2nd CJ update

[Phil Karn]

Looks like the stalling tactics have begun. I just got a phone call
from "Susan Shea" from the National Security Agency. She said that to
"make a better determination" she would need a copy of the diskette.

I explained (as I had in my written request) that the diskette in
question contained exactly the same source code as was printed in Part
5 of the book Applied Cryptography, byte for byte. But she claimed
that as she did not have a copy of that, she would still need the
diskette.
 
Right. The NSA doesn't have a copy of Applied Cryptography, and has
never seen one. Yet, apparently, they signed off on my original CJ
request to export the printed book (the State letter mentions comments
from the Department of Defense, which is always a code phrase for the
NSA in such situations).

Sigh. I will send it off to them. This should buy them about two days,
unless I get really extravagant and switch from Priority Mail to
Express Mail...

Phil

PS. Does anybody consider it odd that someone from the NSA would actually
identify themselves as such?