Wassenaar Statement

[John Young <jya@pipeline.com>]

The Secretariat of The Wassenaar Arrangement has issued
brief public docs on the recent meeting:

   http://jya.com/wa-state98.htm

Only one brief mention of encryption:

     "8. The WA agreed control list amendments to take into account 
  recent technological developments. The amendments to the lists 
  included elimination of coverage of commonly available civil 
  telecommunications equipment as well as the modernisation of 
  encryption controls to keep pace with developing technology and 
  electronic commerce, while also being mindful of security interests. 
  Participating States also discussed the potential need for the WA 
  and national export control authorities to respond quickly and 
  effectively to the emergence of new technologies."

Which appears to confirm that each state will implement and
announce its encryption policy as it sees fit. The US has jumped
to proclaim to its constituencies that it has won.

Though it's the secret agreements that remain to be publicized.
Note the gaps in the public docs and dissimulative assurances.

We also offer a recent related message from Denmark on its 
fluid crypto policy:

   http://jya.com/dk-crypto98.htm