Re: Laws Outside the U.S.

[Phil Karn <karn@qualcomm.com>]

>I heartily agree with Duncan here! There has been very little said by
>the good residents of France, Germany, Sweden, Holland, Italy, etc.
>about just what the crypto-related laws of their countries are.

Okay, how about the text of the French law regulating cryptography?
It's available as http://www.ens.fr/equipes_dmi/grecc/loi.html. It's
in French, and unfortunately my 3 years of high school study aren't up
to the task.  Anybody out there fluent in the language who would care
to prepare an English translation?

We really ought to know what the French law says, given that the US
government keeps citing it as precedent for a western country to
regulate cryptography.

By the way, the next time a pro-clipper person does this, point out
that our very own government has repeatedly accused French
intelligence of committing industrial espionage on behalf of its own
industries, and that there just might be a connection between these
two policies that the US is trying to emulate. At a CPSR/EFF meeting a
few years ago I succeeded in getting a real rise out of James
Kallstrom of the FBI with this comment. Great fun. But then again, he
*is* a rather excitable sort...

Phil