Crypto code of honor put to test

The battle over digital encryption is one of competing fears and ghosts, a struggle that pits fundamental rights of privacy against national security.

The specter of J. Edgar Hoover and government abuse of private information hovers against televised disasters like the ominous crash of TWA Flight 800, images that law enforcement authorities warn will be repeated with tragic frequency if the Internet becomes a criminal playground where the good guys are locked out.

Hearings were cybercast by Senate staff members

The theater for this historic conflict is a piece of legislation unknown to much of the general public called the Promotion of Commerce On-Line in the Digital Era Act of 1996. The bill is a rallying point for online rights advocates and Silicon Valley executives who see encryption not only as the way to ensure individual privacy in a virtual world full of digital holes, but also as the key to realizing the Internet commerce boom that has so far advanced with baby steps.

Supporters of the legislation, known commonly as the Pro-Code bill, say their campaign is gaining momentum and express confidence that the measure will eventually become law. But even if they broaden their foundation, they face the obstacles of a presidential veto and a perceived threat of terrorism associated with secret codes.

Pro-Code seeks to abolish not only Cold War-era export restrictions on encryption but also a "key escrow" system in which everyone's private encryption codes, or "keys," would be stored with third-party agencies sanctioned by the government. What Pro-Code opposes, and what the FBI, the National Security Agency, and the Clinton administration want, is back-door access built into the key escrow system that would basically give the government a skeleton key to everyone's email or computer files.