November 24, 1997

Clinton Administration may further tighten controls on export of electronic data scrambling systems by narrowing special exemption that has let financial institutions export strongest encryption technology; if controls are tightened, it would narrow range of financial institutions that are allowed to use most powerful encryption gear overseas to protect electronic transactions; Microsoft and many other companies argue that tightening controls would curtail growth of electronic commerce, which promises to become global business; new debate is part of larger fight pitting American high technology businesses and privacy advocates against law enforcement officials (M)

New York State, once national leader in promoting energy conservation, has, with little public notice, cut its conservation effort to about one-fourth its former size, even though program has been highly praised by environmentalists; amount state has required utilities to spend on program has fallen to $73 million ths year from $280 million in 1993 and is set to drop over nexy few years (M)

Connecticut's experiment at becoming first state to hire private company to handle its entire program of child-care benefits for families on welfare and working poor is failure; Maximus Inc may lose contract because troubled system that it was hired to fix has become worse; hundreds of families have waited for months without receiving aid that they were promised; company has been unable to process deluge of paper work and its phone lines have been overloaded withpleas for help (M

Television stations around nation scramble to be first to put digital, high-definition programming on the air; they impatiently wait for manufacturers to finish work on new digital transmitters and recorders, for engineers to finish creating new pieces of digital equipment, and for consumers to buy new digital televisions; it costs $1 million or more to equip station to pass on digital, high-definition signal; stations in small markets complain they cannot afford to make the upgrade, and some station owners are trying to sell their stations and get out of televisoin business altogether rather than pay for costly upgrade; photos; drawing (M)

Jana Novotna defeats Mary Pierce to win Chase Championships; photo (M)