By popularizing cryptology when it did, Applied Cryptography probably played a big role in keeping academic/open cryptography around.
My memory is hazy, but I think the big vendors would have been happy implementing closed libraries with government-controlled key lengths and algorithms (if not clipper, at least patent-encumbered....), with export restrictions, and potentially escrow.
I can't see IBM, ATT, etc. fighting to keep keys unescrowed (which is the equivalent of fighting to make hostproof apps, technical avoision of CALEA, etc. today, which isn't exactly a mainstream position of large companies...), if consumers didn't demand it. For consumers to demand it, crypto-nerds needed to make an issue of it.
My memory is hazy, but I think the big vendors would have been happy implementing closed libraries with government-controlled key lengths and algorithms (if not clipper, at least patent-encumbered....), with export restrictions, and potentially escrow.
I can't see IBM, ATT, etc. fighting to keep keys unescrowed (which is the equivalent of fighting to make hostproof apps, technical avoision of CALEA, etc. today, which isn't exactly a mainstream position of large companies...), if consumers didn't demand it. For consumers to demand it, crypto-nerds needed to make an issue of it.