Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!bellcore!faline!thumper!ulysses!andante!mit-eddie!ll-xn!ames!nrl-cmf!cmcl2!brl-adm!brl-smoke!gwyn From: gwyn@brl-smoke.UUCP Newsgroups: comp.lang.fortran Subject: Re: S/ware distribution restrictions Keywords: Software, distribution, Restricted Nuclear Technology Transfer List Message-ID: <8020@brl-smoke.ARPA> Date: 4 Jun 88 22:38:26 GMT References: <5136@eagle.ukc.ac.uk> <1134@mcgill-vision.UUCP> Reply-To: gwyn@brl.arpa (Doug Gwyn (VLD/VMB)) Organization: Ballistic Research Lab (BRL), APG, MD. Lines: 30 In article <1134@mcgill-vision.UUCP> mouse@mcgill-vision.UUCP (der Mouse) writes: >As far as I can see, these export restrictions make no sense whatever, >particularly when they attempt to place them on information instead of >physical objects. ... If an "enemy" power (particularly a large one >like the USSR) wants a copy, they will not be noticeably impeded by the >restrictions; they serve only to hamper nominally friendly entities attempting to obtain copies. Exactly right. Any important information that is available to the American public gets snarfed up by the Soviet embassy, trade mission, etc. and their agents and sent to the motherland. I am sure they already have LINPACK, EISPACK, etc. It is only our "friends" who cannot afford such information-gathering activities that are hampered by the export regulations. As another example of the harm caused by stupid rules like this, I am required to direct foreign requestors of a BRL software package to contact the U.S. embassy and request it through channels. This takes several months, typically, and risks getting the printed documentation separated from the magnetic tape. What many requestors have done in such circumstances is to find a U.S.-based agent to act for them; the agent makes the request then forwards the software overseas. This is obviously a waste of time and effort for all concerned, and the stupid rules accomplish nothing at all useful. Many government regulations are like this. A possible problem is identified, and instead of developing general principles to truly address the real problem, Congress or a regulatory agency comes up with "micro-engineered" regulations that simply don't allow for the variety of situations that actually arise.