-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- I wrote:
This should be obvious, but probably bears repetition anyway:
FREEMAN BEWARE: By switching to PGP 2.5 you would commence to affirm with each message you send that you are a subject of the U.S. State.
I have been asked in email what would happen if a person outside the U.S. were to use it. If a person were initially not a subject (``outside'') of the U.S., he would destroy that status in the process of acquiring PGP 2.5. This follows from the MIT announcement:
Date: Mon, 9 May 94 09:32:39 -0400 From: "Jeffrey I. Schiller" <jis@mit.edu> Subject: MIT Announces PGP 2.5
[...]
This distribution of PGP 2.5, available in source code form, is available only to users within the United States of America....
Users in the United States of America can obtain information via FTP
[...] For non-commercial use, one has a choice between PGP 2.3a and PGP 2.5. For a ``United States of America'' user, the legality of 2.3a is questioned on patent grounds, but 2.5 is available. For a free (non-national) person, on the other hand, 2.5 is unavailable according to the MIT announcement above, but there is no problem with 2.3a. The situation seems contrived to force each non-commercial PGP user to declare whether he is free or a ``United States of America'' user. Confusion may arise by interpreting ``user in the United States of America'' as a statement about geography rather than one about allegiance. This would be a mistake. The founding documents of the United States of America imply that their government is only of those who consent, so it is clearly a matter of allegiance, not geography. Acceptance of PGP 2.5 is one way to signal such consent, since 2.3a is available. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.3a iQCVAgUBLddLNcDhz44ugybJAQFoYwQAurznG2insQ74/JaJocPy7fxAqHWkBxSd U94kYU78NFWiv1P4ef9btiaBcCAWNC8LnzR/hVlvsLminRoNX8rDEP+B1wRDp0mR yMJlQ3X34cJYQvpEVwuOLJRvDS74p9r2OcNU9yB+CNEhHw8oIixdLIa/LbJT2ait N1Ny3UjSMQE= =s+8g -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----