Senator Conrad Burns (R-Montana) is treating opposition to strong encryption legislation on Capitol Hill like damage on the Internet: he's routing around it.
In May, Burns introduced the Promotion of Commerce Online in the Digital Era Act of 1996. Designed to short-circuit the Clinton administration's botched Clipper II key escrow proposals and export restrictions, Pro-CODE makes an end-run around Republican Senator Orrin Hatch's net.hostile Judiciary Committee with the sponsorship of Senator Larry Pressler (R South Dakota).
But Pro-CODE has other influential friends too. Republican presidential hopeful Bob Dole has joined the ranks as a co-sponsor. Dole may not be an online visionary, but with luck, privacy and security on the Internet will surface as issues in the '96 presidential campaign. Look out, Slick Willie Š come November, netizens might just decide to route around you, too.
Todd Lappin
ELECTRIC WORD
Treating Congress as Damage
