From: http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/ctg899.htm White House ready to relent on crypto By Will Rodger, USATODAY.com Clinton Administration officials said Tuesday they intend to further relax export controls over Internet privacy technologies. The action comes in the wake of protests lodged by industry and congressional critics alike since the White House released its last proposal Nov. 19. Critics complained then that the White House had back- tracked on a Sept. 16 announcement that seemed to promise liberalization across the board. Commerce Undersecretary William Reinsch said Tuesday that his department is preparing new drafts that should address the disputed items. "These are drafts that we intend to share with industry. We’ll be getting those to them shortly." Large Internet companies including Cylink Corp., America Online and RSA Inc. have long pushed for further export liberalization in order to increase sales abroad. Liberalization, they argue, will not just increase US sales, but add greater security to an Internet which is increasingly subject to attacks by hackers and thieves. But the FBI and National Security Agency have long encouraged the restrictions because they fear that criminals, spies and terrorists use encryption to thwart their eavesdropping efforts. Those arguments have been seriously undermined by the rapid growth of overseas encryption makers, many of which can produce products equal to the best the US has to offer. The new proposal would: --Relax regulations that previously restricted sales to telecom companies with government investors. -- Treat online and telephone sales of encryption software the same as products sold through brick-and- mortar stores. -- Let developers of encryption development tools sell their wares abroad without going through an often- cumbersome licensing process.......
