-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hal Finney mentions that the law is often forced to make absurd distinctions between OK and illegal acts, simply because the line must be drawn somewhere. It's a good point, and worth keeping in mind. It seems obvious to me that, for purposes of ITAR regs., the Dept. of State and Dept. of Defense here in the USA have drawn the line between printed text (OK) and ASCII text files on electronic media (illegal to export). Their line selection is probably based upon their interpretation of the self-contradictory ITAR regs. However, just because one part of "the law" has drawn a particular line, we shouldn't assume that line to be the final word. If we do indeed believe that electronic expression and electronic publishing are the moral and constitutional equivalents of paper publishing, there should be no line at all. A lawsuit could force the line-drawers to officially recognize this fundamental democratic truth. Richard -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.4 iQCVAgUBLdHzPfobez3wRbTBAQHvVAP+KHGCFgSlMStgbomhggwSQeiymdOSpk03 xmNhds+VBcqb1m7ddzvp659Yqcwc+MmBoQrJ9d3rELYD4mxxLvYAwCinaJf04Arx SYr69+K0MHTvsKG2ilv8gTUaAdUzTkIgIE06S4+4gdkp4LH4UoEyH42QEAx3vvso fw/Boyqxp+k= =Yhex -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----