E-mail Privacy

[Ron Dippold]

In article <1991Jun4.144731.685 at forwiss.uni-passau.de> baier at unipas.fmi.uni-passau.de (Joern Baier) writes:
>From the crypt manual page:
>CRYPT(1)                 USER COMMANDS                   CRYPT(1)
>
>RESTRICTIONS
>     This program is not available on  software  shipped  outside
>     the U.S.
>
>Has anyone an idea why?

Crypt makes use of the Data Encryption Standard (DES), an encryption technology
that is supposedly unbreakable without spending nearly infinite amounts of
computer time (although many believe that the National Security Agency
purposely weakend the specifications to the point where they _can_ decode it).

Anyhow, being a high-tech encryption algorithm, it has been Decreed that it
shall not be exported to other countries, because they want to be able to
decipher their data if necessary.  It's sort of ridiculous, as one of the first
implementations of the algorithm that I know of came from Scandinavia
(Denmark?).

-- 
Standard disclaimer applies, you legalistic hacks.     |     Ron Dippold