> Now, the FCC regulations for amateur radio, part 97, rule that > encryption cannot be used to "obscure the meaning" of communications. >
First off, the word "encryption" is not in Part 97 at all. What hams are thinking of is Section 97.1 13(a)(4) of the FCC rules, which prohibits "messages in codes or ciphers intended to obscure the meaning thereof, except as otherwise provided herein.. ." It all has to do with intent, that's the key word. When we are providing communications for some agency or organization, such as for disaster relief, those agencies have some expectation of confidentiality. Information about people, as well as movement of supplies and resources, is not meant to be heard by the general public. As one should see in this case, the encryption's purpose is not to "obscure" but to provide security for sensitive / confidential information from the general public, not even necessarily from other amateurs. A good long standing precedent example is where encryption has been used on amateur satellite control uplinks for many years. And other example of obscuring, was the use of LZW compression on SMTP mail delivery over TCP/IP / AX.25 links. When LZW was used for automated mail delivery, the messages could no longer be ready with the naked eye. The intent or reason many used LZW was because it could deliver the message more efficiently, in 1/2 the time. For further reading see; "Data Encryption is Legal," by N2IRZ, CQ Magazine Aug 2006 Or his other version printed in TAPR's PSR, Summer 2006, titled "Some Encryption is Legal" "HSMM and Information Security," by K8OCL CQ-VHF Fall 2004
