Germany Frees Crypto

[Nicholas Bohm]

At 01:58 PM 6/3/1999 -0400, John Young wrote:
>David Conrad wrote:
>
>>> 5. The Federal Government attaches importance to international
>>>    cooperation on encryption policy.  It encourages market-driven,
>>>    open standards and interoperable systems and will work to
>>>    strengthen multilateral and bilateral cooperation.
>>
>>Does this mean the German government will not allow export of strong
>>crypto developed within Germany?
>
>My reading of the full statement, via Babelfish, is that Germany will
>abide the Wassenaar Arrangement export controls on encryption but 
>will work to loosen them in concert with other signators. 

It is sometimes overlooked that the Wassenaar Arrangement requires its
members to control the export of cryptography, but does not require them to
prohibit it.  It is perfectly compliant for a member state to place
cryptography on its export control lists but to grant an open general
export licence for it.  (Even the UK applies an open general export licence
to much Wassenaar controlled material, although not to cryptography.)

[snip]

Regards,

Nicholas Bohm

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