Re: Netscape does the right thing

["Timothy C. May" <tcmay@got.net>]

At 1:43 PM -0500 10/9/96, Paul Robichaux wrote:

>When you buy Que's current Netscape book (_Special Edition, Using Netscape
>3_), the included CD has the US-only, 128-bit, non-export version of
>Navigator on it. It's a licensed copy, even! (Of course, the book also has
>a small yellow "NOT FOR EXPORT" tag on the back cover, but who's counting?)
>
>For $49, getting a licensed copy of the 128-bit Navigator 3.0 plus a 1000+
>page book is a pretty good deal. My hat's off to Netscape for choosing to
>put the 128-bit version on the CD, and to Macmillan/Que for bothering to
>get the software in the first place. I really do believe that Netscape
>wants to get secure software out as widely as possible.

Though not a new issue, this reminds me of some hypothetical issues:

* No records are kept of book purchases, of course, and Joe Blow can simply
plunk down $49 (plus tax), never register the software (if such a thing is
even asked for), and take it with him to some foreign country and make tens
of thousands of copies.

(Obviously possible with net-borne releases as well, but the book + cash
makes the example very easy to understand.)

* If the "Not for Export" label is removed, how will Customs ever detect
export? (Not that U.S. Customs checks outgoing luggage very often...as we
have discussed, nearly none of us have ever been inspected on the way of
the country, and very rarely on the way back in.)

* What if I buy the book, remove the label, and sell it to someone else?
Can he then be prosecuted for exporting that which he had no idea was "Not
for Export"?

(Ignorance of the law is no excuse, and all.)

* If this book can be printed and sold with a "Not for Export" sticker,
maybe we'll see a version of Schneier with a similar CD-ROM in it, also
marked "Not for Export."

--Tim May

"The government announcement is disastrous," said Jim Bidzos,.."We warned IBM
that the National Security Agency would try to twist their technology."
[NYT, 1996-10-02]
We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, I know that that ain't allowed.
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
tcmay@got.net  408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA  | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
Higher Power: 2^1,257,787-1 | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."