Windows 2000 Subject To Russian Import Regs

On Jan. 12, the US government announced a drastic reduction of export limitations for software products with built-in encryption technologies. As a result, Microsoft has announced that, taking the new export regulations into account, it will use 128-bit encryption in Windows 2000 versions shipped to other countries.

The new regulations were effective Jan. 14, and mean that software
vendors do not need US export licenses for products which utilize
encryption with key lengths exceeding 56 bits.

However, in this case, Windows 2000 is subject to Russian import
limitations for cryptographic software. Current Russian legislation
strictly prohibits selling any software products with built-in
encryption algorithms, regardless of the key length, within the
country.

Foreign companies may import such products to Russia, but it
requires a special FAPSI (Federal Agency for Government
Communications and Information) license in certain cases.

FAPSI experts have been reported as saying that, if Microsoft
begins shipments of Windows 2000 to Russia, it will be a violation
of numerous Russian laws, including customs regulations.

In her comments on the situation, Olga Dergunova, the head of
Microsoft's Moscow office, said that, in no way does the company
want to violate Russian laws with shipments of the forbidden
algorithms.

That said, however, Dergunova expressed her belief that Windows
2000 will be available in Russia in any case.

Reported by Newsbytes.com, http://www.newsbytes.com.