dumb and dumber

every day I think, 'things can't possibly get any stupider'.  and
invariably, I am proven wrong.

from CNET: http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,15721,00.html

Next year's Pentium II computers will be subject to
export controls if a bill pending in Congress passes.
It's expected to come up in the House today. 

Under an amendment to the 1998 Defense
Authorization bill, computer makers shipping machines
that can perform 2,000 million theoretical operations
per second (MTOPS) or more to developing nations
will have to apply to the Commerce Department for an
export license. 

...

Lofgren explained that about the only way to stop the
provision from becoming law at this point would be a
presidential veto, because the sprawling piece of
legislation has already been approved in substance by
the House and Senate.

etc., etc., etc.


sheesh...

Ariel Glenn
ariel@columbia.edu

At 9:06 AM -0700 10/28/97, Ariel Glenn wrote:
>every day I think, 'things can't possibly get any stupider'.  and
>invariably, I am proven wrong.
>
>from CNET: http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,15721,00.html
>
>Next year's Pentium II computers will be subject to
>export controls if a bill pending in Congress passes.
>It's expected to come up in the House today.
>
>Under an amendment to the 1998 Defense
>Authorization bill, computer makers shipping machines
>that can perform 2,000 million theoretical operations
>per second (MTOPS) or more to developing nations
>will have to apply to the Commerce Department for an
>export license.

It could be an interesting legal battle. Intel will certainly bring a lot
of firepower to bear on this.

Interestingly, one of the reasons the Pentium, and Pentium II, is being
fabbed in Israel (they ignored my "soft target" evaluation) and Ireland
(ditto), is to get production inside the borders of the area, including the
European Community.

So, what happens when Pentium IIs are drop-shipped straight to Penang,
Malaysia for packaging and test and are then drop-shipped directly to
"developing nations"? Where did the export occur?

With crypto code, it was the shipment of intellectual property to a
non-U.S. nation. E.g., if RSADSI sends programmers to Ireland to write a
crypto program so as to bypass U.S. laws, that's where the violation
supposedly occurred. (We haven't seen major prosecutions based on this
interpretation, yet.)

But I suppose it won't be too much of a hassle. Intel and other computer
companies dealt with the COCOM laws adequately, and the new proposal,
though pissing into the wind, won't even be as onerous as COCOM was.

--Tim May

The Feds have shown their hand: they want a ban on domestic cryptography
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
ComSec 3DES:   408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA  | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
Higher Power: 2^2,976,221   | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."