My warning is not out of date.

I'm trying really hard not to turn this into a political rant about an
injustice I feel strongly about:
     I'm sure our hosts at Forth, Inc. have other goals in mind for this
board.
     It doesn't help inform the uninformable and there are plenty of
resources for those who want to learn.

However:
    Even though for companies like Sun or Microsoft with lawyers and sawyers
and millions of litigation dollars encryption law has loosened up, there is
still an ITAR, a State Department, and a jail cell waiting for the unwary.

    Bearing in mind export of strong crypto to the seven "countries that
harbor terrorists" (Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Cuba, Iran, Syria and Sudan*)
and the knowledge that these countries have browsers, FTP clients and
Internet connections would make me very hesitant about where I post or email
crypto. I just don't need the hassle. I don't need to be held without
bail, without even being charged. I don't want to become aquatinted with
anyone from the ACLU or the EFF. I don't want to go on the lecture circuit.

    We throw more people in jail per capita here in the US than any other
country in the world, perhaps in many cases for some dubious reasons. For
some reason I don't understand, if it involves a computer the sentences and
the dubiousness of the logic appear to multiply. Compare Kevin Mitnick's
sentence to the average time for manslaughter.

     I'm not trying to tell anyone what they can or cannot do. I'm just
trying to warn folks who might trip over the rules by doing something they
thought was at worst a "traffic ticket" sort of infraction. If you are
setting out to fight injustice, great. I hate injustice. If you are just
trying to get through the day, don't step on this land mine.

     Please be careful and arm yourself with knowledge. Don't tilt at
windmills. Be aware of the consequences of your actions. Look both ways
before crossing the street.

     I'll shut up now. Anyone who wants to continue this discussion is
welcome to email me at my personal address:
forth_at_jps.net

*http://www.thestandard.com/article/display/0,1151,8780,00.html
and about a million other places on the web.
> ----------
> From: Charles Esson[SMTP:charlese_at_cvs.com.au]
> Reply To: sftalk_at_forth.com
> Sent: Saturday, September 02, 2000 12:03 AM
> To: sftalk_at_forth.com
> Subject: Re: [sftalk] Encryption Algorithms
>
> This is a little out of date. Commercial reality won. The US could not
> convince
> the rest of the world that their various secrets services needed to be
> able to
> spy on all. The maths really isn't that hard and a lot of product to
> perform
> these operations were written and are available outside of the US. The
> restrictions were basically nonsense. Fortunately I am not a US resident
> and
> this nonsense has never effected me, though Australia did go through a
> period
> were the US was trying to bring us into line and it got a little
> uncomfortable
> for those actually working in the area for a while, but this has long
> past.
> Those that wanted to convince us that multiplying two primes was as
> dangerous as
> a Nuclear bomb have long gone to ground.
>
> Regards
>
> "Appert, Kevin" wrote:
>
> > Thanks for the kind offer.
> >
> > To USA citizens on this list:
> > Please be very careful about shipping ANY software and in
> particular
> > crypto out of the country by ANY means (Emails, anonymous FTP sites and
> T
> > shirts with pearl scripts included!). Even things which are already
> > available elsewhere.
> > There is a law called International Traffic in Arms Regulations
> (ITAR)
> > which can levy huge fines, put you in jail for a long time and/or put
> the
> > company (even big, big companies) you work for or own out of business.
> The
> > Department of State is deadly live-ammo serious about this issue.
> > You no longer have to register as international arms dealers when
> > traveling with laptops containing PGP, Folder Bolt or Word Perfect.
> (Feb.
> > 1996) BUT(!) ITAR is still around and it can put you in hell.
> > Once again, please be very, very careful. Seek competent legal
> > counsel. Look around on the web (and take everything you read on the
> web
> > with a grain of skepticism). I'm not an expert in this area but I have
> had
> > it impressed upon me at work, by a few news stories and the experiences
> of a
> > couple of friends that this is serious business.
> >
> > > ----------
> > > From: Jabari Zakiya[SMTP:jzakiya_at_mail.com]
> > > Reply To: sftalk_at_forth.com
> > > Sent: Friday, September 01, 2000 9:10 AM
> > > To: Sftalk_at_forth.com
> > > Subject: [sftalk] Encryption Algorithms
> > >
> > > If anyone needs or wants encryption algorithms I have
> > > some. I have ANS Forth versions of DES
> > > (single to triple) Twofish, RC6, Serpent,
> > > and also the SHA-1 hash algorithm.
> > > I also have Pentium optimized version of the
> > > DES algorithms, Twofish, RC6 and SHA-1.
> > >
> > > If anyone is looking for others, such as RC4 and
> > > MD5 let me know.
> > >
> > > Jabari Zakiys
> > >
> > >
> > > ______________________________________________
> > > FREE Personalized Email at Mail.com
> > > Sign up at http://www.mail.com/?sr=signup
> > >
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Sftalk mailing list Sftalk_at_forth.com
> > > Visit Sftalk on the web at
> http://www.forthinc.com/mailman/listinfo/sftalk
> > >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Sftalk mailing list Sftalk_at_forth.com
> > Visit Sftalk on the web at
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>
>
> _______________________________________________
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>
Received on Tue Sep 05 2000 - 10:24:30 PDT