WASHINGTON-Legislation to relax export restrictions on encryption products moved through the House last month, setting the stage for possible floor consideration in September when Congress returns from its August recess.
Encryption is technology used to scramble computer data. The computer industry has been trying for years to get export controls on encryption technology relaxed, but the FBI and National Security Agency have resisted.
While five committees passed the bill-the Security and Freedom through Encryption Act, known as the SAFE Act-some of them approved it with substantial amendments.
In some cases, the amendments would replace the bill with new language. Indeed, the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Armed Services Committee each gave the bill a new name, with Armed Services calling it the Protection of National Security and Public Safety Act and the Intelligence Committee giving it the moniker of the Encryption for the National Interest Act.
Such radical changes do not concern the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), because only two of the committees-the Judiciary and International Relations committees-were given authority to change the bill. Judiciary did not change the bill and International Relations made changes Goodlatte supports.
Other changes will be treated as suggestions by the House Committee on Rules, said a Goodlatte spokesman. These amendments are treated as place-holders for floor consideration and are in the mix of issues to be debated, he said.
The debate over controls on encryption products has been waging since 1996 when the Clinton administration moved encryption export control policy from the jurisdiction of the Department of State to the Commerce Department. This move resulted in an export control policy that said U.S. computer companies could not export encryption products with bit strengths greater than 56 bits with restrictions and 40 bits without restrictions. These bit strengths are considered weak by the computer industry, which has developed products with bit strengths of at least 128 bits.
