none of the rep's claims are true. note that AOL-Hong Kong would be in violation if this were true. the rep is probably confusing laws regarding export of encryption/munitions. also note that it's nearly impossible to detect encrypted email anyway as the methods (obfuscation, steg., etc.) available outnumber detection techniques available to isps. phillip
-----Original Message----- From: owner-cypherpunks@Algebra.COM [mailto:owner-cypherpunks@Algebra.COM]On Behalf Of codehead@ix.netcom.com Sent: Monday, July 16, 2001 5:29 PM To: cypherpunks@lne.com Subject: What NAI is telling people
I just got off the phone with one of the customer service people at NAI, who informed me that "Encrypted e-mails from certain countries aren't accepted in the US" and that accepting encrypted email from one of the "black list" (i.e., North Korea, Libya, Iran, Iraq, China, etc.) is illegal under US law.
When queried about the issue of *accepting* encrypted e-mail from a "black-list" country, the customer rep stated that this is what he was told by higher-ups in the company.
Never mind the issue of web-based email, mail originating from the dot-com, dot-edu, dot-net or dot-org TLDs, spoofed headers or open relays. It was impossible to resist quoting Tim May on the transparency of national borders, and to point out that so far, anyway, there was no ubiquitous filter at the borders. The rep backpedaled and stated that "some" ISPs, specifically AOL, were choosing not to accept such email.
Anyone have any idea if any ISPs are refusing to accept encrypted email from "black-listed" countries?
Or is this just a matter of NAI cluelessness?