[This just came over the fight-censorship list.] ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Thu, 10 Oct 1996 11:20:47 +0000 From: Jim Rapp <InfoCker@postoffice.worldnet.att.net> To: declan@well.com Subject: Bill Gates Comment on Crypto Posted at 11:03 AM PT, Oct 9, 1996 NEW YORK -- Microsoft Corp. Chairman and CEO Bill Gates pitched the Windows NT operating system here Wednesday as more similar to Unix than different during a keynote address at Unix Expo. Gates also used his time on stage in the packed auditorium to comment on the encryption battle which U.S. companies are currently fighting with the federal government. The "U.S. government is making it fairly difficult for companies like Microsoft who want to use strong cryptographic techniques," Gates said. Two weeks ago, the Clinton administration announced that U.S. companies would be allowed to export products encrypted with a 56-bit key, up from the 40-bit-based key currently permitted, but Gates characterized this improvement as "tiny." A 56-bit key "is not nearly good enough," Gates said. InfoWorld Publishing Company