Messages in this thread | | | From | David Woodhouse <> | Subject | Re: FW: Crypto | Date | Wed, 02 Aug 2000 17:45:50 +0100 |
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DMoffatt@narus.com said: > Remember the problem is not just the US laws. It is the French laws, > The Russian laws, etc... (Until recently the French even kept out 56 > bit DES)
> So the question boils down to: What is the end goal?
It would seem that some people's goal is to restrict the movement of Free Software to the lowest common denominator of all legislation anywhere in the world. That means banning crypto, banning stuff which is patented in the US but explicitly not permitted to be patented under EU rules, etc.
Follow it through and you'll end up banning code containing swearwords, too - although nobody from such a country has yet been shortsighted or arrogant enough, like the American contingent usually is, to think that their own legislation should affect the rest of the world and demand that we do so.
I don't want that, thank you very much. If it makes technical sense for crypto and other code to be integrated with the kernel, then we should do so, and let those who live under insane restrictions do something about it themselves - either by overthrowing their government, or more likely by downloading the code, stripping out the parts which their particular legislation doesn't like, and putting that version up for FTP within their country.
-- dwmw2
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