[This is a post from Kawika Daguio (who represents the American Bankers Association, and is a member of the Digital Privacy and Security Working Group) regarding the political realities of why the 1994 Digital Telephony bill passed, and what role EFF played. Those interested in a non-EFF viewpoint on this from someone that was there during the entire process might find this a good, short read. The standard disclaimer surely applies, and this sould not be taken to be an official ABA statement, just Mr. Daguio's own position on the matter.] Subject: Why DT Passed - Reality From: KDAGUIO@aba.com Date: 28 Oct 1994 12:45:37 -0400 Cyberspace activists, I have been watching the debate about why DT passed, and watched a number of people jumping on Stanton and Jerry repeatedly and I believe undeservedly. I hope I don't recieve the same treatment for speaking up now. I am a lobbyist for the banking industry. I was there for the meetings and negotiations between the Hill staff, the FBI, EFF, and the Telcos. I was the only representative of telephony users other than EFF consistently at the meetings. We made suggestions which were adopted which resulted in significant improvement of the bill for everyone of us. No one liked the fact that we had to be there, or compromise at all. As some of you may remember, if you have been around for awhile, the original drafts of the bill were expansive, and their impact horrible to contemplate. I found the bill as originally written, impossible to accept. However, we recognized that the disgusting original version of the bill would easily pass, no matter what anyone of us said, because of the political environment on Capitol Hill. We work up there physically, and have humint not available to some not on the ground. I hate the hill and have not gotten beltway fever. I refuse to compromise unless I know that there is literally no hope. We literally were the beneficiaries of charity. We could have lost much worse, had Edwards not been giving up his seat and been willing to work on our behalf. We owe Edwards & Leahy and their good staffs a debt of gratitude. If Edwards, Leahy and others had not sought/helped us out, Biden would have gotton Congress to pass the original bill in a second, and the FBI would have gotten everything it thought it wanted. Imagine _anyone_ having remote wiretapping capability on every data and voice network in the US. From a privacy and security standpoint, we found that unacceptable and acted by getting involved in the process. I believe that by getting involved we helped everyone. I urge you in further fights not to underestimate the clout of the law enforcement agencies. They can get anything they want, especially if the Members of Congress do not understand the issue. If they say the magic phrases, "lives lost, lives saved, criminals caught" they can count on members to salute. Based on the politics of the issue (I disagree with the concept of compromise - however I am not a crypto-anarchist i.e. death before dishonor) I think that the best approach for the community was to have EFF at the table making improvements and communicating with everyone on our side. Regarding the meetings- Jerry stood up for us. He knew that we could not win a knock-down, drag out fight. The rules on the Hill, the makeup of the committees, and the mood of the country on crime meant that we didn't have a chance of killing it forever. If it was stopped this year, it would have been worse for everyone next year, and may have contained encryption restrictions and then passed easily. If you thought it went fast this time, you have not seen anything. The Telcos were willing to put all networks on the table, their primary concern was "who was going to pay, how were they going to be paid, and how much?" Don't expect help from them or their friends on these issues - they felt that if their networks were covered, everyones should be. I worked hard to get private networks taken off the table, and to get language in the record justifying their removal. In addition to the privacy implications for everyone, remote wiretap capability opens up our networks to sabotage, hacking, and other bad things which tend to bother the people I represent. Jerry worked hard to get the privacy provisions included & to ensure that sunshine procedures apply to the law enforcement agencies exercise of their access. I hope that you all can appreciate now more of what happened and can learn from it because the writing on the wall is clear JUST BECAUSE WE ARE RIGHT DOES NOT MEAN THAT WE WILL WIN. This truth has implications for those of us involved in the Clipper & EES fight. Please note the last days emergence of HR 5199. Again, even if a million signatures are on petitions, and everyone faxes their Congresscritters, we can still lose, if the enforcement guys want their bill bad enough. Good luck & keep fighting the good fight...kawika...