The vice-president and managing director of the European Business Software Association, Ms Emilia Knight, has welcomed US vice-president Al Gore's announcement that the US government has plans to relax its encryption policy. This means it will now permit the export of 56-bit or equivalent encryption technology from the US, without retaining its ability to access that data through "key recovery" programmes.

"In the race for security and privacy for all consumers of information technology, this is an important first step towards a more sensible long-term policy. The ready availability of market-driven encryption technology is crucial for the growth of electronic commerce in the US, in Europe and elsewhere in the world," Ms Knight said.