lynx-dev international cave-in

[Philip Webb]

Toronto Star 981205
   
Ottawa to regulate encryption exports -- Robert Cribb
                                      
Canada has joined  33  countries, incl Japan & the UK, in imposing
new export controls on encryption software.  At a meeting in Vienna Thursday,
countries belonging to the Wassenaar Arrangement -- originally to limit
arms exports -- agreed to limit exports of the most powerful encryptions,
said André LeBlanc, Dept of Foreign Affairs: for the 1st time,
Canadian companies will have to acquire government permits to export
mass-market software with  > 64 bits  encryption.
   
Permits will be issued quickly & fairly, said an Industry Canada spokesperson,
which calmed some in the encryption industry, eg Brian O'Higgins,
Chief Technology Officer, Entrust Technologies (Ottawa): "I'm disappointed
the US forced this change on all the countries, but we believe the Feds will
co-operate with us"; his company makes encryption software
for Internet banking & secure credit-card transactions.
   
"It's not good for Canada or our industry", said Austin Hill, President,
Zero-Knowledge Systems (Montreal), which is about to release a service
which will allow Net users to mask their identities on-line: "It inhibits
our ability to become leaders & will lead to export of jobs a/a software";
such companies may choose to avoid export restrictions by relocating
to Caribbean countries, where encryption is not regulated.
   
The US is treating the international agreement as a significant victory.
its Commerce Dept issued a statement Thursday welcoming the decision
"to modernize & improve multilateral encryption export controls".
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