For Immediate Release
December 13, 1999
The Administration decided today to delay the release of its pending regulation on encryption exports no later than January 14, 2000 to permit further consultation with affected parties. The consultations we have had with various companies, industry groups and privacy organizations have been very valuable in helping determine how to match the pending regulations to industry practices in a manner consistent with our September 16 announcement.
Given the significant changes since the November 19 draft, we believe there would be real benefit to another round of review and consultations before we issue the regulation. In responding to specific business cases brought to us by industry, especially in the area of source code and encryption development toolkits, we have gone further in the regulation than we promised in September, and that is another reason for this review.
We expect to circulate another draft for comment shortly.