Downvoted because of triteness and limited applicability, as well as implicit oversimplification of a lot of legally and technically complicated matters. Neither essential liberties nor safety is absolute or can be.
Encryption systems with back doors are inherently flawed. So are certificate systems when based on untrustworthy or compromised certificate authorities, a better analogy for various suggested key escrow systems. It is likely that a key escrow system could be devised that would be as secure from compromise as current CA private keys, that could be used legally only with, for example, a court ordered warrant (and be reasonably secure against use absent a warrant), and it might be that some could scale to the very large number of keys required to conduct commerce.
It is likely that such an escrow system would be of about the same utility as the NSA call details data, which is to say "not very much." It would be quite costly and viewed by many with considerable distrust. It would raise a great many foreign trade and relations issues, although many of those probably would be surmountable given the likely interest of other governments in doing much the same. I do not think the US Congress would authorize it, but have to agree they have done sillier things.
We are, at the moment, in a state of moral panic over what really is a very small threat (nationally, but not to those affected directly) and thrashing about looking for Something to Do. The moment will pass, as later events overtake it.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
