From: sdw@lig.net (Stephen D. Williams)
Date: Thu, 21 Sep 95 08:27:41 PDT
To: gnu@toad.com (John Gilmore)
Subject: Re: Export via FTP: who's to blame?  Ask a court!
In-Reply-To: <9509210737.AA10902@toad.com>
Message-ID: <m0svnX7-0009z2C@sdwsys>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


...
> This is a question that has never been answered by a court.
> 
> Personally I think that the Congress can't constitutionally set up a
> scheme that restricts US citizens from communicating with each other
...

> If some hardy soul wants to set up a nice clean situation, like Phil
> Karn did for the paper-vs-magnetic-media distinction, I'm sure we can
> find some more pro-bono (zero cost) lawyers who'll take the case for
> the fun and notoriety.  You don't have to break the law to get into
> court; Phil didn't, for example.  You make a situation where the law
> restricts you, then sue to have the restriction declared invalid.  And
> if you have ever been in court, it's a lot more fun being the
> Plaintiff than being the Defendant.
> 
> Doing this will take significant time on your part.  Even if the
> lawyers do 95% of the work, you have to talk with them, review what
> they write, explain the details in gory detail, and believe in what
> they're doing for you.  And sometimes do things in a way that they are
> sure is right, even though you yourself aren't sure.  And stick with
> the case even though it would drag on for years through several
> courts.  So it's not something to do lightly.  But it's worth it.  And
> it's a lot safer and easier to enforce your civil rights now, than to
> try to live through the civil war that would follow the slide into
> authoritarian government.
> 
> I'd do this case myself, except that I think we should have few single
> points of failure.  If we spread the work around, it's more likely to
> happen.  And your civil rights are safer, because you yourself have
> learned how to defend them.
> 
> 	John

I recently moved to the DC area (N VA) and might be amenable to a relatively
harmless scenario like this.  (Not that I have much time, but I'm flexible.)

sdw
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