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From: jfc@athena.mit.edu (John F Carr)
Newsgroups: sci.crypt
Subject: Re: Screw the people, crypto is for hard-core hackers & spooks only
Date: 21 Apr 1993 19:34:57 GMT
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Lines: 37
Message-ID: <1r47l1INN8gq@senator-bedfellow.MIT.EDU>
References: <19930419.155204.305@almaden.ibm.com> <1r0ausINNi01@senator-bedfellow.MIT.EDU> <1993Apr20.145338.14804@shearson.com>
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In article <1993Apr20.145338.14804@shearson.com>
	pmetzger@snark.shearson.com (Perry E. Metzger) writes:

[I wrote:]
>>The chip and algorithm are classified.  If you reverse engineer it and
>>tell people, you are likely to go to jail.

>Well, I'm not a lawyer, but from what I can tell this is completely
>and utterly untrue.

>The U.S. does NOT have an official secrets act. We do have laws that
>will punish you for revealing what classified information you learned
>in your capacity as a government official, contractor, etc, and we
>have laws that prohibit stealing such information. However, if they
>sell you the chip, I can't see that they can make reverse engineering
>it and revealing the details illegal.

In most cases information you come by properly is yours to use as you wish,
but there are certainly exceptions.  If you write a paper which includes
sufficiently detailed information on how to build a nuclear weapon, it is
classified.  As I understand the law, nuclear weapons design is
_automatically_ classified even if you do the work yourself.  I believe you
are then not allowed to read your own paper.

A less serious example: if you tell drivers about a speed trap they are
about to run into, you can be fined, even though you might argue that you
broke no law when you discovered the location of the policeman.  The charge
is interfering with a police officer, which is quite similar what you would
be doing by reverse engineering the Clipper chip.

Don't tell me that you think this violates the Constitution -- find some
court cases which have struck down such laws.  Many people would not be
comforted by the fact that the government violated their rights when it
imprisoned them.

--
    John Carr (jfc@athena.mit.edu)
