However the proposed new laws would continue to force them to exclude members living outside the United States from this free exchange. If scientists cannot research and develop new cryptographic tools, the future of electronic commerce may be in jeopardy. As representatives of the leading scientific, mathematics, and engineering societies in the United States, we are writing to protest current and proposed U.S. cryptography policies that restrict the open exchange of scientific information and the progress of scientific research and development. We object to national policies that criminalize the use of cryptography that is not approved by the Administration or that mandate domestic key recovery schemes. The leadership that the United States currently enjoys in research and development of encryption algorithms, cryptographic products, and computer security technology will be seriously eroded, if not essentially eliminated, by misguided proposals to restrict the domestic use of encryption.
Encryption protects the security and privacy of communications and stored data.
A lack of strong universally available encryption exacerbates security problems on personal computers, intranets, and the world-wide Internet. A recent National Academy of Sciences study warned against the government's premature reliance on key recovery as an encryption technique. It urged that the method be deployed in test situations first to work out problems. This has not been done. The free exchange of scientific information facilitated by our organizations has significantly increased the economic strength of the United States.