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SubjectRe: linux-kernel-digest V1 #1797
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jbs@quiotix.com said:
> BTW, isn't there a cryptographic random number generator in the driver
> for /dev/random? If my understanding of the discussion posted by
> Netscape in connection with the recent Mozilla release is correct, I
> don't believe that it is legal to export source code for cyptography,
> even if the cryptography is not used for hiding information (and even
> if such uses would probalby be exportable in object code) because the
> source code can be modified for this purpose. I'd hate to see anyone
> involved with the Linux project (or hosting the distributions) get
> into hot water.

We should be safe. The law governs crypto used for hiding
information. A random number generator (even a cryptographically
secure one that could be used to create a half-way decent stream
cipher) is legal to export. For example, Samba 1.9.17 could not be
exported from the US if it contained support for encrypted passwords
b/c it used a DES library to provide this support. Samba 1.9.18 uses
a DES implementation that can only be used to generate a hash, which
is really all that was needed. Because it doesn't provide hooks to
encrypt arbitrary data, its exportable. If you ask me, the
difference is miniscule (one can be transformed into the other with
little effort) but I don't agree with the motivation behind the law
either.

-john.




- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
John D. Blair (sys|net)admin, the university computer center
mailto:jdblair@uab.edu u. of alabama at birmingham
phoneto:(205) 975-7123 (my other car is a cdr)
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------




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