US Mass Market Crypto Exportable

[Ian Brown]

> To prohibit the export to a specific state of certain items but
> to allow the
> 'export' to that state of the means to make the prohibition nugatory would
> simply be a nonsense - as the current regulations recognise.

The information required to create an item does not equal "the means to make
the prohibition nugatory", but trying to stop the transfer of information
given the existence of the Internet certainly is a nonsense.

> Now, to return to the nub of it. Do you claim other than that
> prohibition of
> certain exports to certain states, including the transfer of technology,
> does other than give effect to a requirement of the UN upon its member
> states? If yes, then it might be useful to set out your position here.

I claim that the impetus for the prohibition of intangible transfers of
dual-use technology such as cryptographic code comes not from the UN but
previous US govt policies.

Ian.