Well, during the Cold War the feds declared encryption to be "Auxiliary Military Equipment," listed on the USML [1]. It was illegal -- prison time illegal -- to

Well, during the Cold War the feds declared encryption to be "Auxiliary Military Equipment," listed on the USML [1]. It was illegal -- prison time illegal -- to ship software which could encrypt communications outside the USA up until 1992 [2]. I'm old enough to remember the tail end of this and it was absolutely absurd, yet still very real. I remember Zimmermann being investigated by the feds [3]. Zimmermann was smart to tie publishing PGP to the First Amendment. Something like Signal in those days may well have resulted in charges and a conviction. Never underestimate the potential for folly when it comes to government regulation. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Munitions_List https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Munitions_List [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Export_of_cryptography_from_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Export_of_cryptography_from_th... [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Good_Privacy#Criminal_investigation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Good_Privacy#Criminal_i...