tcmay@got.net (Timothy C. May) writes:
Gov does have the right (in fact the duty) to regulate communications between citizens and non-citizens/sites in other lands
(not wishing to start a flamewar) Why do you think so ?
It isn't so. There are no restrictions, regulations, rules, or guidelines about communicating with non-citizens/sites. None. No permits are needed, no forms have to be filled out, no government offices have to be visited to explain one's reasons for communicating with a non-citizen.
Just pick up the phone, or type a message in your computer, or whatever. We citizens of the U.S. do it many times a day. ... [trading w/ the enemy act & espionage]
I strongly disagree. Defense Trade Regulations, Section 120.10 - Export -- permanent and temporary. Export means: (4) Disclosing or transferring technical data to a foreign person, whether in the United States or abroad; A foreign person is defined in S 120.11, and means anyone who's not a U.S. citizen. Technical data is defined in S 120.33 (d) Information, other than *software* as defined in 120.23(c), which is required for the design, development, ... maintenance or modification of defense articles. This includes, for example, information in the form of blueprints, drawings, photographs, plans, instructions and documentation. This also includes information that advances the state of the art of articles on the U.S. Munitions List. This definition does not include information concerning general scientific, mathematical or engineering principles commonly taught in schools, colleges and universities. It also does not include basic marketing information on function or purpose or general system description of desense articles. And we all know that Part 121 - The United States Munitions List - has Category XIII -- Auxiliary Military Equipment (b) Speech scramblers, privacy devices, cryptographic devices and software (encoding and decoding), and components specifically designed to be modofied therefore, ancillary equipment, and protective apparatus specifically designed or modofied for such devices, components, and equipment. As I read it, a college professor might get busted for explaining his own new crypto research to a class where some students happen not to be U.S. citizens. Of course we all know this already. Just some U.S. people prefer to ignore the mote in their own eye and to fight censorship in exotic remote developing countries. Do you remember how U.S. Gov't tried to prevent the publications of research papers on zero-knowledge proofs? --- Dr. Dimitri Vulis Brighton Beach Boardwalk BBS, Forest Hills, N.Y.: +1-718-261-2013, 14.4Kbps