March - April 1999

• Argentina - Regulation for filing of income taxes through the Internet issued
• Singapore - Electronic Transaction Regulations require secure digital signatures
• France - New decrees on liberalisation of encryption products published

January - February 1999

• USA - Oregon publishes administrative rules for the voluntary registration of certification authorities
• Australia - Walsh report on global cryptography debate

November - December 1998

• United Nations - UNCITRAL Draft Uniform Rules on Electronic Signatures released
• Argentina - Secretary of Public Administration adopts standards for the Public Key Infrastructure
• Finland - Government releases guidelines concerning the national cryptography policy and statements on the use of cryptographic products
• Arrangement - Telecoms equipment excluded from export control lists but crypto remains critical
• Canada - Government outlines national cryptography policy

September - October 1998

• Argentina - Digital Signature legislation enacted
• USA - Senate passes bill allowing electronic filing of documents
• Germany - Government Position Paper on the international recognition of digital signatures lays down high security requirements

July - August 1998

• Denmark - Draft Bill On Digital Signatures released
• Italy - Draft technical regulations for implementation of Digital Signature Law released
• Ireland - Government announces framework for public policy on cryptography and electronic signatures
• USA - Court holds that publication of encryption software on a Web page is not covered by First Amendment

May - June 1998

• European Commission - Directive on electronic signatures proposed
• Spain - new telecommunications law allows use of encryption
• US - Judicial investigation on export of strong encryption products
• USA - E-Privacy Act would lift export controls on encryption products

March - April 1998

• USA - Kentucky Digital Signature Act enacted
• UK - DTI releases statement on encryption policy and key recovery

January  - February 1998

• Germany - Technical Catalogues for German Government Digital Signature Standard Voted Down at Hearing
• USA - California issues Final Draft of Proposed Digital Signature Regulations
• France - Decrees published on use of encryption
• Canada issues Green Paper on Cryptography

December 1997

• USA - State of Utah licenses banking subsidiary as certification authority
• USA- Civil liberty groups submit brief on encryption to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in the Bernstein v. State Department case

November 1997

• ICC - The International Chamber of Commerce releases usage in electronic commerce and digital signatures
• OECD - Security and Encryption are major components for dismantling the barriers to Global Electronic Commerce

October 1997

• Germany - Further drafts of digital signature catalogues prepared
• Italy - New implementing provisions of law on digital signatures expected to be adopted
• USA - Committee rejects hardline encryption amendment
• EC - New European Commission Communication on digital signatures and encryption

September 1997

• Germany - Law on digital signatures approved
• Malaysia - New law on digital signatures passed
• USA - California court holds cryptography export controls   unconstitutional
• USA - White House approves amendments of Encryption Bill

European Union

• Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions: Proposal for a European Parliament and Council Directive on a common framework for electronic signatures COM(1998) 297 Press release 
  
  
• COM (97) 503 Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions ensuring security and trust in electronic communication
  Towards a European Framework for Digital Signatures and Encryption
  
  
• Legal aspects of digital signatures The Interdisciplinary Centre for Law and Information Technology, Leuven, is currently carrying out a study for DG XV, European Commission .Call for tenders 
  
  
• Infosec page 
  
  
• Call for Tenders : Preparatory work concerning the development of a Europe-wide network of Trusted Third Party Services (ETS)

France

• Loi N° 96-659 du 26 juillet 1996 de réglementation des télécommunications art 17
• Chiffrement et notaires électroniques : un aperçu sur la future règlementation

Germany

• Gesetz zur Regelung der Rahmenbedingungen für Informations- und Kommunikationsdienste (Informations- und Kommunikationsdienste-Gesetz - IuKDG) in der Fassung des Beschlusses des Deutschen Bundestages vom 13. Juni 1997 - German law approved by lower house of Parliament
  • English translation and commentary Christopher Kuner

  Digital Signature law - Gesetz zur digitalen Signatur (Signaturgesetz - SigG)

• English translation and commentary Christopher Kuner
• Draft implementing regulations - Verordnung zur digitalen Signatur (Signaturverordnung - SigV)
• Arbeitsentwurf, Stand: 04. November 1996
• English translation and commentary Christopher Kuner

United Kingdom

• Licensing of Trusted Third Parties for the Provision of Encryption Services Department of Trade and Industry 19 March 1997.
• Paper on Regulatory Intent Concerning Use of Encryption on Public Networks Department of Trade and Industry June 1996.
• Labour party position on encryption.
• Letter from 18 international cyber-liberties groups protesting proposal, 9 April 1997.
• Commentary and questionnaire on proposal by Dr Brian Gladman, TIS, 23 March 1997.
  • Preliminary results of survey.
• Yaman Akdeniz, UK Government Policy on Encryption, 1997 Web Journal of Current Legal Issues 1 (February) .
• Richard Clayton, The DTI proposals on Encryption an overview . Annotated list of related materials.
• Ross Anderson, Crypto in Europe - Markets, Law and Policy surveys the uses of cryptography in Europe and points out some misconceptions in government policy statements.

links copied from home page of Scrambling for Safety Conference ,

International

OECD

• OECD cryptography guidelines Recommendation of the Council concerning Guidelines for Cryptography Policy 27 March 1997 FR
• OECD Emerging Market Economy Forum: Workshop on Cryptography Policy

United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL)

• Planning of future work on electronic commerce: digital signatures, certification authorities and related legal issues - Working Group on Electronic Commerce 31st session, 18-28 February 1997, New York

United States

Pending legislation and Policy documents

• Enabling Privacy, Commerce, Security and Public Safety in the Global Information Infrastructure draft US paper

Cases

• Bernstein v. US Dept. of State EFF "Legal Cases - Crypto" Archive | EFF announcement of Judge Patel's decision striking down parts of the export control laws as unconstitutional
• Peter Junger's lawsuit over whether the First Amendment gives him the right to teach a class in which cryptography is detailed, if a foreign student is present.
• Phil Karn's lawsuit over whether he can export some source code from Bruce Schneier's book "Applied Cryptography".

Utah

• Utah Digital Signature Act

Working Documents

• IAB and IESG statement on cryptographic technology and the Internet

Seminars

• Scrambling for Safety Conference May 18, 1997

Articles

• Cryptographie : les enjeux et l'état de la législation française Valérie Sédallian
• Out of Secrecy - a recent chronology of the realm of cryptography Gayle Sweeney
• Überblick über Kryptographie-Regulierungen weltweit (von Ulf Möller)

Technical explanations - including commercial sites

• Controlling and Securing Personal Privacy and Anonymity in the Information Society Esa Eklund
• Digital Signatures and Smart Cards 
  Digicash - delivered at the 3rd International Smart Card Conference, "Free Trade, Free Card Markets?", Amsterdam, March 1996
• Internet Security Netscape

Links to other sites

• Summary of Electronic Commerce and Digital Signature Legislation McBride Baker & Coles
• Digital Signature Survey Simone van der Hof
• Crypto Law Survey Bert-Jaap Koops
• European Cryptography Resources
• Encryption Policy Resource Page
• RSA's Frequently Asked Questions About Today's Cryptography
• Yahoo! - Computers and Internet:Security and Encryption