BXA 97 Report on Encryption

[John Young <jya@pipeline.com>]

BXA issued its 1997 Annual Report on March 4. We've
excerpted the sections on encryption, which summarize
the administration's policy, goals and accomplisments:

   http://jya.com/bxa97-encry.htm  (43K)

Sample:

In the nine month period from the transfer of commercial 
encryption items to Commerce through the end of FY 1997, 
BXA has received over 1,000 encryption license applications
valued at more than $500,000,000. Forty companies have 
submitted commitment plans which lay out how they will build 
and market key recovery products. These companies include
some of the largest software and hardware manufacturers in 
the country. BXA has approved 32 of these plans; none have
been rejected. Furthermore, eight companies have submitted 
requests for a one-time review of key recovery encryption items 
which will facilitate the establishment of a key management 
infrastructure (KMI). Four of these products have been approved
for eligibility under License Exception KMI. BXA has also 
approved four U.S. entities to serve as their own Key Recovery 
agents for these products (i.e. corporate "self-escrow").