Whether you call it digital telephony or encryption, it is a public safety issue, and the question is do we want that public safety. I believe we do. We have begun discussions with businesses to find out what other options are available for key escrowing techniques. Key escrow appears to be a technique that provides the balance between the privacy of the individual and the need of law enforcement to conduct electronic surveillance. The government in many ways is systematically attempting to deny Americans the ability to have conversations or records that government can't access.
Access is the critical question.
We're being asked now to trust the government with our most intimate communications. I want to stress that there has been a qualitative change in what's happening. Everything is becoming electronic. When we're talking about preserving the status quo, one has to take into consideration that everything has been digitized and stored and is available for access. One of my particular bugaboos is this voluntary bit.