From: "William H. Geiger III" <whgiii@openpgp.net>
Date: Sun, 13 Dec 1998 03:40:20 +0800
To: "Albert P. Franco, II" <apf2@apf2.com>
Subject: Re: German government press release on Wassenaar (fwd)
In-Reply-To: <3.0.3.32.19981212153310.006dc6bc@209.204.247.83>
Message-ID: <199812121828.NAA002.03@whgiii>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



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In <3.0.3.32.19981212153310.006dc6bc@209.204.247.83>, on 12/12/98 
   at 03:33 PM, "Albert P. Franco, II" <apf2@apf2.com> said:

>I think the key idea which allows Open Source to be exempted is based on
>the availability to all eyes of the technology--not the legal rights
>attached to the software.

>The fact that the knowledge contained in Open Source software is
>available to all is the key. The legal right to use that knowledge is not
>quite the issue. If the knowledge in the software becomes "common
>knowledge" then defining its (illegal) export becomes extremely
>difficult.

I don't know about the rest of the signing nations but in the US at least
there is the unresolved issue of wether source code = protected free
speech under the 1st Amendment.

Considering the crypto section of the agreement is up for review and a new
vote in the year 2000 it may be that they are waiting to see how this
issue plays out in the courts.

Does anyone know what happened to the EU decision not to implement crypto
restrictions despite US pressures? Does the Wassenaar signify a change in
direction for the EU or do we have two different groups in Europe with
conflicting policies??

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