“In a blow to the Clinton administration, a federal appeals
court has ruled that government limits on the export of computer
encryption codes are a violation of freedom of expression.”
“The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, upholding a lower court
ruling, said the codes — which scramble data to prevent
eavesdropping — contain expressions of ideas and cannot be
suppressed indefinitely by government officials.”
“The Clinton administration recently liberalized its rules to
allow encryption of some electronically posted credit card
information. But in most cases, the regulations still treat
encryption codes like military weapons and forbid their export
without a license.”