Both the New York Times and the San Jose Mercury News (among others,
no doubt) are reporting that the U.S. government is taking another
big step in relaxing the rules governing the export of encryption software.

From the Merc:

   The regulations released Wednesday, which will take effect in about
   four months after a final public comment period, will allow U.S.
companies,
   after a one-time technical review, to freely sell encryption products to
   overseas businesses, individuals and non-government users without a
license.
   Widely available encryption products can also be exported to foreign
   governments, though only after getting a license from the U.S.
government.

and the Times:

   But more important, for the first time the administration said
   it would allow the export, without licenses, of most types of
   "source code," the computer code used to create programs that
   encrypt data.  The only exceptions would be to nations on the
   State Department's terrorist list, including Cuba, Iran, Iraq,
   Libya, Sudan, Syria and North Korea.

The articles are available at

   http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/indepth/docs/encryp011300.htm
and
   http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/01/biztech/articles/13export.html

respectively.

--Glenn