Benjamin,
Sorry for the late reply.
BER is a part of ASN.1.
No, BER is not a part of ASN.1. However, since ASN.1 initially had
only one set of encoding rules defined for it, BER, the term "ASN.1"
was sometimes loosely used to refer to the two collectively.
DER is a part of ASN.1. It is an afterthought - in the meaning of
"being thought of afterwards" - to BER. Check your dates!
No, DER is not a part of ASN.1. In 1988 the Distinguished Encoding
Rules (DER) were included in the Directory document X.509 as a set of
restrictions on BER. It was later found to be of general use outside
of the Directory standards and so in 1994 was formally incorporated
into X.690, the ITU-T document that describes BER.
PER *will be* a part of ASN.1 once ISO ratifies it (it is still DIS,
according to http://www.iso.ch/cate/d16296.html)
PER was ratified by ISO as an International Standard late last year,
and by ITU-T as a Recommendation early this year. However, it is not
a part of ASN.1. The idea that any encoding rules that encode types
defined using ASN.1 are a part of ASN.1 is a common misconception.
Bancroft Scott