• neidu3@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      13
      ·
      11 hours ago

      Not just PGP, but any encryption strength above a certain level was considered “munitions” from a legal standpoint. Because of this, finding a windows Ssh client was a PITA for quite a while.

      • Melvin_Ferd@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        6
        ·
        10 hours ago

        Wait does imply that other encryption is broken since what would it matter if you used encryption greater than something the government allowed you to

        • neidu3@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          7
          ·
          edit-2
          8 hours ago

          Nah, this was ages ago. I don’t remember the exact encryption strength, but it was pretty low, even by yesteryear standards. This was a remnant from when cryptography was ruled by whichever government could find the biggest autistic savant.

          • Em Adespoton@lemmy.ca
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            4
            ·
            4 hours ago

            I believe the encryption restrictions were relaxed in 1998.

            However, certification for import/export of nuclear weapons and other dangerous goods was still needed for strong encryption (such as phone SIM cards) as recently as 2006. To get on that list of people who could legally transport SIM cards not for personal use over the US border, you needed the same background check and government clearance as someone transporting enriched uranium.