Re: Regulation of citizen-alien communications (Was: Choices)

[dlv@bwalk.dm.com (Dr. Dimitri Vulis)]

tcmay@got.net (Timothy C. May) writes:
> At 1:01 PM 2/11/96, Dr. Dimitri Vulis wrote:
>
> >As I read it, a college professor might get busted for explaining his own ne
> >crypto research to a class where some students happen not to be U.S. citizen
>
> Considering that most engineering and computer science classses are
> approaching 50 percent non-U.S.-citizen, and considering that no such
> professors have yet been busted, I'm inclined to think this is a
> non-threat.
>
> (Indeed, it's a _potential_ threat, and one we should bear in mind, but it
> seems likely that no such prosecutions have occurred or will occur.)

I have anecdotal evidence (which I don't want to share) that certain college
teachers are reluctant to discuss state-of-the art crypto research in class
because they feel they're not supposed to share it with foreign students. It
may not be a fear of prosecution as much as the belief that it's against the
intent of the laws.

> >Of course we all know this already. Just some U.S. people prefer to ignore t
> >mote in their own eye and to fight censorship in exotic remote developing
> >countries. Do you remember how U.S. Gov't tried to prevent the publications
> >research papers on zero-knowledge proofs?
>
> No, could you provide some details? Who was pressured? Micali? Goldwasser?
> Rackoff? Please share the details.
>
> There has been an ineffective "voluntary review" process for academic
> researchers, and perhaps this is what Dimitri is referring to. But this did
> not stop the publication of the ZKIPS work a decade or so ago.

I recall that the (in)voluntary review process did slow down the publication of
ZKP by a year or so. Rather than rely on my memory, I'll dig up the exact
details and will most definitely get back to you.

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<a href="mailto:dlv@bwalk.dm.com">Dr. Dimitri Vulis</a>
Brighton Beach Boardwalk BBS, Forest Hills, N.Y.: +1-718-261-2013, 14.4Kbps