State Dept. shuts down open-access Internet DEC-Alpha via export ctl!

[gnu () cygnus com <gnu () cygnus com>]

DEC was the first company to put up one of their machines on the
Internet so that people could log in and port their (free or
commercial) software to it.  This is a great idea, which I'm
encouraging others to emulate.  But the government objects...

The machine was called axposf (AXP is the model, OSF is the operating
system) .pa.dec.com (in the Palo Alto office of the DEC computer
company).  Anyone could connect to it over the Internet, using a standard
protocol (telnet), and type to it, as if they were sitting at its console.

This was WONDERFUL for people who are working on software.  The AXP is
a new "64-bit" machine, and most software will need at least minor revisions
to accomodate it.  But most software authors and companies won't immediately
buy an AXP.  Making one available for casual use on the Internet means that
much more software would appear on the AXP sooner.

The State Dept. regulates "remote access to computers" as equivalent
to "export of computers".  I shudder to think what would happen if
they discovered that ordinary email can invoke processing remotely.

Unfortunately, the machine is at DEC, which is gunshy about export
problems, after getting a multimillion dollar fine (which I don't think
they ever challenged in court) because some customer trans-shipped a
Vax to Eastern Europe in the '70s.  A more modern company might simply
tell the State Dept. to shove it, and beat them in court over the
unconstitutionality of the export laws.  Are they seriously telling us
that we can't put a public access machine on the Internet?  Can we attach
phone lines to it instead?  If not, a few thousand BBS's running on 
fast machines are violating export laws...  If so, what is the specific
difference between the Internet and a phone line, that lets a company
distinguish a legal act of commerce or communication from an illegal act
of export?

John, can you make sure the Congressional committees hear about this?
As far as I know, they are still not on email.

        John Gilmore

------- Forwarded Message