Re: NSA/ITAR

[tcmay@got.net (Timothy C. May)]

At 9:43 PM 3/25/96, Vladimir Z. Nuri wrote:
>TCM:
>
>>* EXPORT OF CRYPTO BEYOND U.S.: This is indeed a thorn in the sides of U.S.
>>companies, but is not _per se_ an issue I worry about. So long as I have
>>strong crypto, I don't really care too much about export. It would be nice
>>to get the ITARs modified, but not at the risk of adding language (such as
>>Leahy did) making use of encryption a possible crime (we've debated this,
>>so I won't elaborate here). Besides, I think the best way to overturn the
>>ITARs is through a court challenge; as I have noted, even the NSA's lawyers
>>felt that the ITARs would not withstand court scrutiny.
>
>hmmmm, I don't recall you saying that. would love to hear more about
>"NSA's lawyers feeling the ITAR cannot withstand court scrutiny".

My most recent mention of this was a few days ago, where I cited Carl
Nicolai, inventor of the suppressed "PhasorPhone," as my source. He and his
lawyer got access to papers inside the NSA building, though they could not
make copies. They found memos from NSA staffers saying that the ITARs had
never been tested in court and would not likely survive a full
Consitutional test and that it would thus be best if court cases were
avoided.

I passed this information along to the Lee Tien, representing Gilmore in
various cases, and to Phil Karn.

--Medusa