Governmental Influence

Agencies like the NSA are currently able to eavesdrop on anyone with few restrictions only - though other messages are spread by the NSA.
Theoretically cryptography can make that difficult. Hence those agencies speak up for actions like introducing trapdoors to make it possible to get access to everybody's data.

See the U.S. discussion about the Clipper Chip some years ago:
http://www.epic.org/crypto/clipper/
http://www.cdt.org/crypto/admin/041693whpress.txt

While encryption offers us privacy for the transmission of data, we do not only wish to have it but also need it if we want to transport data which shall not be seen by anyone else but the recipient of our message. Given this, the governments and governmental institutions/organizations fear to lose control. Strict laws are the consequence. The often repeated rumor that the Internet was a sphere of illegality has been proven wrong. Some parts are controlled by law very clearly. One of them is cryptography. Prohibition of cryptography or at least its restriction are considered an appropriate tool against criminality. Or one should say: had been considered that. In the meantime also governmental institutions have to admit that those restrictions most of all work against the population instead against illegal actors. Therefore laws have been changed in many states during the last five years. Even the USA, the Master of cryptography-restriction, liberated its laws in December 1999 to be more open-minded now.

for an insight into the discussion having gone on for years see:
http://www.cdt.org/crypto/new2crypto/3.shtml

the final text of the new U.S. Encryption Regulations you will find under:
http://www.cdt.org/crypto/admin/000110cryptoregs.shtml
http://www.cdt.org/crypto/admin/000114cryptoregs.txt

an explanation of the regulations can be found under:
http://www.cdt.org/crypto/admin/000112commercefactsheet.shtml

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The Copyright Industry

Copyright is not only about protecting the rights of creators, but has also become a major branch of industry with significant contributions to the global economy. According to the International Intellectual Property Alliance the U.S. copyright industry has grown almost three times as fast as the economy as a whole for the past 20 years. In 1997, the total copyright industries contributed an estimated US$ 529.3 billion to the U.S. economy with the core copyright industries accounting for US$ 348.4 billion. Between 1977 and 1997, the absolute growth rate of value added to the U.S. GDP by the core copyright industries was 241 %. Also the copyright industry's foreign sales in 1997 (US$ 66.85 billion for the core copyright industries) were larger than the U.S. Commerce Department International Trade Administration's estimates of the exports of almost all other leading industry sectors. They exceeded even the combined automobile and automobile parts industries, as well as the agricultural sector.

In an age where knowledge and information become more and more important and with the advancement of new technologies, transmission systems and distribution channels a further increase in the production of intellectual property is expected. Therefore as copyright establishes ownership in intellectual property it is increasingly seen as the key to wealth in the future.

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William Frederick Friedman

Friedman is considered the father of U.S.-American cryptoanalysis - he also was the one to start using this term.

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Data mining

In data mining, data are analysed for relationships among them that have not yet been detected. This is a process used in scientific research as well as in marketing and administration. Through data mining, new surplus data can be generated out of a given quantity of data.

A good general introduction to data mining and further links can be found at the University of Anglia's Data Mining Group

http://www.sys.uea.ac.uk/Research/researchare...
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Enigma

Device used by the German military command to encode strategic messages before and during World War II. The Enigma code was broken by a British intelligence system known as Ultra.

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