Which countries don't allow encryption ?

Hi all,

Apologies in advance if anyone feels this is off topic...

I'm trying to address the following issue: people at
my company need to exchange sensitive information with
their colleagues abroad (e.g. East Europe, or Southern
America).

Of course, the most obvious way to protect our data
is to encrypt everything, regardless how we communicate
(either via e-mail or sending magnetic media).
So we should use PGPi, but...it seems to me there
is a _problem_.

I read somewhere that Russian law forbids the use on
encryption: is this correct ?

Let me generalize this first question: which countries
in the world don't allow encryption usage, or encrypted
traffic inside their boundaries ?  or allow, but provided
certain conditions are satisfied ?

2nd question: which way(s) could we meet the laws in, let
me say, East Europe while protecting our info ?
(I'd like to avoid giving away our keys, as I'd requested
-possibly- in France, so maybe encryption is not suitable).

Please e-mail directly to me, since I'm not a subscriber
of this list (I tried it, but it is a too high volume and
specialization level for me).

Thanks in advance,

Franco Visentin
( visentin@milano.italtel.it )

visentin@imdwd01.milano.italtel.it writes:
> I'm trying to address the following issue: people at
> my company need to exchange sensitive information with
> their colleagues abroad (e.g. East Europe, or Southern
> America).
...
> I read somewhere that Russian law forbids the use on
> encryption: is this correct ?

More or less. President Yeltsin's edict of April 3, 1995, prohibits the
use of encryption without a licence from FAPSI. I've been told that
"everybody" continues to use PGP and no one's had any trouble yet.
However in today's climate I can imagine a Western business blatantly
violating the edict, being threatened with prosecution, and being shaken
down for a bribe... For a peace of mind, why don't your correspondents
go to FASPI and simply ask for a licence. They're nice people.

You might have more of a problem in France, where, as far as I know, you
must deposit your cryptographic keys with the government, so it may read
your correspondence. Soon this may be required in the U.S. as well.

---

Dr. Dimitri Vulis
Brighton Beach Boardwalk BBS, Forest Hills, N.Y.: +1-718-261-2013, 14.4Kbps