request for [cdn] export laws.

greetings, listmembers.

I have been looking for the export restrictions (if any) that regulate
canadian encryption products.  I have tried searching the net for a little
while, and although I have found a few (contradictory) blurbs on it, I have
found no 'official' documents or links to them.  does this information
exist on the web, and if not, who would be the best department to ask so
that I get the least red-tape or 'runaround'?



-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 james 'keith' thomson <jkthomson@bigfoot.com>  www.bigfoot.com/~ceildh
 jkthomson:C181 991A 405C EAFB 2C46 79B5 B1DC DB78 8196 122D [06.07.98]
 ceildh   :1D79 59AF ED75 5945 6003 8240 DA34 ACCA 9DE4 6BC9 [05.14.98]
 ICQ:746241 <keys> at pgp.mit.edu     ...and former sysop of tnbnog BBS
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
"Microsoft's biggest and most dangerous contribution to the software
 industry may be the degree to which it has lowered user expectations."
				     - Esther Schlindler, OS/2 Magazine
=======================================================================

jkthomson wrote:

> 
> I have been looking for the export restrictions (if any) that regulate
> canadian encryption products.  I have tried searching the net for a little

Perhaps the URL
  
     http://www.efc.ca/

is of some interest to you.

M. K. Shen

On Sat, 5 Sep 1998, jkthomson wrote:

> I have been looking for the export restrictions (if any) that regulate
> canadian encryption products.  I have tried searching the net for a little
> while, and although I have found a few (contradictory) blurbs on it, I have
> found no 'official' documents or links to them.  does this information
> exist on the web, and if not, who would be the best department to ask so
> that I get the least red-tape or 'runaround'?
> 
>  james 'keith' thomson <jkthomson@bigfoot.com>  www.bigfoot.com/~ceildh

Yes Canada has export restrictions, which are handled by the Department of
Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT). The particular act you
should be interested in is the "Export and Import Control Act of Canada."
The DFAIT freely distributes "A Guide to Canada's Export Controls" which
was updated in 1996, and is available from the International Trade Centers
of the Gov't of Canada, see the blue pages in your phone book.

Excerpts from the Export Control List of Canada 
<http://axion.physics.ubc.ca/ECL.html> outline the regulations relating to
'Information Security' which includes encryption.

Encryption software may fall under the "General Software Note":
------------
This List does not embargo "software" which is either:

a.Generally available to the public by being: 
  1.Sold from stock at retail selling points, without restriction, by
  means of: 
    a.Over-the-Counter transactions; 
    b.Mail order transactions; or 
    c.Telephone call transactions; and 
  2.Designed for installation by the user without further substantial
  support by the supplier; or 
b.In the public domain". 

>From the definitions of pp 49-55

"In the public domain" 
  As it applies to the International Lists, means "technology" or 
"software" which has been made available without restrictions upon its
further dissemination.
N.B.
Copyright restrictions do not remove "technology" or "software" from being
"in the public domain". 
------------

Further references:
 Canadian Cryptography Page
 http://fractal.mta.ca/crypto/

 Canada's export controls by Marc Plumb <mp@the-wire.com> 
 http://www.efc.ca/pages/doc/crypto-export.html

 Excerpts from the Export Control List of Canada by W. G. Unruh
<unruh@physics.ubc.ca> 
 http://axion.physics.ubc.ca/ECL.html

 Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
 http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/
 (I have yet to find anything of use from the DFAIT site)

 Cryptography / Cryptographie Industry Canada
 http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/crypto
 (talk about the idea of changes to current policy)

 International Crypto Law Survey, by Bert-Jaap Koops 
 http://cwis.kub.nl/~frw/people/koops/lawsurvy.htm

 Canadian Export Controls on Encryption Products and Technology by Stewart
A. Baker and Michael D. Hintze
 http://www.steptoe.com/encryp.htm


--
M Taylor   mctaylor@  /  glyphmetrics.ca | privacy.nb.ca