No issue has generated more controversy on the Internet than the question of government regulation of encryption. Without encryption, all network transactions are essentially public.
Email has the approximate privacy of a postcard.
Passwords, credit card numbers, and personal information transmitted in the clear over the network may as well be published in the newspaper. If the Internet is to be a suitable vehicle for communications and commerce, then much of the information that flows on it must be encrypted. They have also lobbied vigorously to convince other governments to institute similar policies. Opponents of the encryption regulations claim that the attempt to control encryption is largely pointless and counterproductive, because the bad guys will use encryption to hide their activities despite what the law says. The U.S. computer and telecommunications industries argue that regulations on encryption technology are hampering their ability of be competitive on the world market.