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I am not familiar with american laws and have two questions:

1. If the bill becomes law, how can someone who violates it be punished?

- From the top of my head: Subpoena your service provider's computer records. Intimidate your roommate into testifying against you. Tapping your phone. Entrapping you into doing it. Feds are in the business of putting people behind bars. They are _very_ good at it.

2. Does someone who publishes software which encodes or encrypts (ASCII is a code, isn't it?) have to prove that he has provided the universal decoder to the state or does the state have to prove that he didn't do?

I'm betting that the Feds will adopt as a working definition anything that requires a key to decrypt the communications. That means compression software, rot13, and most hash functions are ok.

In the former case, does he get any receipt from the department of justice and what does the receipt say (1.3MByte of software received...)?

This is the U.S. Government. They Have Forms. You just file form THX1138/KGB666-007, omitting pages 113-115 and substituting Addendum Foxtrot Uniform Delta; then you're covered.

In the latter case, how do they want to prove he didn't? If he gave just a big

for(i=0;;i++) try_key(i);

how do they want to prove this doesn't work? There is a certain problem in theory. I don't know the english name, but in german it is

It's the Halting Problem, in English. Expert Testimony: "We experimented with 113,296 keys chosen at random and the defendants algorithm took an average of 29,000 years to find each one. It is our professional opinion, therefore, that the defendant is jacking us around and ought to be keelhauled". ObPGP: Incidentally, did you know that PGP puts a "- " in front of a line that begins with the word "From"? Just so "sendmail" doesn't hose your signatures, I spoz. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6ui iQCVAgUBMArcIY4k1+54BopBAQGEQAQA3POWJd+5OtdRy9otN0PZWSzA+wyIjM99 +PqxyoBlfvnrut7xNYzgGOedyLjQHoWMgXwWAtArIr2srFqwr0eUu5aUXcYxySBx NiEH/G4Y3Z3paL2yOdDLPqrjB7B68UusCYvgTYUCLrkcLU+zqOMfvTPRTx63AQ9h QoBB8/XMddc= =/k0o -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- Thank you VERY much! You'll be getting a Handsome Simulfax Copy of your OWN words in the mail soon (and My Reply). <Andrew.Spring@ping.be> PGP Print: 0529 C9AF 613E 9E49 378E 54CD E232 DF96 Thank you for question, exit left to Funway.