RE: RANT: cypherpunks do NSA's job for them!!

[blanc <blancw@accessone.com>]

From: 	Vladimir Z. Nuri


your friends, family, associates, etc. constantly
*reminding* you of that law is the major, critical, unseen mechanism
in propagation of laws.
............................................................................

Actually, Vlad is has a remote point.  

When signs on the road advise everyone to buckle up - because "it's the law", it has the intent of providing the be-all and end-all reason for why we should do the things we do.  

When certain activities are described as being "illegal" it lends to the laws surrounding them an air of legitimacy, even though most anyone on this list who refers to them in that way understands that they are phrasing their words in terms of how these actions are perceived/categorized by the lawmakers, not by the cpunks.

Yet you must understand, Vlad:  you aren't going to figure out how to deal with a looming threat like ITAR simply by being nonchalant & devil-may-care.   The fact that some people (lawyers) know what corporations & individuals are facing if they try to import or export "illegal" substances like abstract code, and the fact that some people (programmers) discuss the issues openly, does not mean that they are headed in the direction of submission to the given obstacles.   

It just means that they're thinking through the problem, to clarify just what the situation is, to give conscious consideration to what anyone might have to deal with as a consequence of their decisions (to do what they will regardless of the NSA's perceptions).

I think this is a valuable & legitimate pass-time.

   ..
Blanc