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From: veit@mururoa.gmd.de (Holger Veit)
Subject: Re: DES Export restrictions (was Re: FreeBSD outside of US??)
Message-ID: <1993Aug20.065501.25054@gmd.de>
Sender: veit@mururoa (Holger Veit)
Nntp-Posting-Host: mururoa
Organization: GMD - German National Research Center for Computer Science
References: <1993Aug19.135856.24990@gmd.de> <1993Aug19.193718.13608@info.brad.ac.uk>
Date: Fri, 20 Aug 1993 06:55:01 GMT
Lines: 38
In article <1993Aug19.193718.13608@info.brad.ac.uk>, t.d.g.sandford@bradford.ac.uk (Thomas
Sandford) writes:
[...]
|> Folks who live in the US: write to your senator (or whoever it is you write to
|> in the US), email the whitehouse, and generally make a noise to those in
|> authority in your country, pointing out that these stupid DES export
|> restrictions make you a laughing stock throughout the computer using world.
|>
|> - They are pointless (versions of DES encryption routines "escaped" long ago).
Even more: It did not only "escape", but was explicitly documented in detail
in one issue of the renowned journal "Scientific American" (German:
Spektrum der Wissenschaft) some time ago, so even programmers less skilled
in encryption all over the world (and without access to special "secret"
documents on the algorithm) could write an implementation of DES
(though probably not highly optimized).
|>
|> - They aren't enforced (US sites with DES algorithms on them. Sometimes with
|> README'S saying "Oh if you don't live in the US then please don't download
|> files you aren't allowed to").
|>
|> - They don't look good coming from a country which prides itself on freedom
|> of information (not that my own nation has much to boast of in that respect).
I can fully second this appeal.
|>
|> --
|> Thomas Sandford | t.d.g.sandford@bradford.ac.uk
--
Dr. Holger Veit | INTERNET: Holger.Veit@gmd.de
| | / GMD-SET German National Research | Phone: (+49) 2241 14 2448
|__| / Center for Computer Science | Fax: (+49) 2241 14 2342
| | / P.O. Box 13 16 | Had a nightmare yesterday:
| |/ Schloss Birlinghoven | My system started up with
53731 St. Augustin, Germany | ... Booting vmunix.el ...