[ Followups should probably go elsewhere, since while we're talking
about a shareware PEM implementation, the export control nonsense
that people have to go through is probably out of scope of this mailing
list..... ]
Suggestion --- find someone in the U.S. who is willing to mail you the
interface to RSAREF, that should be exportable without much difficulty.
Or if you really want to be sure, get someone to write a magazine
article describing the RSAREF interface, and get that published. Then
it should be definitely exportable. :-)
Next, using the RSAREF interface, write your own implementation of the
RSAREF routines which conforms to the RSAREF interface. Since you're in
Austrialia the RSA patent doesn't apply, so you should be able to do
this.
Finally, write your shareware application to use the RSAREF interface.
Inside of Australia, users can use your implementation of the RSA
algorithms; inside of the U.S., people can link their application
against the RSAREF library, and have a license from RSADSI to be able to
use the RSA patents for non-commercial use.
Of course, there may or may not be export laws in Australia which may
put in a crimp in these plans --- in the best case, you won't be able to
redistribute your RSA code, but you will be able to distribute the
source code to your algorthm. In the worst case, even your shareware
PEM implementation, even without the cryptographic algorithms, may be
considered export controlled. (Stranger things have happened, when the
bureaucrats and lawyers get together....)
And actually ---- since you're doing things under Windows, what would
probably be best is for you to collaborate with someone in the U.S. to
define a DLL interface to RSAREF-style routines. That way, you can
simply distribute your Windows client in binary form, and all people
have to do is to get an appropriate DLL which satisifies the appropriate
legal and export concerns.
- Ted