The ludicrous and unworkable Burr-Feinstein bill appears dead, a victim of its “do magic somehow” prescriptions and a lack of support from the White House and intelligence agencies. Nonetheless, we can expect more of the same perhaps even from the same know-nothings that gave us Burr-Feinstein.
Daniel J. Weitzner (and others) over at the Lawfare blog have a nice checklist to help evaluate new backdoor proposals. The six items on the checklist are not so much technical as common sense. For instance, number 6 is “Watch for the assumption that human rights and the rule of law prevail throughout the world.” Taken together, the items represent a high but minimal bar that any proposal should meet.
Since the checklist non-technical, it would be nice if our legislators would consult it before churning out more irrational and unworkable legislation. On the other hand, it is, as I say, common sensical so they probably won’t.