News Items (Summer, 1995)
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You don't need encryption to blow up a bomb. That's the lesson the Clinton
administration seems to be having trouble learning. Almost immediately after
the Oklahoma City bombing, there were cries on Capitol Hill for "broad new
powers' to combat terrorism. According to FBI Director Louis Freeh, one of the
biggest problems facing us today is that of criminals communicating on the
Internet using encryption. "This problem must be resolved," they say. According
to White House aides, Clinton will seek new FBI powers to monitor phone lines
of suspected terrorists as well as more access to credit and travel records.
Under the proposal, authorities will be able to do this without evidence of a
criminal act underway or in the planning stages. Under the current situation, a
lot of people are supporting this kind of a move without considering the
consequences. Once such measures are undertaken, they have a history of being
abused. In a land where tabloid television describes hackers as "computer
terrorists," we wonder if the government is that far behind. After all, our own
Bernie S. was denied bail, at least in part because he owned books that
explained how explosives worked. With this kind of hysteria dictating
enforcement, we shudder at the results of these proposals. In the case of
Oklahoma City, one fact remains very clear. None of this would have helped. The
suspects weren't significant enough to be noticed. And they didn't use
encryption or the Net at all. And yet, the tabloids are screaming about the
shocking speech that can be found on the Internet and how something has to be
done to stop it. But curtailing speech and liberty never advances the cause of
freedom and once begun is very difficult to reverse. Considering that it had no
difficulty speaking out against the recent Communications Decency Act, which
seeks to outlaw objectionable material over computer networks, the Clinton
administration really should know better.