US Mass Market Crypto Exportable

[Brian Gladman]

From: "Ian Brown" <I.Brown@cs.ucl.ac.uk>
To: "ukcrypto" <ukcrypto@chiark.greenend.org.uk>
Sent: Monday, June 10, 2002 3:39 PM
Subject: RE: US Mass Market Crypto Exportable


> > 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.

There is not even the slightest doubt that you are right in respect of the
original issue, i.e. that of export controls on cryptographic source code.

And as an ex-insider with a direct involvement I can say with complete
confidence that the UN has never played any significant role in
orchestrating cryptography export controls.

   Brian