Reading Room Document

Constitutionality Under the First Amendment of ITAR Restrictions on Public Cryptography

This opinion reviews whether the International Traffic in Arms Regulations ("ITAR"), which require a license as a prerequisite to exports of cryptographic information, violates the First Amendment. The opinion concludes that the licensing scheme is unconstitutional, since it establishes a prior restraint on the publication of cryptographic ideas and information without meaningful safeguards. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at https://justice.gov/olc/page/file/936106/download.

May 11, 1978