Export of cryptography from the United States

Export-restricted RSA encryption source code printed on a T-shirt made the T-shirt an export-restricted munition, as a freedom of speech protest against U.S. encryption export restrictions (Back side).[1] Changes in the export law means that it is no longer illegal to export this T-shirt from the U.S., or for U.S. citizens to show it to foreigners.

The export of cryptography from the United States to other countries has experienced various levels of restrictions over time.[2] World War II illustrated that code-breaking and cryptography can play an integral part in national security and the ability to prosecute war. Changes in technology and the preservation of free speech have been competing factors in the regulation and constraint of cryptographic technologies for export.

  1. ^ "Munitions T-shirt".
  2. ^ Diffie, Whitfield; Landau, Susan (2007), "The export of cryptography in the 20th and the 21st centuries", The History of Information Security, Elsevier, pp. 725–736, doi:10.1016/b978-044451608-4/50027-4, ISBN 978-0-444-51608-4, retrieved 2023-08-12