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.