"Peter D. Junger" writes:
"Perry E. Metzger" writes: : It isn't clear that telecoms treaties don't implicitly make this legal : in spite of the export regulations.
Once again, what the ITAR forbid is the disclosure of cryptographic software to a foreign person within or without the United States, so it does not make any difference whether the message containing the code passes through the United States or not.
I understand that you are a lawyer and I'm not, but it is my understanding that international treaties come in to play on this sort of thing. For instance, in international shipments, you can transship items and substances that are illegal to possess in a country through its ports provided that the materials do not originate or terminate their shipment in the country and remain sealed in their containers throughout. It is also my understanding that items like mail and phone calls that happen to transit a country are not necessarily subject to that nations laws provided that the nation is not a terminal point for the mail or call or what have you. Treaties on this subject would quite clearly superseed any federal laws under the supremacy clause of the constitution. I am not absolutely sure of this, but I'm fairly sure that there are already rules on all of this. Perry