We got a brief last week from the State Department in the Bernstein case (in which we're trying to overturn the crypto export controls on First Amendment grounds). They state: "In fact, the State Department does not seek to control the various means by which information is placed in the public domain. Lowell Decl, para. 22. The Department does not review scientific information to determine whether it may be offered for sale at newsstand and bookstores, through subscriptions, second-class mail, or made available at libraries, or distributed at a conference or seminar in the United States. Id. "These clear examples are included in the ITAR to enable individuals to determine for themselves whether particular information is subject to regulation as technical data. Indeed, individuals rarely -- if ever -- seek a determinatino from the Department as to whether information is in the public domain, and the regularions are not applied to establish a prepublication review requirement for the general publication of scientific information in the United States." I am wondering if anyone else has ever sent in a CJ request that sought to determine whether the item in question was considered "public domain" by the State Department. Several CJ's of this type can be found near the bottom of my crypto export web page, at ftp://ftp.cygnus.com/pub/export/export.html. Has anyone else had interactions with the State Department about the "public domain" status of anything? Please let me know. -- John Gilmore gnu@toad.com -- gnu@eff.org RESTRICTED Notice. - This document contains information affecting the national defense of the United States within the meaning of the Espionage Act (U.S.C. 50: 31, 32). The transmission of this document or the revelation of its contents in any manner to any unauthorized person is prohibited.