Update: Symantec buys encryption specialist PGP for $300 million

“PGP was founded by Phil Zimmermann who developed e-mail
encryption software called “Pretty Good Privacy,” which is still
widely used today. After the software was published for free in
1991, Zimmermann was the target of a criminal investigation due to
U.S. restrictions on the export of encryption technology.

“But under U.S. law, Zimmermann could publish PGP’s
cryptographic source code in a book, as restricting it would
violate free speech rights. The source code was published, then the
books were scanned using optical character recognition, according
to Zimmermann’s Web site. He founded PGP in 1996 after the
government eventually dropped the case.”

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