I testified before Congress about encryption a few times. I was frustrated because I could not understand why no one, not even Microsoft, could see that we needed to change substantially the laws governing encryption. Internet software was now global. It did not make sense to me that American manufacturers were handcuffed in their ability to distribute their software to the world simply because they could not utilize encryption. Encryption is necessary because information can be read by others as it goes from computer to computer if it is not encrypted.
Encryption puts an envelope around the communication that protects the privacy of the message.
The Netscape browser uses encryption, as it is one of the ways you can keep your information private. In the encryption debate, we argued in support of the maximum level of encryption available for export. On the other side, law enforcement and national security interests in the federal government were worried that encrypted communications would help hide terrorist activities. The White House and Congress were in a dilemma. They wanted to help the providers of commercial software, the browsers, and other software companies.