EPIC World Crypto Survey

[John Young <jya@pipeline.com>]

The New York Times, February 9, 1998, p. D10:

U.S. Losing Battle on Control of Data Encryption, Study Says

By Jeri Clausing

Washington -- The Clinton Administration is losing its battle
to increase international controls over how reliably computer
data can be scrambled to insure privacy, according to a report
to be released Monday by an independent research group. ...

The Electronic Privacy Information Center <http://www.epic.org>
says that its survey of 243 governments showed that the United
States is virtually the only democratic, industrialized nation
seeling domestic regulation of strong encryption.

That finding directly contradicts the Clinton Administration's
assertions in Congressional hearings that it has the support of
most nations on this issue. ...

William Reinsch, the Under Secretary for export administration
in the United States Commerce Department, denied that the study
contradicted the Administration's assertions. "All the 
Administration has ever said is that there are more countries 
that go farther  than we do," Mr. Reinsch said. "The study 
confirms that."