Wired News reports that a private-sector coalition fighting export controls on strong crypto has issued an ultimatum to the Clinton administration. The group, Americans for Computer Privacy (ACP), has apparently threatened a media blitz if the government does not immediately permit the sale of strong encryption to responsible foreign governments and organizations. Cryptography has been classed as an armament and its export from the USA has been restricted since World War Two. The rise of the Internet, however, created international demand for strong encryption. Foreign companies, notably from Australia, the UK and Israel, scrambled to fill the vacuum left by US players’ absence from this market. ACP supporters include Microsoft, Intel, Compaq, Visa International, AOL and the US Chamber of Commerce.
