From: mcb@net.bio.net (Michael C. Berch)
Date: Thu, 10 Feb 94 16:07:11 PST
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re:  Commodity Jurisdiction success for Kerberos Bones!
Message-ID: <199402102356.PAA01369@net.bio.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


John Gilmore wrote (a week or so back):
> Re:
> REQUEST FOR COMMODITY JURISDICTION FOR:  "Kerberos 900104
> bones.tar.Z patchlevel 6" software program
> [...]
> I encourage people and companies who are interested in export issues
> to submit a commodity jurisdiction request for some software that you
> want to export, and go through the process.  In public.  The State
> Department and NSA don't publish their guidelines for what is exportable
> and what isn't, so the only way we-the-public are going to find out
> is by asking, and then telling each other.

Are these guidelines, which are undoubtedly written down *somewhere*,
exempt from disclosure under FOIA?   If not, then this might be good
way to go; if the claim of exemption appears weak, it may be worth
litigating.  Getting actual disclosure of the guidelines may be worth
quite a bit, since not only does it inform us-the-public about the
rules, it can make it easier to sue the government for not abiding by
its own rules (if it violates them). 

--
Michael C. Berch
mcb@net.bio.net / mcb@postmodern.com