--On Friday, October 09, 2009 17:03 -0400 Noel Chiappa
<jnc(_at_)mercury(_dot_)lcs(_dot_)mit(_dot_)edu> wrote:
Interesting point. I can recall a number of countries with
_export_ restrictions on some things, and perhaps one with a
_use_ restriction, but I can't think of one where
"discuss[ion] or design[ing]" anything would have been
prohibited. Did I too miss one?
Noel, I don't think it moves the discussion forward one way or
the other, but I can certainly remember times in the US in which
discussions of certain types of cryptographic topics with
foreign nationals present was treated as export of cryptographic
technology and subject to all sorts of restrictions as a result.
It may have been an export restriction rather than a discussion
restriction, but the practical difference was zero. You could
quite properly and correctly respond that there was a lot of
resistance from the relevant communities and that the period of
prior restraint on papers to be presented at such meetings
didn't last very long, but it did occur.
Similarly, if one assumed that I had learned enough as an
undergraduate and from the public literature (i.e., without
depending on any security clearances or other special access) to
have a fairly good idea how to build a nuclear weapon and what
the key parameters are, I think I would still be violating US
law to stand up in a public meeting and describe how to do it.
Certainly that would have been the case some years ago; I
haven't spent a lot of time (or any time at all) tracking the
evolution of law and regulations in that area.
I think the Chinese situation is different, largely because of
the meeting cancellation and hotel discretionary provisions
(and, since Ole and others have told us several times that the
IAOC is working on a different plan in those areas, I'm trying
to sit quietly until I see what that process comes up with).
Certainly different governments are going to be sensitive about
different things (and fewer or more of them). But I don't think
it helps to exaggerate the differences by suggesting that there
are no restrictions on discussion of sensitive topics anywhere
else in the world.
best,
john
_______________________________________________
Ietf mailing list
Ietf(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org
https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf