From: John Gilmore <gnu@toad.com>
Date: Tue, 6 Aug 1996 17:32:08 +0800
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Looking for CJ's or State Dept. correspondence re "public domain"
Message-ID: <199608060718.AAA11804@toad.com>
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We got a brief last week from the State Department in the Bernstein
case (in which we're trying to overturn the crypto export controls
on First Amendment grounds).  They state:

	"In fact, the State Department does not seek to control the
various means by which information is placed in the public domain.
Lowell Decl, para. 22.  The Department does not review scientific
information to determine whether it may be offered for sale at
newsstand and bookstores, through subscriptions, second-class mail, or
made available at libraries, or distributed at a conference or seminar
in the United States.  Id.

	"These clear examples are included in the ITAR to enable
	individuals to determine for themselves whether particular
	information is subject to regulation as technical data.
	Indeed, individuals rarely -- if ever -- seek a determinatino
	from the Department as to whether information is in the public
	domain, and the regularions are not applied to establish a
	prepublication review requirement for the general publication
	of scientific information in the United States."

I am wondering if anyone else has ever sent in a CJ request that
sought to determine whether the item in question was considered
"public domain" by the State Department.  Several CJ's of this type
can be found near the bottom of my crypto export web page, at
ftp://ftp.cygnus.com/pub/export/export.html.

Has anyone else had interactions with the State Department about
the "public domain" status of anything?  Please let me know.
--
John Gilmore                                    gnu@toad.com  --  gnu@eff.org
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