EIA and TIA Paper on Crypto Policy

[Mark Aldrich <maldrich@grctechs.va.grci.com>]

The February 2nd edition of "Washington TELECOM Week" reports that the 
Electronic Industries Association (EIA) and the Telecommunications 
Industry Association (TIA) have jointly submitted to the Whitehouse a 
paper that warns the administration about the folly of continuing the 
"virtual embargo" that is in place for all exports of encryption 
controlled by the State Department.  The paper warns that the nation will 
take a heavy hit if export restrictions are not "significantly eased."  
According to the groups, stringent export controls on encryption software 
and products are a blow to both the economy and national security.

The member companies of the two large groups have concluded that it is 
"no longer in the national interest to use export control policy as a 
tool to impede data security products."

According to the paper, even the new policy leads to a number of 
injurious consequences, including the loss of sales and the loss of 
efficiency.  It emphasizes that there is a growing need for data security 
products containing encryption in the private sector, both in the US and 
overseas.

The export controls, said the paper, "lead to increased risk of 
penetration from hackers, commercial competitors, terrorists and 
others."  Hence, they call for the development of cheap, easy-to-use 
encryption for a wide variety of potential applications, or "the U.S. 
Government and industry both will suffer."

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