Government Backs Away from Crypto Regulations

[Russell Nelson]

> To: export at list.cr.yp.to
> Subject: Government Backs Away from Crypto Regulations
> 
> PRESS RELEASE
> 
> Contact: Daniel J. Bernstein, press-20021018 at box.cr.yp.to
> 
> 
> GOVERNMENT BACKS AWAY FROM CRYPTO REGULATIONS
> 
> San Francisco, 18 October 2002 - The government today told a federal
> court that several portions of the current encryption regulations would
> not be enforced.
> 
> The regulations are being challenged by Daniel J. Bernstein, a professor
> of mathematics, statistics, and computer science at the University of
> Illinois at Chicago. Bernstein's lawsuit led to four court decisions
> against the constitutionality of the government's previous regulations.
> 
> To comply with the current regulations, cryptographers must send
> encryption software to the National Security Agency before showing the
> software to foreigners. They must also wait for government approval if
> source code for the software is not publicly available.
> 
> Department of Justice attorney Tony Coppolino told the court that the
> government would not enforce the regulations against cryptographers
> working together at conferences. He also told the court that the
> government would treat ``assembly language'' as source code.
> 
> Chief Judge Marilyn Hall Patel of the United States District Court for
> the Northern District of California will take the next action in the
> case. Observers expect Patel to rely on the government's promises and
> dismiss Bernstein's case without deciding the constitutionality of the
> current regulations.
> 
> ``I'm trying to help protect the Internet against bad guys,'' Bernstein
> said in a statement. ``I hope it's true that the government is going to
> stop interfering in my work.''
> 
> -30-
> 

-- 
-russ nelson              http://russnelson.com |
Crynwr sells support for free software  | PGPok | businesses persuade
521 Pleasant Valley Rd. | +1 315 268 1925 voice | governments coerce
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