Bernstein decision

[There will be many chances to talk to the press today about this.
 Call them up.  Tell them what it means.]

Lucky Green said:
> The ruling provides an interesting data point, but is inconsequential
> to the software industry.

Jonathan Wienke said:
> The decision seems to be a step in the right
> direction, but a VERY small one.

However you slice it, getting a Federal judge to declare both crypto
export control regimes unconstitutional is a major accomplishment.

This court case has done what a decade of lobbying, two decades of
citizen activism, and a decade of crypto software entrepreneurship
were not able to do.  (Though all these things contributed greatly.)
It stopped the export-control machinery in its tracks.

Last December, the State Department stopped issuing crypto export
licenses.  Hugh Daniel had applied for one; it came back marked
"returned without action".  We later found out, by comparing notes
with other export applicants, that this was a general policy; they
didn't want to risk enforcing an unconstitutional law.  They never did
resume.

A few weeks later, the Commerce Department started issuing "EI" export
licenses under new regulations.

Now there's no other department to turn to.  We haven't found a third
law that lets them regulate crypto export or use.  And Judge Patel
mentioned in her decision that "the government cannot avoid the
constitutional deficiencies of its regulations by rotating oversight
of them from department to department".  Though she decided that they
had not deliberately evaded her previous ruling, she's warning them
not to try it.

The next few weeks should be very interesting.  There's a mailing list
for announcements in the case, as appeals are filed, final orders come
out, any hearings are scheduled, etc.  Send mail to
<majordomo@toad.com> containing the line "subscribe bernstein-announce".
These announcements will also automatically go to cypherpunks, but there
are people who don't want the volume but do want to get the news.  Let
them know.

Thanks to all the cypherpunks for your ongoing support and participation
in the case!

	John

On Tue, 26 Aug 1997, John Gilmore wrote:

> [There will be many chances to talk to the press today about this.
>  Call them up.  Tell them what it means.]
> 
> Lucky Green said:
> > The ruling provides an interesting data point, but is inconsequential
> > to the software industry.
> 
> Jonathan Wienke said:
> > The decision seems to be a step in the right
> > direction, but a VERY small one.
> 
> However you slice it, getting a Federal judge to declare both crypto
> export control regimes unconstitutional is a major accomplishment.
> 

Of course, but Commerce may keep harassing people who attempt
crypto export.

One thing that occurred to me was that if Commerce prosecutes
everyone but Bernstein, then Mr. Bernstein could become a
_very_ wealthy man.

Think about it.  How hard would it be to include the Snuffle 
algorithm in PGP, etc.  How much for a Bernstein crypto license?

Talk about muddying the waters.  Mr Bernstein keeps upgrading
his algorithm until it becomes a major portion of most crypto
packages.  This decision looks like the first major chink in
the armor.  Depending on how long it takes to free up the rest
of the algorithms (if ever) Bernstein could recoup his legal
investment many times over.  Better yet if its public domain
then everybody could include it _now_.  An interesting type
of virus.


Jim Burnes

On Tue, 26 Aug 1997, John Gilmore wrote:

> However you slice it, getting a Federal judge to declare both crypto
> export control regimes unconstitutional is a major accomplishment.

Happy, Happy, Joy! Joy! So does this mean we can freely export all crypto
now?  How soon before the EAR's get thrown out?

=====================================Kaos=Keraunos=Kybernetos==============
.+.^.+.|  Ray Arachelian    |Prying open my 3rd eye.  So good to see |./|\.
..\|/..|sunder@sundernet.com|you once again. I thought you were      |/\|/\
<--*-->| ------------------ |hiding, and you thought that I had run  |\/|\/
../|\..| "A toast to Odin,  |away chasing the tail of dogma. I opened|.\|/.
.+.v.+.|God of screwdrivers"|my eye and there we were....            |.....
======================= http://www.sundernet.com ==========================

> Happy, Happy, Joy! Joy! So does this mean we can freely export all crypto
> now?  How soon before the EAR's get thrown out?

The Bernstein legal team is working on a definitive statement in a
conference call this morning.

As usual, talk to your own lawyer before doing anything rash.
We put the decision up on the Web so you (and they) can read it and
come to your own conclusions.  See http://www.eff.org.

	John

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

In <Pine.SUN.3.96.970826110402.6437C-100000@beast.brainlink.com>, on
08/26/97 
   at 11:04 AM, Ray Arachelian <sunder@brainlink.com> said:

>On Tue, 26 Aug 1997, John Gilmore wrote:

>> However you slice it, getting a Federal judge to declare both crypto
>> export control regimes unconstitutional is a major accomplishment.

>Happy, Happy, Joy! Joy! So does this mean we can freely export all crypto
>now?  How soon before the EAR's get thrown out?

EAR has allways been a side issue. The true question should be: How soon
before the bastards that supported EAR get thrown out?


- -- 
- ---------------------------------------------------------------
William H. Geiger III  http://www.amaranth.com/~whgiii
Geiger Consulting    Cooking With Warp 4.0

Author of E-Secure - PGP Front End for MR/2 Ice
PGP & MR/2 the only way for secure e-mail.
OS/2 PGP 2.6.3a at: http://www.amaranth.com/~whgiii/pgpmr2.html                        
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