By David M. Nadler And Valerie M. Furman*
On September 16, 1999, in a move that represents a major shift in a long-standing policy, the Clinton administration announced a relaxation in the restrictions on exports of encryption software and hardware products. The announcement sets aside a history of warnings from law enforcement and defense officials that such action would endanger national security, and is being viewed as a victory for high-tech industry — particularly those companies that sell encryption software.
Encryption is technology used to scramble computer data and requires a "key" to decode. The debate over encryption products has been brewing since 1996, when the Clinton administration moved encryption export control policy from State Department jurisdiction to Commerce Department jurisdiction. The move resulted in an export control policy preventing U.S. computer companies from exporting encryption products with bit strengths greater than 56 bits with restrictions,
