Government export controls barring our high-tech industries from selling strong encryption overseas are hurting our economy. According to press reports, Netscape will start selling strong encryption software over the Internet today, but only to U.S. citizens and green-card holders. The company is not allowed to sell the strong encryption its foreign customers, and will have to take extra steps to verify the nationality of its customers. I am confident that Netscape's foreign customers want no less security than Americans are demanding here, but foreigners will have to look elsewhere. To maintain current controls on encryption technology is to lose control of the market.
Foreign competitors are only too willing to fill the void created by U.S. export restrictions.
Foreign manufacturers are marketing hundreds of products using strong encryption that Americans can buy here, but American companies are restricted from selling overseas. This is an area where the government is standing in the way of better security. I look forward to working with other Members of Congress to craft a more constructive policy in this area.