<http://www.ebcvg.com/news.php?id=3852> eBCVG - Cryptography regulations threaten OSS in SA Published on: Tuesday, 28 September 2004, 19:40 GMT South Africa's Electronic Communications and Transactions (ECT) Act of 2002 is a controversial piece of legislation. It attempts to address a whole lot of issues at once, without seeming to do a good job of any of them. Sections include a national e-strategy, e-government, electronic documents, cryptography, authentication, consumer protection, the .za domain name authority, and cyber crime. Chapter 5 deals with cryptography. It specifies the compulsory registration of all "cryptography providers" with the Department of Communications. The Act states in 30(1): "No person may provide cryptography services or cryptography products in the Republic until the particulars ... in respect of that person have been recorded in the register..." -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah@ibuc.com> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'