[44804] in Cypherpunks
Re: Solution for US/Foreign Software?
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Ernest Hua)
Wed Dec 6 13:05:08 1995
To: jimbell@pacifier.com (jim bell)
Cc: cypherpunks@toad.com
In-Reply-To: Your message of "Wed, 06 Dec 1995 00:06:17 PST."
<m0tNEsF-00090XC@pacifier.com>
Date: Wed, 06 Dec 1995 09:50:56 -0800
From: Ernest Hua <hua@chromatic.com>
> I'm not saying they are a "bypass" of the laws. Rather, I'm saying that
> if the goal is to:
>
> 1. Let companies like Netscape make foreign sales.
>
> 2. Still comply with the letter of the law.
It takes more than one or two people to coordinate an international effort.
Once more than a few people know about it, it becomes "company policy" or
"corporate objective", in which case, the NSA/DoS will eventually figure it
out and start levying heavy fines and jailing the individuals.
The main point is that there is no such thing as the "letter of the law".
What they enforce is much broader than that, and how they enforce it is much
more subtle than clear-cut criminal prosecution. Therefore, you cannot just
use literal loop holes just because it's not clear, because the law they are
enforcing is not clear either.
This response should almost be an FAQ for this crowd.
Ern
