By editorial@silicon.com, 16 September 1998 17:03
NEWS The US government is today expected to relax restrictions on the export of data encryption technology. Reports claim the Department of Commerce will allow US firms to export software containing 56bit encryption - the current limit is 40bit. The softening of the laws is expected to apply only to Nato member countries, in a limited range of industries such as ecommerce and medicine. The ban on exporting high-encryption software was originally a response to the concerns of US intelligence agencies, which feared interception by international terrorists and hostile nations. However, the 40bit limit has been rendered effectively meaningless as a large number of non-US companies are currently marketing products with security keys of up to 128bit.
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