Export Controls

Recent News

• Cyber-Rights Groups Welcome New Crypto Coalition. EPIC, the ACLU and EFF have issued a joint statement on encryption policy, welcoming the creation of the industry-led Americans for Computer Privacy. Meanwhile, Vice President Gore has sent a letter to Sen. Tom Daschle reiterated the Administration's commitment to preserving the ability of law enforcement to access the plaintext of communications and stored data.
  
  
• Brief Filed in Crypto Case. EPIC and 14 other parties have filed an amicus brief in the Bernstein v. US State Department case calling export controls of cryptography unconstitutional. A decision is expected in May 1997.
  
  
• Top House Democrats criticize White House Crypto Position. 12 top Democrats, including Minority Leader Richard Gephardt (D-MO) sent a letter to President Clinton on April 2 supporting export control relaxations.
  
  
• House Committee Rejects Crypto Restrictions. The House Commerce Committee on Sept 24 rejected amendments to HR 695 that would mandate that all encryption systems in the US have a back door to allow government access. In its place, the Committee approved a proposal that doubled penalities for crypto use in a crime and creates a new FBI center for surveillance. The proposed legislation met widespread opposition from software companies, industry, civil liberties and leading scientific societies. Fax your member of Congress.
  
  
• Declassified House Crypto Briefing.The transcript of the classified June 26. 1997 briefing for the House International Relations Committee, including FBI Director Louis Freeh and NSA Deputy Director William Crowell, obtained by Declan McCullagh.
  
  
• Senate Committee Endorses Key-Escrow. In a setback for efforts to reform U.S. encryption policy, the Senate Commerce Committee has passed the Secure Public Networks Act, which was introduced by Sens. Bob Kerrey and John McCain on June 18. The bill contains a number of coercive measures that would force widespread domestic adoption of key escrow encryption techniques. Check CNET's coverage for more details.
  
  
• Senate Committee Debates Key Escrow Bill. The Senate Judiciary Committee debated S. 909 and key escrow on July 9. The FBI pushed for domestic controls on encryption.
  • NYT Cybertimes article on the hearing
    Statement of Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch
    Testimony of FBI Director Louis Freeh
    Testimony of EPIC Advisory Board Member Peter Neumann
    Testimony NRC Panel Chairman Kenneth Dam
    
    
• Encryption Bill Advances. The House Judiciary Committee has approved the SAFE encryption bill. A provision that would have criminalized the use of encryption "in furtherance of the commission of a criminal offense" was substantially narrowed after a broad-based coalition expressed its concern. See coverage from CNET and the Washington Post for more details.

   

• Export Control Bills Introduced. Senators Burns and Leahy and Rep. Goodlatte have introduced legislation to relax export controls on encryption software. EPIC testimony on SAFE legislation.

   

• Federal Appeals Court Punts on Crypto Case. In a decision issued on January 21, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit remanded the appeal of Phil Karn back to the lower court. The appeals court based its decision on the issuance of new export control regulations recently promulgated by the Commerce Department. Check out the amicus brief of EPIC, ACLU, ISOC and USACM in support of Karn's challenge to crypto export controls.

   

• Commerce Department Issues Export Regulations for "Key Recovery" Encryption. The goal is to promote "worldwide key management infrastructure with the use of key recovery and key escrow." Read the full text of the new regulations and check C|NET's coverage for additional info.

   

• Opposition Grows To Clinton Encryption Export Plan. A leading software industry group is backing away from its early support of the Clinton administration's new encryption policy. In a letter to Vice President Al Gore, the Business Software Alliance, which includes Microsoft and IBM's Lotus Development, said that the rules implementing the new encryption export policy appeared to be flawed. Hardware companies are also expressing concern.

   

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• New Crypto Directive. President Clinton signed an Executive Order on November 15 shifting jurisdiction over encryption export controls from the State Department to the Commerce Department and giving the FBI new authority over exports. The White House also released a memorandum on the changes and a letter to Congressional leaders.

   

• Brief in Support of Crypto Rights. EPIC, ACLU, the Internet Society and USACM have filed a friend of the court brief in support of Philip Karn's challenge to U.S. export controls on cryptography.

Legislation

• Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT) has introduced the "Promotion of Commerce On-Line in the Digital Era (Pro-CODE) Act" -- legislation designed to relax export controls on privacy-enhancing encryption technology.

   

• Testimony of EPIC Director Marc Rotenberg on Pro-Code Legislation before US Senate Commerence Committee, June 1996.

   

• Earlier in 1996, Senator Leahy introduced the Encrypted Communications Privacy Act. Read the text of the Senate bill and EPIC's analysis of the proposed legislation.

   

• In the House of Representatives, Rep. Goodlatte has introduced a companion bill, HR 3011, to relax export controls. 27 House members have sent a highly critical letter to the President urging him to support relaxation.

Documents

• EPIC statement on NIST "Draft Export Criteria for Key Escrow Encryption", December 5, 1995.

   

• NIST Notices Issued on November 6, 1995 on "Draft Export Criteria for Key Escrow Encryption".

   

• The International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).

   

• The State Department recently issued regulations allowing for "temporary export of cryptographic products for personal use" (PDF format).

   

• The Computer Systems Policy Project in January 1996 issued a report entitled " Perspectives On Security In The Information Age " calling for relaxation of government controls on encryption.

   

• Memo from Fenwick & West law firm on Export Restrictions on Software.

   

• CommerceNet Report - "Toward Enabling Secure Electronic Commerce: The Need for a Revised U.S. Cryptographic Policy ."

International Laws and Availability of Encryption

• The Department of Commerce has issued a report on the foreign availability of encryption.

   

• Trusted Information Systems has conducted a Worldwide Survey of Cryptographic Products.

   

• Crypto Law Survey on national laws affecting encryption.

   

• Information on the use of encryption in France (mostly in French).

   

• Page on Canadian export controls.

Cases

• The Applied Cryptography Case.The US State Department denied a request to export a disk version of the classic cryptography text "Applied Cryptography", after approving export of a printed version of the book. A U.S. District Court Judge upheld denial. The case is now being heard in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C.

   

• The Bernstein Case. Professor Daniel Bernstein filed suit against the State Department asking that the export control laws be struck down for violating the First Amendment. A U.S. District Court judge ruled that crypto was speech protected by the First Amendment. The case is currently pending before the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. A decision is expected in May 1998.

   

• A short essay by Matt Blaze entitled My Life as an Arms Courier based on his attempt to leave the country with a Clipper phone.

Return to the EPIC Crypto Page Last modified: April 14, 1998