Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1998 02:31:15 -0600 (MDT)
From: mea culpa <jericho@dimensional.com>
To: InfoSec News <isn@sekurity.org>
Subject: [ISN] Another free country bites the dust 


Forwarded From: Paul Hart <Paul.Hart@Swift.Com>

URL unknown - received through company internal newsfeed.

The Economist Intelligence Unit via NewsEdge Corporation : While EU member
states inch towards crafting a common approach on Internet encryption
software, a patchwork of national laws is taking shape. Spain is the
latest EU member state to put encryption rules on its statute books. 

Its recently enacted Telecommunications Law 1998 grants Spaniards the
right to use "strong cryptography", but the law's opponents note that it
also obliges anyone who wants to use such software to deposit an
electronic 'key' with a government-approved agency (known as a "Trusted
Third Party", or TTP). They argue that TTPs undermine the right to
privacy, compromise the security of encryption software and discourage
people from sending sensitive information (eg credit card numbers) across
open networks like the Internet. The police insist such measures are
needed to enable them to tap scrambled e-mail messages sent by criminals
and terrorists.

Laws vary widely across the EU, with France's the most draconian: any
French citizen wishing to use encryption software produced abroad must
obtain permission from the prime minister. The UK recently unveiled plans
for a voluntary TTP licensing scheme, and several other countries have
legislation pending. At the other end of the spectrum are Finland, Sweden,
Denmark and Germany, which have no controls. 

Agreement on a co-ordinated EU-wide approach to encryption policy has not
yet been achieved. EU justice ministers emphasised the need to examine
encryption software issues after a meeting in the UK earlier this year.
But little progress has been made in discussions between national police
experts from all 15 member states.

<<The Economist Intelligence Unit -- 08-26-98>>


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