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LOOKING AHEAD |
Pro-CODE Act |
The Promotion of Commerce in a Digital Era Act, also known as the Pro-CODE Act, is a bill first introduced by Senator Conrad Burns in 1996 that would protect privacy and enhance free speech by relaxing current export control laws on cryptography. Senator Burns said at the introduction of his bill, "Computer users will not be willing to transmit creative content, business plans or even send letters without assurances of data security" (EPIC). The ACLU claims that current limitations on the export of cryptography is a violation of free speech. Current law discriminates against a form of speech, encrypted speech. While the ACLU supports the Pro-CODE Bill in general, they do not support certain sections that categorize what types of encryption can be exported. For instance, they oppose the "generally available" clause. The ACLU would rather that the bill cover cryptography as a whole. (ACLU). The bill does not completely eliminate the restrictions on the export of cryptography. The bill still allows control over products where sufficient evidence exists to indicate that a product may be used for terrorism, evasion of taxes, or reexported without authorization. The bill also establishes an Information Security Board whose purpose is to coordinate and communicate with the government and members of industry and to collect information on non-classified developments in information security technologies. After the bill flailed in the Senate for nearly three years, Senator Burns announced in January he would reintroduce the bill. |
[overview and site map] |