[scott_karana]

I was referring to a mainly historic, very strict export ban that categorizes cryptographic software as munitions:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Export_of_cryptography_in_the_U...

HTTPS was crippled, since Netscape shipped only 40-bit RC4 internationally.[1]

PGP's source code was printed so it would fall under First Amendment protections, since binaries weren't legal for export.[2] (See also DJB's Bernstein v. United States)[3]

OpenBSD/OpenSSH is still based in Canada to avoid being subject to the laws.

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1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Export_of_cryptography_in_the_U...

2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Good_Privacy#Criminal_in... and http://www.pgpi.org/pgpi/project/scanning/

3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernstein_v._United_States

4 http://www.openbsd.org/crypto.html

[VMG]

I know, but in the end they couldn't keep it that way forever.

[scott_karana]

Yes, of course.

Isn't it conceivable that the government would implement a similarly short-sighted (and ineffectual) policy if Bitcoins were seriously used to harm the US? :-P