“Microsoft is facing more trouble in selling Windows 2000 in
mainland China, because Chinese restrictions imposed last October
forbid the use of foreign encryption products. … But Microsoft is
by no means the only company that’s going to fall foul of the
rules, because they effectively block virtually any imported
product containing encryption, and US trade negotiators aren’t
happy.
Trade rep Charlene ‘Ballistic’ Barshefsky was yesterday
demanding that China abandon the rules, describing China’s attempts
to control the use of the Internet as futile. One can’t help
recalling how sensitive the US has historically been over
encryption export, and the many efforts the Feds have made to
introduce systems that will allow them to, er, control the use of
the Internet and snoop on traffic. It’s only been legal for US
companies to export 128-bit encryption since 14 January, yet now
the trade reps are demanding that overseas customers buy
it.”