r a AM-DeclassifiedCodes 11-26 0287 ^AM-Declassified Codes,0266< ^Government Reverses Itself, Declassifies Studies On Secret Codes< SAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ The National Security Agency has reversed itself and declassified two cryptography texts it previously had insisted were secret even though they were available in public libraries. The announcement Wednesday came as a result of a lawsuit filed under the Freedom of Information Act by a Silicon Valley computer scientist who believes private companies should have more access to secret code technology. The analyst, John Gilmore, asked the spy agency to declassify the 50-year-old studies on encryption _ the science of designing codes. The U.S. Department of Justice recently had threatened to prosecute Gilmore under a 1950s espionage law if he distributed copies of the texts. In court papers, an NSA official said disclosure of the information could seriously damage national security. The agency is in charge of protecting U.S. codes and cracking foreign ones. Gilmore is a board member of the Electronic Frontier Foundation of Cambridge, Mass. The organization believes now-secret encryption technology is necessary for private companies to make modern computer and telephone systems secure from tampering. ``Why shouldn't an American citizen be able to go to the library and teach himself about encryption?'' asked Michael Godwin, a staff counsel at the foundation. Gilmore said he found copies of the once-declassified studies, made secret again by the Reagan administration, in public libraries. They presently are used as texts in military classes. He said he plans to distribute 20 or 30 copies to other libraries. The studies are about 1,000 pages long. AP-DS-11-26-92 1837EST<