IP: more on Wired News: RSA goes Down Under to bypass US Crypto L

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1999 11:34:01 -0500
To: <farber () cis upenn edu>
Subject: Re:IP: Wired news: RSA goes Down Under to bypass US Crypto L

Dave --

RSA's Australian crypto announcement should be taken with a grain of salt. 
Australia may have somewhat more lenient encryption export practices than the
US, but it is in fact closely aligned with the US on most such issues.

As I said to one reporter, moving from the US to Australia because you don't
like US encryption controls is like moving from Minneapolis to Chicago because
you don't like cold winters -- quite possibly an improvement but not exactly a
solution.  

I suspect that controls are the news hook, but the commercial motivation is
something else.


Stewart Baker
Steptoe & Johnson LLP
202.429.6413
sbaker () steptoe com

Baker & Hurst, "The Limits of Trust -- Governments, Cryptography, and 
Electronic
Commerce" is now available from 
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/904110635
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