[ISN] Math professor wins landmark crypto ruling

From: cult hero (jerichoat_private)
Date: Sat May 08 1999 - 02:52:29 PDT

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    Math professor wins landmark crypto ruling
    By Courtney Macavinta
    Staff Writer, CNET News.com
    May 6, 1999, 4:25 p.m. PT
    URL: http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,36217,00.html
    
    U.S. export limits on encryption are unconstitutional, the Ninth Circuit
    Court of Appeals ruled in a precedent-setting decision today. 
    
    In a 2-to-1 vote, a federal panel affirmed U.S. District Judge Marilyn
    Patel's 1997 landmark ruling in Daniel Bernstein vs. the Justice
    Department.  That decision states that software source code is a language,
    and therefore the export controls violate the University of Illinois math
    professor's First Amendment right. 
    
    Bernstein had wanted to post crypto code on his Web site as part of an
    international course he teaches, but was blocked by a Clinton
    administration policy regulating software cryptotography as falling within
    the interests of national security. 
    
    Today's loss for the government is no doubt a blow to the administration's
    policy. Legal experts say the ruling is a huge endorsement for online
    privacy and essentially applies to anyone who wants to post crypto source
    code--without a license--from within the Ninth Circuit. Although the
    opinion doesn't apply to off-the-shelf products, companies such as Pretty
    Good Privacy (PGP), which is based in California, could get regulatory
    relief, because its source code is freely available around the world.
    
    "We hold that the challenged regulations constitute a prior restraint on
    speech that offends the First Amendment," states the Ninth Circuit
    majority opinion by Judge Betty Fletcher. "As a result, Bernstein and
    other scientists have been effectively chilled from engaging in valuable
    scientific expression."
    
    When Bernstein sued the government in early 1995, the Clinton
    administration regulated encryption as a potential weapon, requiring an
    export license to ship products. The State Department had classified
    Bernstein's encryption program, dubbed Snuffle, as munitions and said he
    needed a license to "export" the code via his Web site. This position
    didn't change even when the Commerce Department began administering the
    regulations in December 1996.
    
    "We find that the export administration regulations operate as a
    prepublication licensing scheme that burdens scientific expression, vest
    boundless discretion in government officials, and lack adequate procedural
    safeguards," Fletcher wrote in the ruling.
    
    The Justice Department is expected to appeal the ruling to the Supreme
    Court, in which case the Appeals Court ruling could be stayed. 
    Nonetheless, Bernstein's legal team is celebrating its victory.
    
    "The decision declares that the regulations are unconstitutional, period," 
    said Bernstein's lead attorney, Cindy Cohn. 
    
    "As a practical matter, the government is not enjoined from applying its
    regulations--except to Bernstein. But we're one step closer to doing away
    with the regulations," she added. "The ruling shows that Justice saw the
    real reason we are fighting this--this case is about whether you and me
    and everyone has access to the tools to protect our privacy or not." 
    
    Crypto's contentious history Encryption export limits have been at the
    center of a contentious debate for years.
    
    On one side are law enforcement officials who say the restrictions are
    necessary to deter tech-savvy criminals from using the technology to cover
    their tracks. On the other side are civil liberties advocates who argue
    that the laws impede speech and global consumers' rights to computer
    privacy, as well as U.S. software and hardware companies which say the
    restrictions prevent them from competing with their foreign counterparts.
    
    Bernstein's attorneys argued that source code was a form of speech for
    programmers, and that he should not be subject to prior review by the
    government before publishing his ideas. The government countered that
    source code doesn't express ideas and is simply used to control the
    operation of a computer.
    
    The Appeals Court today agreed with Bernstein. 
    
    "First, it is not at all obvious that the government's view reflects a
    proper understanding of source code," the ruling stated. "Source code is
    not meant solely for the computer, but is rather written in a language
    intended also for human analysis and understanding."
    
    The ruling went on to say that code is used to convey ideas. 
    
    "Cryptographers use source code to express their scientific ideas in much
    the same way that mathematicians use equations or economists use graphs," 
    the opinion stated. "We conclude that encryption software, in its source
    code form and as employed by those in the field of cryptography, must be
    viewed as expressive for First Amendment purposes, and thus is entitled to
    the protections of the prior restraint doctrine." 
    
    Judge Thomas Nelson, however, dissented on grounds that Bernstein should
    never have been allowed to bring the free speech challenge. "The ultimate
    purpose of encryption code is, as its name suggests, to perform the
    function of encrypting messages…it is inherently a functional device." 
    
    White House reproached What struck legal and privacy advocates today was
    the sentiment of the ruling. The opinion took on the entire White House
    policy, saying it was "retarding the progress of the flourishing science
    of cryptography."  Moreover, the ruling addressed encryption's role in
    protecting privacy in the digital world. 
    
    "In this increasingly electronic age, we are all required in our everyday
    lives to rely on modern technology to communicate with one another. This
    reliance on electronic communication, however, has brought with it a
    dramatic diminution in our ability to communicate privately," the ruling
    stated. 
    
    Michael Froomkin, a professor of law at the Unversity of Miami, said the
    ruling has broad implications. 
    
    "The court also attacks the entire regulatory structure," he said. "It is
    important to note, however, that this decision does not apply directly to
    actual ready-to-run programs. But the tone of it is that crypto applies to
    the social protection of privacy." 
    
    Added Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy
    Information Center, which filed a friend-of-court brief in the case: "This
    is the leading case right now in the United States on the right to use
    encryption. It provides a powerful and far-reaching rationale in
    supporting privacy and the right to use encryption." 
    
    Supporters of legislative efforts such as the Security and Freedom through
    Encryption Act (SAFE), which would cut the red tape for U.S. companies
    that want to sell strong encryption overseas, also cheered today's ruling. 
    
    "This decision demonstrates the judicial branch's understanding of the
    encryption debate," Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-California) said in a statement.
    "Now is the time for Congress and the administration to follow suit. This
    means passing and signing into law the SAFE Act." 
    
    
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