15 September 1998

From: "Yaman Akdeniz" <lawya@lucs-01.novell.leeds.ac.uk>
To: ukcrypto@maillist.ox.ac.uk
Date: Tue, 15 Sep 1998 14:47:34 GMT0BST
Subject: CR&CL(UK) - Wassenaar report and campaign launched

A Press Release by Cyber-Rights & Cyber-Liberties (UK)
Wassenaar Controls, Cyber-Crime and Information Terrorism Report
released

For Immediate Release, 15 September, 1998

CRYPTOGRAPHY IS NOT A WEAPON

LEEDS-Today members of the Global Internet Liberty Campaign
(http://www.gilc.org) sent a statement to the technical expert
representatives of the 33 Nations who are signatory to the Wassenaar
Arrangement. Leeds based Cyber-Rights & Cyber-Liberties (UK) is a
member of the campaign and signed the GILC statement which calls for
the removal of cryptography from the Wassenaar Arrangement.

The aim of the Wassenaar Arrangement is to prevent the build up of
military capabilities that threaten regional and international
security and stability. The intent of the Arrangement is to restrict
the proliferation of offensive strategic weapons, but cryptography is
a defensive mechanism, particularly against electronic warfare
attacks. The Arrangement states that it will not impede bona fide
civil transactions. But cryptographic products are vital for the
continued growth of digital economies, for the development of secure
electronic commerce and the protection of the privacy of citizens.

There is no sound basis within the Wassenaar Arrangement for the
continuation of any export controls on cryptographic products. Such
controls can only serve to increase the vulnerability of the
information infrastructures on which society is increasingly
dependent. Rather than hampering crime and terrorism, expansive
restrictions on cryptography will create an environment in which they
will flourish.

Dr. Brian Gladman, Crypto Policy Co-ordinator for Cyber Rights &
Cyber-Liberties (UK) stated that:

"The Global Internet Liberty Campaign (GILC) effort to remove
cryptography export controls is timely since further developments in
Internet use now depend on cryptographic products to provide the
better safety and security that users need."

Yaman Akdeniz, director of the organisation stated that:

"Apart from the international campaign we are now starting our own
campaign at a UK level. We have to act before it is too late and we
need the industry's support on this important issue."

Dr Gladman, further added that:

"The Wassenaar nations now have a duty to remove all export controls
that impact on such products in order to allow the emergence of the
open international market that is needed to foster their development."

Cyber-Rights & Cyber-Liberties (UK) also released its own report on
this issue entitled "Wassenaar Controls, Cyber-Crime and Information
Terrorism," written by Dr Brian Gladman which concluded that "far from
hampering criminal and terrorist activities, controls on civil
cryptographic products are promoting the evolution of a global
information infrastructure that provides many easy targets for
cyber-crime and information terrorism."

Notes for the Media

This press release is available through
http://www.cyber-rights.org/press/

Cyber-Rights & Cyber-Liberties (UK) September 1998 report "Wassenaar
Controls, Cyber-Crime and Information Terrorism," is at
http://www.cyber-rights.org/crypto/wassenaar.htm

Cyber-Rights & Cyber-Liberties (UK) Cryptography pages are at
http://www.cyber-rights.org/crypto/

The GILC statement "Crypto is a Defensive Tool, Not a Weapon," is at
http://www.cyber-rights.org/crypto/gilc-wass.htm and the Global
Internet Liberty Campaign Wassenaar page is at
http://www.gilc.org/crypto/wassenaar/. The English language version of
the statement is up at
http://www.gilc.org/crypto/wassenaar/gilc-statement-998.html and the
German version is at
http://www.gilc.org/crypto/wassenaar/gilc-statement-998-de.html

International Crypto Campaign Home page is at
http://www.efa.org.au/wassenaar/

The new home of Cyber-Rights & Cyber-Liberties (UK) is at
http://www.cyber-rights.org but until a complete move is completed,
the pages will continue to be available through
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/law/pgs/yaman/yaman.htm

Contact Information:

Mr Yaman Akdeniz, director of Cyber-Rights & Cyber-liberties (UK)
Address: Centre For Criminal Justice Studies, University of Leeds, LS2
9JT. Direct Telephone: 0498-865116, dial +44 498 865116 if you are
abroad. Fax: 0113- 2335056 E-mail: lawya@cyber-rights.org,
lawya@leeds.ac.uk

Dr Brian Gladman, Crypto Policy Co-ordinator for Cyber Rights &
Cyber-Liberties (UK) Telephone: 01905 740902, dial +44 (0) 1905 740902
if you are abroad. E-mail: brg@cyber-rights.org

Background Information:

Cyber-Rights & Cyber-Liberties (UK) is a non-profit civil liberties
organisation founded on January 10, 1997. Its main purpose is to
promote free speech and privacy on the Internet and raise public
awareness of these important issues. The Web pages have been online
since July 1996. Cyber-Rights & Cyber-Liberties (UK) started to become
involved with national Internet-related civil liberties issues
following the release of the DTI white paper on encryption in June
1996 and the Metropolitan Police action to censor around 130
newsgroups in August 1996. Cyber-Rights & Cyber-Liberties (UK)
recently criticised the attempts of the Nottinghamshire County Council
to suppress the availability of the JET Report on the Internet.

Cyber-Rights & Cyber-Liberties (UK) covers such important issues as
the regulation of child pornography on the Internet and UK
Government's encryption policy. The organisation provides up-to-date
information related to free speech and privacy on the Internet.
Cyber-Rights & Cyber-Liberties (UK) is a member of various action
groups on the Internet and also a member of the Global Internet
Liberty Campaign (see <http://www.gilc.org>) which has over 30 member
organisations world wide.

In November 1997, Cyber-Rights & Cyber-Liberties (UK) launched a new
report entitled, Who Watches the Watchmen, on the implications of the
use and development of rating systems and filtering tools for the
Internet content. The report insists that the debates on regulation of
Internet-content should take place openly and with the involvement of
public at large rather than at the hands of a few industry based
private bodies.

In February 1998, Cyber-Rights & Cyber-Liberties (UK) produced the
Global Internet Liberty Campaign member statement which criticised the
possible introduction of "key escrow" or "key recovery" systems for
the regulation of encryption services in the UK. The statement signed
by 22 organisations world-wide concluded that "mandatory key recovery
policies would make Britain a second-class nation in the Information
Age."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yaman Akdeniz <lawya@leeds.ac.uk>
Cyber-Rights & Cyber-Liberties (UK) at: http://www.cyber-rights.org

Read the new CR&CL (UK) Report, Who Watches the Watchmen, Part:II
Accountability & Effective Self-Regulation in the Information Age,
August 1998 at http://www.cyber-rights.org/watchmen-ii.htm
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