From: ssteele@eff.org (Shari Steele)
Date: Wed, 29 Sep 93 07:41:47 PDT
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: saturation tactics?
Message-ID: <199309291438.AA26395@eff.org>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


Nate asks:

>BTW, what is the snail-mail address to send these letters to?

Willam B. Robinson
United States Department of State
Bureau of Politico-Military Affairs
Office of Defense Trade Controls
Washington, DC  20522-0602

George suggests:

>yeah, here's a cheaper version.  Write to the arms excport license people
>and pester them with questions: I'm a BBS operator, what should I do?; I'm a
>businessperson travelling overseas and need my crypto to comm with the home
>office what should I do?; all this kind of thing.  Swamp them with letters.
>Every person and every circumstance which even remotely fits.  
>
>An alternative version which would require more guts and perhaps a serious
>conscientious decision about whether it's worth making this an act of civil
>disobedience, is to write to them and say, "I'm a BBS operator, not an arms
>merchant, and on the strength of my 1st-A rights I'm not going to censor my
>board or get a license..."  or  "I'm a businessperson who travels & takes my
>cryupto out of the country on my laptop to comm with the home office; I'm
>not an arms dealer either and I don't intend to get a license..."  And
>again, there is strength in numbers here.   

I like the first idea.  As an attorney (stop with the hissing out there!),
I feel a need to remind you that these State Department guys are serious. 
They can really make your life miserable -- just ask Phil Z.  I strongly
suggest that you keep that in mind before openly suggesting that you intend
to export encryption.  I agree that the export laws stink.  I'm hoping we
can get the law nixed without anyone going to jail.
Shari