| Summary: | In America, computer programs and chips that put messages into an unbreakable secret code are classified for export purposes as munitions. In recent decades, the U.S. department of defense and the National Security Agency have prevailed upon the State Department and the Commerce Department to seize nearly every patent application for cryptographic inventions and control the export of such inventions in order to prevent criminals, terrorists, and America's enemies from communicating in total secrecy. However, the use of cryptography is important for a number of industries, such as international banking, cellular phone services, and cable TV. In addition, America's software makers maintain that they are being harmed by the ban on selling this technology abroad. The clash of interests will soon be tested in a number of court cases in which the courts will have to balance the contending claims of national security, free speech, and the right to privacy.
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