Government Regulation

Government Regulation

Recognizing that encryption keys are tightly regulated in many countries is important. Exporting from the United States or Canada technologies using encryption keys longer than 56 bits—even for use by overseas branches of domestic companies—is currently illegal. Similarly, possession of some key technologies could be a serious crime in certain countries. Export controls on strong encryption (greater than 56-bit DES strength) vary according to type, strength, destination territory, end use, and end user. A person would be foolhardy to assume that violations of import or export controls on this type of technology would be overlooked or resolved with an apology. Terrorism, drug trafficking, and racketeering concerns can make even a sloppy transaction to a third party, who then transships the technology illegally, a serious legal problem.