On 19 Jan 2005 17:09:19 -0800, Paul Rubin <http://[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>Robin Becker <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: >> > Presumably he is talking about crypo-export rules. In the past strong >> > cryptography has been treated as munitions, and as such exporting it >> > (especially from the USA) could have got you into very serious >> > trouble. >> >> well since rotor is a german (1930's) invention it is a bit late for >> Amricans (Hollywood notwithstanding) to be worried about its export > >1. I think the concern was not about exporting from the US, but rather >importing into some countries that restrict the use of crypto. But >the cat is out of the bag on that one too. Just about every web >browser includes an SSL stack and those browsers are in use >everywhere. Isn't the SSL dependent on OS or at least shared lib support? Wasn't there a default 40-bit version that was ok (weak), but you had to declare yourself US resident to download 128-bit support? I dimly recall encountering this sort of thing installing Netscape a long time ago, I think. Is 128 just standard now? And now that 128 is wobbly(?), will the same thing be replayed with the ante upped? > >2. It's irrelevant for the purpose of export rules how old an >invention is or where it was invented. I don't know where machine >guns were invented, but they're at least 100 years old and you can't >export those without a license either. My gripe with the crypto rules >are not about the age or nationality of crypto rotor machines (rotor >is not a clone of the Enigma by the way; it just operates on related >principles) but rather on the control of information in general. I can easily conceive of information that I'd rather not see publicized without severe access controls. But in general I do believe in open sharing of free information as the most productive for everyone. >Exporting a machine gun is much different from publishing a >description of one. Software is just a precise type of description. Yeah, but ... ;-) Regards, Bengt Richter -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
