The context has an unofficial name "crypto wars": https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crypto_Wars https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crypto_Wars "In the U.S." since

The context has an unofficial name "crypto wars": https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crypto_Wars https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crypto_Wars "In the U.S." since "the immediate post WWII period" the "crypto software was included as a Category XIII item into the United States Munitions List." That meant that exporting software with strong encryption was legally the same as exporting weapons. What they Ray Ozzie and colleagues implemented was at that moment (1996) claimed to be a "superior exportable encryption technology when compared to other US products on the market": https://packetstormsecurity.com/files/21281/lotus.notes.nsa.backdoor.txt.html https://packetstormsecurity.com/files/21281/lotus.notes.nsa.... To compare: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Export_of_cryptography_from_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Export_of_cryptography_from_th... To be able to export Netscape web browser with SSL (a predecessor of TLS) "Netscape developed two versions of its web browser. The "U.S. edition" supported full size (typically 1024-bit or larger) RSA public keys in combination with full size symmetric keys (secret keys) (128-bit RC4 or 3DES in SSL 3.0 and TLS 1.0). The "International Edition" had its effective key lengths reduced to 512 bits and 40 bits respectively (RSA_EXPORT with 40-bit RC2 or RC4 in SSL 3.0 and TLS 1.0).[6] Acquiring the 'U.S. domestic' version turned out to be sufficient hassle that most computer users, even in the U.S., ended up with the 'International' version,[7] whose weak 40-bit encryption can currently be broken in a matter of days using a single computer." Only later: "In January 2000, the U.S. Government relaxed export regulations over certain classes of mass-market encryption products. In line with these changes, Netscape has made the strong-crypto versions of Communicator and Navigator available worldwide." (1) https://www.fortify.net/README.html#do https://www.fortify.net/README.html#do