re is it illegal to transmit encrypted data in article c ly gbx sugar neosoft com georgel neosoft com george livsey writes i am aware of the restrictions imposed by the munitions act on the export of cryptographic technology however is it illegal to transmit encrypted data from the u s to another country if so then which laws apply to this situation from the us law perspective unless you re engaging in illegal speech it s not illegal to use encryption yet the nsa is allowed to try to listen but you re not obligated to make it easy for them yet the other country may have more repressive laws about that i gather france s bureaucracy wants to know what you re saying and in the old soviet union they didn t need laws to make things illegal paranoia follows for those of you who want to play it safe the fact that the nsa is listening may affect your willingness to use wimpy crypto technologies but it may also affect your willingness to use technologies that violate rsa s patents e g if you use pgp the nsa may tell rsa that you re doing so and if the secret service catches on they may decide that the mere fact that rsa hasn t filed a lawsuit against you doesn t mean that you don t deserve to have your computer confiscated for possible patent violation munitions law violation espionage money laundering drug importation and creatin a disturbance and then not give it back because you did violate the patent even though they had to drop all the other charges unlike that nasty steve jackson who had the gall not to be guilty of anything pray for peace bill bill stewart wcs anchor att com at t bell labs m holmdel nj no i m from new jersey i only work in cyberspace white house commect line fax
