Yeah, Clinton-era restrictions classified certain encryption products as munitions.
That restriction lost in early appeals, but IIRC, it never made it to SCOTUS, as the tides changes and industry forced the government to relax the restriction somewhat (IIRC, some restrictions still apply, but not to what we'd consider "normal" encryption products).
Edit/Addition - also worth noting the target/subject of speech matters. Political speech is the most protected, with almost absolute protection.
And often missed by the general public - speech is protected only in the senes the government can't restrict it (without a very good reason), but that doesn't mean speech is free of consequences from the public.
> That restriction lost in early appeals, but IIRC, it never made it to SCOTUS, as the tides changes and industry forced the government to relax the restriction somewhat
The government was forced to relax the regulations when the Ninth Circuit found they were an unconstitutional restraint on speech.
All software has had first amendment protections since that ruling, and the only reason it never made it to the Supreme Court is because that ruling has never been appealed by the government.
Congress can make any laws it likes, and there’s existing unconstitutional restraints on software in the law today (like the DMCA anti-circumvention restrictions), but it has subsequently never attempted to enforce any restraints of writing or distributing software, and couldn’t without the permission of the Supreme Court.
I’m not trying to be rude, but I don’t understand how so many people on HN seem to be unfamiliar with this case. It’s arguably the most important legal decision in the history of writing software.
That restriction lost in early appeals, but IIRC, it never made it to SCOTUS, as the tides changes and industry forced the government to relax the restriction somewhat (IIRC, some restrictions still apply, but not to what we'd consider "normal" encryption products).
Edit/Addition - also worth noting the target/subject of speech matters. Political speech is the most protected, with almost absolute protection.
And often missed by the general public - speech is protected only in the senes the government can't restrict it (without a very good reason), but that doesn't mean speech is free of consequences from the public.