. companies establishing ties with foreign 
companies in Japan, Russia, and elsewhere.
    Nor is this policy without its cost. It is estimated that, 
if the U.S. persists in its current policy through the year 
2000, we shall lose 200,000 jobs and $60 billion each year. 
This is what it will cost this nation to lose the cryptography 
lead we enjoy and the competitive expertise necessary to 
maintain our market position.
    Unfortunately, our discussions to date with law enforcement 
and intelligence agencies have not admitted of the possibility 
of any further relaxation of export restrictions as part of the 
broader process essential to resolving this complex question. 
Nor has the Administration offered to consider alternatives to 
its key escrow or key recovery system.
    H.R. 695 need not be the end of the process but the 
beginning of a real dialogue. This is what we would like to 
happen. We continue to remain hopeful that the Administration 
will acknowledge the shortcomings of its current policy and 
sincerely hope that this will happen soon lest more serious 
damage be done to our industry, to our security and to our 
privacy.

                                   John Conyers, Jr.
                                   Rick Boucher.
                                   Zoe Lofgren.
                                   Maxine Waters.
                                   William Delahunt.
                                   Martin T. Meehan.