Ethics Newsline®

WASHINGTON
The Clinton administration last week announced that it would reverse position and permit U.S. firms to sell advanced encryption technology overseas in a move that is seen as a victory for high-technology industries, Internet users, and privacy advocates.

Currently, U.S. firms can sell encryption software, which makes coded Internet transmissions virtually unbreakable, only to preapproved industries abroad. The new measure would remove most such restrictions, opening the international market to U.S. firms’ most advanced products.

The move was heralded by the high-tech industry as a long-overdue concession to the realities of the marketplace, and by privacy groups who contended that businesses and individuals have a right to secure their data regardless of where they live.

U.S. firms have complained that the current ban has hobbled the U.S. high-tech industry, preventing domestic firms from competing with foreign companies that sell encryption software and face no restrictions on sales.

But law enforcement officials gave the Clinton about-face mixed reviews, arguing that it opens the door to secret communication among terrorists and spies, according to the Associated Press.

The new law would permit export of advanced scrambling technology after a one-time review of the product, but would prohibit sales to seven nations suspected of supporting terrorism — Iran, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Sudan, North Korea, and Cuba.