From: Corey Bridges <corey@netscape.com>
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Message Hash: 28e2036cba750c8a52302f2fd93aa992af26dac2d03234eb42f79f8166409358
Message ID: <199601151906.LAA19362@urchin.netscape.com>
Reply To: N/A
UTC Datetime: 1996-01-15 19:07:00 UTC
Raw Date: Mon, 15 Jan 96 11:07:00 PST
From: Corey Bridges <corey@netscape.com>
Date: Mon, 15 Jan 96 11:07:00 PST
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Commerce Dept Recommends Strong Crypto Export
Message-ID: <199601151906.LAA19362@urchin.netscape.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain
Well. Now that the government itself is taking up the charge, I'm sure we
can expect a speedy resolution.
Yeah, right.
***
Scrambled software gets an OK
-- Exports: Foreign encoding unfair to U.S. firms, Commerce Department
says.
Bloomberg Business News
WASHINGTON -- The Commerce Department will recommend easing export
controls on encryption software after a study by the department and
the National Security Agency found the restrictions are hurting U.S.
firms, Commerce Secretary Ron Brown said.
Such a move may pit Brown's department against U.S. defense and spy
agencies, however, setting the stage for a White House battle over one
of the last computer technologies still covered by export controls.
``I'm interested in promoting American exports,'' Brown said.
``If your foreign competitors are exporting products with encryption
capability and you are not, that puts you at a tremendous competitive
disadvantage,'' he said.
Encryption software turns information, such as files and credit card
numbers, into indecipherable material that can be sent across networks
without fear of tampering to the recipient, who can then unscramble
it. Under current U.S. law, encryption technology that exceeds certain
technical thresholds is considered a ``munition.'' Those who would
export such technology need explicit permission from the government.
The United States justifies the export restrictions by saying
law-enforcement agencies would be hamstrung in their efforts to stop
terrorists, spies and criminals without them.
The computer industry counters that encryption software is available
from other countries, and the restrictions simply rob U.S. companies
of business.
The Computer Systems Policy Project, a joint effort of 13 top
technology companies released its own study showing that U.S.
companies will lose as much as 30 percent of the $200 billion in U.S.
computer system sales expected in 2000 because of federal laws
limiting exports of encryption products.
Brown said his department will prepare recommendations for easing
those controls that should be forwarded to the president ``within a
few months.''
It's unclear if the NSA endorsed the Commerce Department's conclusions
in the report it jointly prepared. Representatives of the NSA were
unavailable for comment.
Brown's assertion comes a day after federal prosecutors dropped a
three-year investigation of Boulder, Colo., software designer Philip
Zimmermann, whose encryption program called Pretty Good Privacy was
posted on the Internet, the worldwide computer network.
Published 1/13/96 in the San Jose Mercury News. Reprinted digitally here
without permission, and probably illegally.
Corey Bridges
Security Documentation
Netscape Communications Corporation
home.netscape.com/people/corey
415-528-2978
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