Re: German government press release on Wassenaar

[ulf@fitug.de (Ulf M�ller)]

>> Press release from the Ministry of Economy
>>
>>        Export control for encryption technology loosened
>
>War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery?

My first reaction was something along that line. However there are a
two important points to note:

1.) Officials point out that "export control" does not mean "export
restriction".  There are forms of "export control" (such as the
requirement to notify the Export Office of your exports) that do not
hinder the export of crypto software in any significant way.  So it
remains to be seen how Germany and other countries will implement
the new rules.

2.) The government has acknowledged that public domain software
remains unrestricted. This also applies to copyrighted software such
as PGP which "has been made available without restrictions upon its
further dissemination".