Industry and Government "Guidelines" (Is Speech Next?)

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

At 5:15 PM 7/25/96, The Deviant wrote:
...
>> Then, they added ITAR.  And they want us to obey it.
>>
>> Finally, it seems, they're giving us "guidelines."  Not law, Not ITAR.
>>
>> Next it's gonna be their their fondest desires, their preferences,and
>> finally their whims.

I was going to reply, but I have decided to follow the "speech guidelines"
suggested by my local MiniTru authority figure. While the government does
not demand that my words be cleared by them, they have made it clear that
if I sign a "Good Citizen Pledge," and agree not to speak of certain
things, that my problems with the government will be lessened, my export
requests expedited, and my passage through Customs will be eased.

--Tim May

Seriously, I think there are serious "rule of law" issues arising out of
these "consultations" between industry and government. Things are not
spelled out, as Mindy Cohn of the Bernstein case so articulately has
described, and people seeking clearcut decisions about what can and can't
be exported find they get no answers. "We can't define an illegal export,
but we know it if we see it."

And actually not even this, as the decision often takes months or longer,
or no response is ever received. (Was the ITAR violation t-shirt ever given
a CJR or turned down for one? Though my personal view is that the t-shirt
was a side issue, and a frivolous example, last I heard State was simply
not responding one way or another.)

Seems to me, and I'm sure to others, that the ITARs are a clear case of
what lawyers call "overvagueness."

And my joke about a "Good Citizen Pledge" is only partly a joke. The
language of companies "coming to agreements" with the State Department, in
exchange for expedited handling, is a dangerous trend. Carried further, it
could create classes of companies and citizens, not all of whom would be
treated equally under the law.


--Tim May

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