From: P.V.McMahon@rea0803.wins.icl.co.uk
Date: Mon, 11 Oct 93 16:26:23 PDT
To: Duncan Frissell <frissell@panix.com>
Subject: RE: Why X/Open in London?
In-Reply-To: <199310111947.AA04793@panix.com>
Message-ID: <"7381*/I=PV/S=McMahon/OU=rea0803/O=icl/PRMD=icl/ADMD=gold 400/C=GB/"@MHS>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain








Duncan Frissell writes:
>
> I noted that Novell was supposed, today, to assign its rights to Unix to 
> the X/Open consortium


>                       based in London.
> 
> You don't suppose that X/Open was founded in London so that future Unix 

X/Open is based in Reading, Berkshire (a short walk from my office). Urban
sprawl hasn't quite connected Reading and London yet.


> versions could integrate crypto without bothering with US export laws.  
> <G>

X/Open doesn't integrate UNIX implementations; it publishes specifications
for a Common Application Environment and defines branding schemes which
permit users to use an independent yardstick to measure the openness of
vendors' systems.

 
> Another blow to America's competitiveness.
> 

Apart from hinting that material considered to be munitions by US law may
actuallly be available and in use outside the US (through the presence of
interfaces such as crypt(), setkey(), and encrypt() in XPG4), I can't think
of any relevance of X/Open's work to the burdens which cryptographic export
controls may impose on US companies.

Note that similar export constraints as are enjoyed in the US are applied
by the national authorities of the UK, and other countries .



> Duncan Frissell
> 
> 
> 
> --- WinQwk 2.0b#0




-------------------------------------------------------
Piers McMahon                                   12OCT93
ICL
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  OR   p.mcmahon@xopen.co.uk
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