Re: PERL/RSA t-shirts for Americans only

[Steve Crocker <crocker () cybercash com>]

> Steve Crocker said:
> > I doubt
> > that t-shirts containing a couple of lines of PERL code which implement the
> > RSA algorithm are controlled under the ITAR.  The ITAR specifcally exempts
> > publications.


John Gilmore said:
> The only way to find out what it's legal to publish in the crypto
> realm is to ask the State Department with a Commodity Jurisdiction
> request.  Trying to understand the plain language of the regulations
> will lead you into exports (like those of publications) which the
> State Department has ruled are illegal.  This mere fact makes the
> regulations unconstitutionally vague and overbroad.
>
> The regulations say that publicly available "information" is exempt
> from export controls, in an obvious attempt to cut a First Amendment
> notch in the regulations.  But the State Department has decided that
> crypto software is not "information".  And they're trying to convince
> a judge that software authors of all kinds are not entitled to the
> protection of the First Amendment.


I'll pass on your suggestion that I try to experiment myself, but I'm under
the impression that a publication and is not the same as software.  One can
press the matter in various ways, e.g. a source listing of 1,000,000 lines
of code, but I seriously doubt that a couple lines of PERL code printed on
a t-shirt constitute "software."




Steve


--------------------
Steve Crocker
CyberCash, Inc., Suite 430                        Work: +1 703 620 4200
2100 Reston Parkway                               Fax:  +1 703 620 4215
Reston, VA 22091                                  crocker () cybercash com