At 2:37 PM 9/18/93 -0700, gnu(_at_)toad(_dot_)com wrote:
It's possible that the initial complaint to Customs was from some
competitor. If so, a new low in crypto competition has been reached
by the private sector.
I think that making such a statement without saying you have the
information to support such a claim is doing a great disservice to everyone
involved. You could as easily have said any of a dozen other
possibilities. Considering the fact that the companies you mentioned as
being under subpoenae have also been making very public statements on the
nets and elsewhere, what makes you believe that Customs hasn't just been
listening and watching, waiting to pounce?
There is also the possibility that some companies who believe that machine
readable source code falls under the ITAR (and are themselves working under
the ludicrous restrictions of the ITAR on crypto software) went to Customs
basically saying "Look, if they can do this so should we -- ITAR shouldn't
apply." By doing something like that (I have *NO* knowledge if anyone did
or did not), Customs would be forced to confront the issue explicitly and
we could all get a resolution underway.
---
Glenn Tenney
tenney(_at_)netcom(_dot_)com Amateur radio: AA6ER
Voice: (415) 574-3420 Fax: (415) 574-0546