If Bidzos is using the term "technical data" as it's defined in $120.21 of the ITAR, I think it's debatable. Can we come up with data to support that IDEA and RSA are "commonly taught .. in academia"?
the U.S. Munitions List. This definition does not include information concerning general scientific, mathematical, or engineering principles commonly taught in academia. It also does not include basic
Well, I learned about the RSA algorithms in 18.063 (Introduction to Algebraic Systems), which is a required mathematics course at MIT for an undergraduate CS degree. It is normally taken by sophomores and juniors. MIT isn't exactly a "common" school, but it's certainly academia. Unfortunately, there is no textbook for this course. Public Key Cryptosystems are also discussed in the textbook (Introduction to Algorithms, Corman/Leiserson/Rivest, MIT Press) for 6.046 (Introduction to Algorithms), but are not discussed extensively in the class. As I know foreign nationals who have graduated, they must have taken these courses. Marc