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| From: pmetzger@snark.shearson.com (Perry E. Metzger) | |
| Subject: Re: Screw the people, crypto is for hard-core hackers & spooks only | |
| Message-ID: <1993Apr20.145338.14804@shearson.com> | |
| Sender: news@shearson.com (News) | |
| Organization: Partnership for an America Free Drug | |
| References: <C5qy3M.DE3@agora.rain.com> <19930419.155204.305@almaden.ibm.com> <1r0ausINNi01@senator-bedfellow.MIT.EDU> | |
| Date: Tue, 20 Apr 1993 14:53:38 GMT | |
| Lines: 32 | |
| jfc@athena.mit.edu (John F Carr) writes: | |
| >In article <19930419.155204.305@almaden.ibm.com> | |
| > ameline@vnet.IBM.COM (Ian Ameline) writes: | |
| > | |
| >> I also believe that someone will reverse engineer the clipper chip, | |
| >>and knowlege of the algorithm will likely be fairly widespread. | |
| > | |
| >The chip and algorithm are classified. If you reverse engineer it and | |
| >tell people, you are likely to go to jail. | |
| Well, I'm not a lawyer, but from what I can tell this is completely | |
| and utterly untrue. | |
| You see, this country has this thing called a "constitution". | |
| If you legitimately aquire the device, and you yourself are | |
| not a government employee or otherwise encumbered, I don't think they | |
| can stop you from revealing anything about the device you can | |
| determine. Remember the Pentagon Papers precedent? The First Amendment | |
| applies here. | |
| The U.S. does NOT have an official secrets act. We do have laws that | |
| will punish you for revealing what classified information you learned | |
| in your capacity as a government official, contractor, etc, and we | |
| have laws that prohibit stealing such information. However, if they | |
| sell you the chip, I can't see that they can make reverse engineering | |
| it and revealing the details illegal. | |
| -- | |
| Perry Metzger pmetzger@shearson.com | |
| -- | |
| Laissez faire, laissez passer. Le monde va de lui meme. | |