Why "carnivore" type systems can't be (entirely) open source

[Brian Gladman]

From: "Owen Lewis" <oml@eloka.demon.co.uk>
To: <ukcrypto@chiark.greenend.org.uk>
Sent: Wednesday, February 07, 2001 11:26 AM
Subject: Re: Why "carnivore" type systems can't be (entirely) open source

[snip]
>
> > [1] Interestingly, and bringing this thread back 'on topic', I was
> involved
> > a few years ago in a survey of the extent to which organisations based
in
> > the UK obeyed the encryption export laws.  We found that a very large
> > proportion of companies who were approached were happy to illegally
export
> > cryptographic products.
>
> Most people are prepared to smuggle 'duty-free'. That does not make it a
> sensible thing to do for many, as the effects of any prosecution far
> outweigh any possible benefit from such petty smuggling. In regard to your
> example, it is not good risk management for a business to break the export
> regulations. The penalties can be most severe and the powers under the law
> of C&E make the police look like the Boy's Brigade.

What I might also have mentioned is that although we found many cases of
illegal export we could not find a single example of a prosecution under
these laws.   The UK authorities were given the report which contained a
full list of real exports that had been made by UK companies. We made all
the evidence of illegal exports available and yet no prosecutions followed.

Our conclusion was that these laws were really defunct but that it suited
the UK government's purpose to leave them on the books so that they could
exert 'behind the scenes' pressure on companies where they felt the need to
do so.

  Brian