Twice today I ran across U.S. export laws for encryption software. The first was when I was looking through the Apache documentation for setting up SSL on my localhost and the second was when I was downloading a standard network protocol analyzer. Check this out:

“The Wireshark network protocol analyzer is open source software that contains strong encryption. Specifically, it has the ability to decrypt DCERPC, IPsec, ISAKMP, Kerberos, SNMPv3, SSL/TLS, WEP, WPA/WPA2 and a number of other protocols. Its primary distribution point is in the United States, and subsequently falls under U.S. encryption export regulations.

To the best of our knowledge, Wireshark falls under ECCN 5D002 and qualifies for license exemption TSU under Section 734.3(b)(3) of the EAR. Downloading Wireshark in Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Libya, Sudan, and Syria is prohibited.”

(my emphasis added)