Canada to remain mostly free

[Greg Stark <stark@generation.net>]

Manley announced new crypto policies, and though the speech is low on
detail, despite being particularly long-winded, it seems Canada may
remain in the free world.

An article:
 http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,27044,00.html?st.ne.fd.mdh
The actual speech:
 http://e-com.ic.gc.ca/english/speeches/42d3.htm

The important part of the speech:

	First, the Government affirms the freedom of Canadians to develop,
	import and use whatever cryptography products they wish. We want
	Canadian businesses and citizens to have access to a wide range of
	products and services, including the very strongest forms of
	encryption.

	Second, the Government will not implement mandatory key recovery
	requirements or licensing regimes for certification authorities or
	trusted third parties.

	Third, we will encourage industry to establish responsible practices,
	such as key recovery techniques for stored data and industry-led
	accreditation of private sector certification authorities. This will
	build consumer and business confidence in these products and services,
	and assure business continuity in case of loss or corruption of keys.
	We will use government procurement to encourage commercial key back-up
	-- it makes sense for us as government using these products, so we
	know it makes good business sense.

	Fourth, we will continue to implement cryptography export controls
	within our commitments to the Wassenaar Arrangement; however, we will
	ensure that Canadian cryptography manufacturers face a level playing
	field -- our controls will take into account the practices of other
	countries so that Canadian manufactures will not be at a competitive
	disadvantage.

	Fifth, we will streamline the export permit process and make it more
	transparent. For many products, users or destinations, after a "one
	time review" of the product, general or multi-destination, multiuser
	permits will be issued. Our intention is to simplify and speed up
	decision making, and significantly reduce the "regulatory drag" on
	exporters. We do not want them to be late to market.

	Finally, the Government proposes to make legislative amendments which
	will protect consumers' privacy and will also give law enforcement
	agencies and national security agencies the legal framework they need
	to ensure public safety. This includes making it an offence to
	wrongfully disclose private encryption key information and to use
	cryptography to commit or hide evidence of a crime. We also need to
	make it clear that warrants and assistance orders also apply to
	situations where encryption is encountered -- to obtain the decrypted
	material or decryption keys. Representatives of the Office of the
	Solicitor General are available today to answer questions on this
	component of the policy.

greg