From: Robert Hettinga <rah@shipwright.com>
Date: Thu, 27 Nov 1997 09:33:02 +0800
To: cypherpunks@cyberpass.net
Subject: Re: BXA denies my administrative appeal
Message-ID: <v0400277eb0a2703ed672@[139.167.130.248]>
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From: Miles Vorkosigan <miles_w@anon.efga.org>
Subject: Re: BXA denies my administrative appeal
Sender: owner-cryptography@c2.net
To: undisclosed-recipients:;

In message <v03007800b09f865249e2@[172.17.1.150]>, Rick Smith writes:
>
> I recently spoke informally with a couple of sub-Cabinet level officials on
> crypto policy. Their comments indicated that the FBI et al are dominating
> internal meetings on the subject with the same polarizing rhetoric they're
> using in Congress. One official said that he was accused of intentionally
> aiding terrorists at one of these meetings.

During a recent application for crypto export approval, which should have
been routine, we were contacted by an individual from the *FBI* (not from
BXA) who refused our export license because we didn't have a key recovery
system *in place now*. This is despite the facts that:

- the export license was to use our strong cryptography products for
  communications between our international sales offices and head office;
  this used to be a rubber-stamp license, and

- we are in the process of implementing key recovery technology as part of a
  a seperate export approval for our DES-56 products.

I couldn't even get an answer as to why the FBI had jurisdiction over our
export approval.

--
Miles

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-----------------
Robert Hettinga (rah@shipwright.com), Philodox
e$, 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'
The e$ Home Page: http://www.shipwright.com/
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