9400157 Kent The proposed project is in response to the SKIPJACK initiative announced by the White House on April 19, 1993. The initiative involves both a chip for encryption (CLIPPER), to be incorporated into all telecommunications equipment, and a key-escrow scheme to ensure privacy of users. The initiative raises a number of serious public policy issues. This award is to provide funds for convening a panel to explore a number of topics under the general rubric of cryptography and public policy, as a service both to ACM members and to the public at large. In particular, the "Clipper proposal" and the current export control policy applied to cryptography will be analyzed with regard to their effectiveness, impact on the global competitiveness of U.S. industry, and implications for personal privacy. The panel will consist of the chair (the P.I.), an additional seven members, and a staff member, and will prepare a report in six months. The rationale provided for the use of the SKIPJACK algorithm and the associated key escrow scheme, as a Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS), will be examined in detail. The panel will explore the question "What must happen for this initiative to succeed and what might cause it to fail?" The panel will also examine issues related to trade, privacy, and technology development. ***
