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France Opening Crypto Restrictions
lstep writes "French Prime Minister said it all: "Complete liberty of cryptograhy in France" (well 128 bits).
Going from 40 to 128 bits is such a pleasure, and
no need to give my keys to any authority for
verification ! Documents are on (in French, sorry): here and
here.
I love France! " Hear that Uncle Sam? Pay Attention!
hey, bon jour, ev'ry buddy!!
Hear that Uncle Sam? Pay Attention! In the us we can have as strong encryption as we want:) We just can't export it:(
To build a protective legislative framework of the exchanges and private life
Cryptology, data protection personal, recognition of the convincing value of the numerical document and the electronic signature : three files which condition a sure use of Internet and information technologies in France and justify an adaptation of our right. The Government chose to submit to the Parliament a whole of new provisions, on the basis of of the reports/ratios to the Prime Minister of Mr. Guy Braibant on the personal data, and the Council of State on the legal stakes of the Internet
1. Cryptology : complete freedom of the use in France
Vis-a-vis with the development of the means of electronic espionage, the possibility of crypter the communications seems an effective answer to protect the confidentiality from the exchanges and the private life.
The Government gave itself the time of the reflexion. After having consulted the actors, the experts and its partners international, it acquired the conviction that the provisions resulting from the law of 1996 are not adapted any more. They strongly restrict the use of cryptology in our country, without making it possible the public authorities to fight effectively against criminal intrigues whose encryption could facilitate the dissimulation. They reveal moreover a risk of insulation of France compared to its principal partners.
The Government thus decided a fundamental change of orientation, which aims at making completely free the use of cryptology to France, while adapting the means of the public authorities to guarantee public freedoms in this new environment and to fight against the use of the means of encryption at punishable ends.
The project of legislative reform which will be submitted to the Parliament will articulate around the following orientations:
- to offer a freedom supplements in the use of the products of cryptology, under the only reserve of the maintenance of controls to export rising from international engagements of France (means of encryptions calling upon keys a length higher than 56 bits);
- to remove the obligatory character of the recourse to the third parties of confidence for the deposit of the keys of encryption. The role of third of confidence will not be limited to the management of the keys but will be able to extend to other missions, like the electronic attestation of signature. The recourse to these bodies and the mechanisms of car-sequestration will be encouraged. The thirds of confidence will be able in particular to request the attribution of a label near the public authorities;
- to allow the public authorities to fight effectively against the use of the processes of encryption at punishable ends. To this end, the current legal device will be supplemented by the introduction of obligations, together with penal sanctions, concerning the handing-over with the legal authorities, when those require it, of the transcription in light of the quantified documents. In the same way, the technical capacities of the public authorities will significantly be reinforced.
Thus should be changed the law, which will take several months. But the Government wanted that the obstacles which weigh on the citizens anxious to protect the confidentiality from their exchanges and on the development of the electronic trade are raised without waiting. Thus, in waiting of the announced legislative modifications, the Government decided to raise the threshold of the cryptology of which the use is free of 40 bits with 128 bits, level considered by the experts durably ensuring a very great safety.
With regard to the supply of the products of cryptology, the declaratory procedure will be simplified, in particular by the suppression of the simple test of stop. Lastly, the constraints weighing on the third parties of confidence which can be modified right now by lawful way will be strongly softened, in particular by the suppression of the requirements of enabling secrecy-defense weighing on their personnel and for availability 24 H out of 24.
2. Personal data : to ensure a high level of protection
The transposition of the European directive of 1995 relating to the data protection in personal matter must make it possible to adapt the legal framework interns with the generalization of the data-processing processing the data and with rise of the Internet. It must guarantee the safeguarding of the rights as fundamental as the personal freedom and the respect due to the private life.
The transposition of the directive, far from weakening the legal guarantees now offered to the citizens, will have as an aim to ensure those a high level of protection.
Accordingly, the orientations which the Government will propose will aim in particular to the reinforcement:
- means available to the national Commission of data processing and freedoms (CNIL),
- supervisory powers of the CNIL. In particular, the CNIL will have to be able to better exert its power of control a posteriori in the field, expanding fast, of the data processing at commercial purposes. **TRANSLATION ENDS**
To develop the culture, the contents and the presence of France on the Internet
The policy of support for the contents on line aims at supporting the access of the largest audience to works of the inheritance, the cultural public services and information on the tourist richnesses of our territory. It consolidates the presence of France on the Internet. It also makes it possible to support the development of industries and cultural services on line, and more generally, that of the Internet in our country. The action in favour of the cultural uses of the Internet and the multi-media participle of democratization of the network, as a combatant phenomena of exclusion of the company of information. It also allows the creators and to the artists to control information technologies.
The report submitted by the deputy Patrick BLOCHE to the Prime Minister in December 1998 contains many proposals, from which the Government made the following decisions :
1. To clarify the question of the royalties and the multi-media one
A dialogue will be implemented, under the aegis of the ministry for the culture and the communication, to support the bringing together of the actors on the question of the royalties and the multi-media one. It will result in the creation of two working groups on the situation of the paid, deprived and public authors.
Proposed in report/ratio BLOCHE, the creation of the higher Council of the author's copyright and artistic is decided.
2. To reinforce the devices of assistance to the creation and the edition of the contents on line
Funds of support for the innovation will make it possible SME of the multi-media sector to profit from advanced from search.
The funds of modernization of the daily press and the news services will contribute to the financing of the operations of digitalization and documentary engineering.
The device of assistance to the multi-media edition managed by the secretariat of State to industry and by the national center of cinematography will be made more inciting for the contents on line.
A site of information on the various government, national and European aid will be created for the editors on line.
Public commands of works for the Internet will be launched:
- For the first time, in 1999, twenty artists, young people and recognized, will expose on the network of the virtual achievements which will have been the subject of public commands. They will be revealed at the time of the festival of the Internet.
- Seven more significant projects multi-media will be carried out by famous artists, around large monuments, at the time of the passage to the third millenium.
3. To accelerate the free diffusion of the essential cultural data
A committee of program will be set up by the ministry for the culture and the communication to develop the following policy : priority with the needs of general public, put in line of the contents " of general interest " in particular patrimonial, exemption from payment of the access.
A gate " culture " will be created on the Internet to facilitate the access to the culture on line. It will be proposed like means of free lodging to the cultural associations partners of the public authorities.
The network of spaces multi-media culture will be densified ; in 1998, a hundred spaces of this type were open. The government decides to continue this effort.
4. To develop the French network with international by the Internet
The agency for the development of technological information (ADIT) and the foundation Alfred Kastler of the Academy of Science will set up before the summer 1999 a site intended to put in network the foreign scientists having studied in France. This site should initially touch approximately 15 000 scientists throughout the world.
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs will set up a site gate abroad at the attention of the French professors, including/understanding attribution with each one of them of an electronic address.
The program of opening of Internet sites in the totality of the consulates will be completed in 1999.
Taking into account the very satisfactory results of the funds French-speaking person of the info highways, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs will require of the contributors to discharge their engagements in order to reach the total of 40 MF initially envisaged. In accordance with the suggestions formulated by Mr. Patrick BLOCHE, the possibility of launching calls to sets of themes proposals will be examined by the board of management of the funds.
Three research projects on the computerized processing of the contents multimedia will be financed by the ministry for national education, search and technology (14 MF). They will relate in particular to the automatic indexing of films and audio-visual data in real time and on multilingual search of information on the networks.
5. To prolong the reflexion of report/ratio BLOCHE by a public discussion
Parallel to the implementation of these measurements, a public discussion will be open on the proposals of the deputy Patrick Bloche relating to the reinforcement of the French presence and the francophonie on the Internet. This one has indeed **TRANSLATION ENDS HERE**
Oh however they put it. France is not gay. France is cool. France is off my shit list!! Hooray! Unpronouncable brands of wine and escargot for everyone!!!!
read: "The project of legislative reform which will be submitted to the Parliament will"
"will": future tense
"submitted to the Parliament": this is only a project, not a law
I congratulate French Gov with successfully finished pilot project on how to break 128 bit in real time, hence they could "relax" crypto restrictions.
Hell, how can be "complete freedom" with most vital restriction on a key length???
Gee, almost makes it worth it to move there and put up with the socialist gov't, 12% unemployment, and their _favorite_ activity of weath redistribution... (a.k.a. socialism/communism). Hehe maybe if Libertarians win the next election I'll move there.
HA! This is PROOF the french have QUANTUM COMPUTERS!
Now that 128 bit encryption is on the loose, it's in the govt's advantage to remove all the export restrictions on such technologies. What if the french sell it to, the lybians or the cubans? Oh no! What's the US gonna do? They'll do what they're supposed to do, lump it and stf up. :) This inconvenience to the american people has been a joke, and in many ways unfair to our trade partners which Anklepants Clinton seems to care so much for!
Hear that Uncle Sam? Pay Attention!
Umm, go back and read the article one more time. The US still allows more freedom of cryptography than France does. This bill will not ease export restrictions from France, just allow people in France to use cryptography themselves, something that we can already do in the US.
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
Now I'll be able to exchange encrypted E-mails with my parents... They're missionaries in France and, though they aren't French citizens, they're still subject to the laws of France because they live there.
This is very good news for me.
-----
The real meaning of the GNU GPL:
"The Source will be with you... Always."
Is anyone interested in me doing a hand-translation on these things, or is babelfish good enough for you? If you prefer to stick to babelfish, then I won't bother.
(email jnieho38@calvin.edu)
I read too fast the text. There will be no keysize
limitation when the law will be voted. But
meanwhile, the maximum keysize will go from 40 to 128 bits...
Luc
It'll take a couple of years. Why do I say this?
Well, consider that this law only affects France. The rest of the world doesn't have this privilege. However, the law makes France an example. When crime does not rise significantly more and what rise there is (if any) cannot be blamed on crypto, governments will lose their only valid excuse to limit it: fear of encryption use in crime. This will spark protests which can only lead to free encryption for everyone, eventually.
So, we need to do whatever's possible tohelp this process along. Those Slashdotters who live in France can do much, but there's got to be something the others can do.
Ouais la France est le meilleur pays du monde, je l'savait :o) La France c'est cool!
Un p'tit sauterne avec du foie gras (d'oie) pour fêter ça, hop!
Allons enfants de la patriiiiieeeeeeeeuuuuuuuuuu
--
"Science will win because it works." - Stephen Hawking
Looks like is not rumours anymore. They now have to submit it to the parliament, but that should pose no problem.
The second document is interesting, it covers a different topic. Translated excerpt:
1. To clarify the problem of author's right and multimedia
Note that "droit d'auteur" is slightly different from Intellectual Th^H^HProperty. It recognizes the role of the author as opposed to that of the owner of patents / copyright. Here, the author of an art work as a right (not necessarily monetary) even if he sold the work to someone else.
3. To accelerate free access to essential cultural data
(...) priority to the needs of the public(...)
A cultural "portal" will be created(...) It will be proposed as a free hosting service for cultural organizations under partnership with the govt.(...)
All of this seems extremely interesting as it sounds like it does not carry anything like it would have been influenced by commercial lobbies.
France making a sensible policy decision?
Hell must have frozen over.
Expect Microsoft to open its source in the
next few days.
----
- "'S called the Vieux River."
- "Yes?"
- "Know what that means?"
- "No."
- "The Old (Masculine) River," said Nanny.
- "Yes?"
- "Words have sex in foreign parts," said Nanny hopefully.
(Terry Pratchett, Witches Abroad)... and today's pet project has
- no complete freedom (still limited to 128 bits)
- export controlled for anything over 56 bits, and
- "declarative process will be simplfied", seeming to imply that you'll still (in theory) have to declare your use of crypto.
France remains a not-so-free country regarding crypto.(and it's "la France", btw)
Note first that none of this has been implemented. It requires legislative reform, which can easily end up coopted by the business-as-usual mentality.
Second, note that we are only talking about 128 bit encryption, and it's not clear whether it will apply to all 128 bit encryption or (more likely) a set of approved programs. Since they are limiting the number of bits, they will require you to use an encryption program on the 'approved' list.
Third, note again that export is disallowed for anything stronger than 56-bit encryption, which is certainly not a strength of encryption which is safe from prying eyes.
Fourth (and this is unclear from my reading since I have no French and must rely on highly imperfect translations), some form of beefed-up law enforcement capability is included. Not sure what that's about, but it's unlikely to be good news.
Rob Levin
Head of Operations, Open Projects Net
"Open source, open technology, open information"
-- ----------------------------------------------
Vive le logiciel... Libre!!!
You managed to put several pieces of desinformation in this little sentence. If this wasn't your intention, then I suggest you to change your sources of information. May I point to you that the US press, in general, is a very bad source for foreign news?
France didn't sue anybody. Some private association denounced an alleged infringement of the law. The whole thing didn't even get judged because that association didn't even file their complaint properly.
The alleged fact that this association received government subsidies is irrelevant. First, the government by itself can ask for penal inquiries without needing some private association to file a complaint. Second, dozens of associations get some subsidies; these are usually targeted at funding some precise project led by those associations and do not mean a general endorsement of their policies by the government.
Second: the accusation was not publishing a WWW site in English, but publishing ADVERTISEMENT in English only. The laws on wrongful advertisement in France are strict, and it was thought some years ago that it might be prudent to request at least subtitles on foreign language advertisements.
Whether or not the Georgia Tech Lorraine site contained advertisements targeted at the general French public was not judiciarily investigated.
Ah, also. The French government and its agencies publish WWW sites in multiple languages. I've yet to see US government official sites in French.
It seems it is only a temporary restriction that will apply while they are creating a legal context to handle cryptography. The objective is no restriction at all with no third party.
Hmmm, finding a general solution to breaking ANY 128-bit algorithm is (and it's reasonably safe to say this) quite close to impossible given any known technology today.
2^128 is a very very very big number. There is no way any government can break every 128-bit algorithm. Maybe some specific ones because of specific weaknesses, but not all of them.