Since the close of the Cold War, an entirely new market for encryption products has developed both software and hardware. During the Cold War, the U.S. government had imposed a series of restrictions on U.S. companies engaged in manufacturing these products, preventing companies from exporting them to potential enemies.
As World War II demonstrated (as well as other historical events) wars can be won and lost by a nation's ability to guard its secrets and break the secret codes of its enemies (the U.S. and Britain had broken both the Japanese and German codes).
Today, the some believe that the current restrictions are harming U.S. companies. So, Congress is moving to relax export restrictions on encryption technology to allow more U.S. companies to export these and related items.
However, critics point out that breaking existing codes is a primary tool the U.S. government uses to combat international terrorism, drug traffickers, and illegal arms merchants. By relaxing U.S. export controls, U.S. companies that have advanced products will be allowing these and other criminal groups the ability to conduct their activities in secret -- making it harder for the U.S. government to prevent terrorism and the sale of nuclear weapons.
The House International Relations committee approved a bill (HR 850) that would loosen current restrictions. A floor vote on the measure is expected this summer.
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