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13 Ga. St. U. L. Rev. 581 (1996-1997)
Cryptic Controversy: U.S. Government Restrictions on Cryptography Exports and the Plight of Philip Zimmerman

handle is hein.journals/gslr13 and id is 599 raw text is: CRYPTIC CONTROVERSY: U.S. GOVERNMENT RESTRICTIONS ON CRYPTOGRAPHY EXPORTS AND THE PLIGHT OF PHILIP ZIMMERMANN INTRODUCTION On November 9, 1994, Philip Zimmermann, a computer software engineer who lives in Boulder, Colorado, passed through customs at Dulles International Airport.' Zimmermann was returning from Europe, where he had been invited to speak on issues of public policy.2 At the airport, a Customs Special Agent diverted Zimmermann from the normal customs process and subjected him to an individualized luggage search and a lengthy interrogation regarding Zimmerman's possible illegal exportation of dangerous munitions.3 What was the dangerous weapon which interested the U.S. Government so much that it would individually interrogate a U.S. citizen? It was computer software.4 Specifically, the software in question is called Pretty Good Privacy, or PGP.5 PGP, created by Zimmermann, is computer software that transforms plain English data from nearly any personal computer into an encoded' version that can only be read by its intended recipient.' PGP encodes data so well, in fact, that it is used by everyone from Russian freedom fighters to American criminals to maintain the secrecy of their 1. Letter from Kenneth C. Bass, III, Attorney for Philip Zimmermann, to Homer Williams, Acting Assistant Commissioner, Office of Internal Affairs, United States Customs Service (1994) (available in Georgia State University College of Law Library). 2. Id. 3. Id. 4. Id. 5. Id.; William M. Bulkeley, Cipher Probe: Popularity Overseas of Encryption Code Has the U.S. Worried, WALL ST. J., Apr. 28, 1994, at Al. 6. The process of encoding data in this manner is generally referred to as the science of cryptography. Software that encodes data using cryptography, therefore, is referred to as cryptographic or encryption software. Those who practice the science of cryptology are called cryptanalysts or cryptographers. WEBSTER'S NINTH NEW COLLEGIATE DICTIONARY 312 (1987). 7. Bulkeley, supra note 5.

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