3 June 1999. See English translation of full statement: http://jya.com/de-crypto-all.htm

3 June 1999. Thanks to Thomas Roessler.

See German cryptography policy statement: http://www.bmwi.de/presse/1999/0602prm1.html

JYA welcomes a full English translation of the statement from which the 5 point-framework below is taken.

Date: Thu, 3 Jun 1999 12:06:56 +0200
From: Thomas Roessler <roessler@guug.de>
To: ukcrypto@maillist.ox.ac.uk
Cc: Cryptography List <cryptography@c2.net>
Subject: Re: Germany Frees Crypto

Shalom Avital wrote on ukcrypto:

> I value the information, which looks too good to be true.

> I thank in advance for an English translation, if somebody is willing to
> take care of that.

The text is rather lengthy.  I'll try to give a translation of the
actual framework ("Eckpunkte" in German).  I beg your pardon for the
mistakes I'll undoubtedly make; I'm not a native English speaker.

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1. The Federal Government does not plan to limit the free
   availability of encryption products in Germany.  It considers the
   application of secure encryption to be a crucial requirement for
   the citizens' privacy, for the development of electronic
   commerce, and for the protection of business secrets.  The
   Federal Government will therfore actively support the
   distribution of secure encryption.  This includes in particular
   increasing the security consciousness of citizens, business, and
   administration.

2. The Federal Government strives for strengthening users' trust in
   the security of encryption.  It will therefore take measures to
   create a framework for trustworthy secure encryption, in
   particular by improving the possibilities for reviewing
   encryption products for their security, and by recommending the
   use of reviewed products.

3. For reasons of national security, and the security of business
   and society, the Federal Government considers the ability of
   German manufacturers to develop and manufacture secure and
   efficient encryption products indispensible.  It will take
   measures to strenghten the international competitiveness of this
   sector.

4. The spreading of strong encryption must not undermine the legal
   possibilities of prosecution and security authorities [police and
   intelligence communities may be a better translation].  The
   responsible Federal Ministries will cautiously watch the
   development and present a report after two years.  Additionally,
   the Federal Government will work on improving the technical
   skills of prosecution and security authorities.

5. The Federal Government attaches importance to international
   cooperation on encryption policy.  It encourages market-driven,
   open standards and interoperable systems and will work to
   strengthen multilateral and bilateral cooperation.

------------------------------ cut

I hope this somewhat rough translation is precise enough for your
purposes.