> Export controls on cryptography were eliminated decades ago According to that Wikipedia page, some restrictions remain today. Even if there weren’t anymore,

> Export controls on cryptography were eliminated decades ago According to that Wikipedia page, some restrictions remain today. Even if there weren’t anymore, I wouldn’t call it a territory uncharted because we haven’t been there for a few decades. > Governments are not directly involved in enforcing patents. Not directly, no, but they decide on what’s patentable and what’s not, and on how long patents hold. For example, AFAIK the periodic Disney patent extension doesn’t come about from civil court proceedings between private parties. > I don't think the GDPR attempts to restrict what data a software program can process locally on your computer Similarly, I haven’t read the proposal, but don’t expect this regulation will forbid you to use any kind of certificate locally on your computer, or between your own computers. > It only comes into effect if that data gets sent to some company. That, IMO, is limiting “what end user software can do”.