Thoughts!Non-ThoughtsThoughts
| Encryption - a Crime or a Liberty?[1998-03-02]Several countries have laws against spreading algorithms of encryption; at least if they are too "strong", that is, too effective and hard to penetrate. A simple algorithm (such as the Caesar Cipher) would not cause any fuzz should I decide to send the algorithm to a friend outside my country, and neither would a computer-program using that algorithm. However, if I instead had developed myself an encryption-program that through astounding mathematical techniques caused severe trouble for others than the legitimate users, the state could imply a penalty upon me if I spread it - despite the fact that I invented the algorithm on my own. You wonder why? Well, the wicked reason is that computer-programs that encrypt/decrypt messages and algorithms that describe how it should be done, are considered military technology. Therefore, if I indeed did export the source-code of an encryption-program to someone, or the encryption-program itself, I would commit an act that could be compared to sending them a blueprint of how to build the latest anti-aircraft missile, or indeed even the missile itself. To make this even worse, the rules are not very consistent; in most countries that forbid algorithm-export, I would still be allowed to hold a speech where I read the algorithm aloud to people that would not otherwise be allowed to take part of the algorithm. I could even write a book containing the source-code of a computer-program utilising the algorithm and then publish it in other countries or send it to someone whom I would not have been allowed to send the final program to. This is of course due to the fact that these countries take very seriously on the Basic Liberties of Man. Or do they? Is it really Freedom of Thought to be forbidden to use strong encryption when writing an e-mail to a friend abroad just because of the fact that the native Secret Service wants to be able to snoop into your communication? That would be something that could be compared to forbidding banks to have too secure vaults, just because they could prevent the police from investigating the contents. In addition, I would dearly like to know what goes on inside the minds of the politicians that strive oh so bitterly for the Four Rights of Movement that belongs to the EEC-treaty (the treaty of the European Economic Community). These Rights state that all Wares, Services, Capital and Human resources should be free to move anywhere without regulations inside the European Union. Now, should not these rules protect the rights to export encryption-algorithms freely? Who on earth would like to perform his bank-services via Internet without being sure that no one could intercept his transmissions or forge messages? Would anyone want to risk having his secret e-mail read by people that it was not intended for? And would any computer-consultant send his newly developed ground-breaking program via Internet to his clients in another country, if he or she knew that the packets could be intercepted and stolen because he/she was not allowed to use encryption that was powerful enough? I would answer no. Freedom of Speech and Thought are maybe the most important rights there is in a democracy, and they must be protected; without them our societies will merely be democracies in name, and not in practice. |
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