diff --git a/isyourtshirtalethalweapon b/isyourtshirtalethalweapon new file mode 100644 index 0000000..622f462 --- /dev/null +++ b/isyourtshirtalethalweapon @@ -0,0 +1,165 @@ +https://www.loundy.com/Roadside_T-Shirt.html + +Published in Roadside U.S.A., a "Community Area" (now defunct) on America Online, May, 1996. + + +Is Your T-Shirt a Lethal Weapon? +Copyright 1996 by David Loundy + +I wanted to use a visual aid in a speech I was preparing on cryptography, +but I realized to do so would be a mistake. Because my audience might have +included foreign citizens, showing the visual aid could have made me an +unlicensed munitions exporter -- subject to as much as $1,000,000 in fines +and up to ten years in jail under United States law. This was not a fair +gamble when the speech would have earned me only a free lunch. + +The visual aid was a T-shirt. + + + +To understand how wearing an article of clothing could make you an +international arms dealer, it helps to take a look at the relevant laws and +some illustrative incidents. + + + +The Arms Control Export Act (ACEA) gives the president the authority to +designate certain items (such as battleships and land mines) as defense +articles or defense services. These designated items make up the United +States Munitions List. The ACEA further authorizes the International +Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), which list and control the import and +export of designated defense articles and services. + + + +On the munitions list, sandwiched between laser targeting systems and +particle beam weapons, is cryptographic software. Such software is defined +as "components or software with the capability of maintaining secrecy or +confidentiality of information or information systems." + + + +The ITAR further prohibits exporting cryptographic software (or technical +data about cryptographic software) without a license from the U.S. +Department of State. The definition of "export" includes disclosing or +transferring technical data to a foreign person, either in the U.S. or +abroad. + + + +PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) encryption software protects the privacy of +information sent over unsecure communications channels, such as the +Internet and online services. Despite governmental attempts to institute +encryption technologies allowing for federal police surveillance, PGP has +become the de facto world standard for personal encryption software. + + + +Only a short time ago the Justice Department dropped an over-two-year grand +jury investigation against the author of PGP, Philip Zimmermann. Because +encryption software is on the munitions list, the grand jury investigation +proceeded on the theory that by posting PGP to an Internet Usenet group, +Zimmermann became an international arms dealer. + + + +The conclusion of this investigation is hardly cause for relief. The +Justice Department backed down only after Zimmerman, winner of a Chrysler +Innovation in Design award for PGP, waged a protracted publicity battle +against this assault on computing privacy. + + + +Moreover, the law remains the same. Without a final adjudication of the +Zimmerman case on the relevant issues, other users of encryption software, +including users of PGP, remain exposed to the same charges underlying -- +and the aggravation caused by -- the grand jury investigation. + + + +Another case involves the book "Applied Cryptography," by Bruce Schneier. +When Phil Karn applied for a license to export this book (readily available +in bookstores and libraries), the Office of Defense Trade Controls told him +that the contents of the book were in the "public domain" and not subject +to State Department licensing restrictions. + + + +A request to export a disk with the exact same source code as that printed +in the book, however, was denied, appealed, and denied again. The State +Department took the position that while the source code in the book is +exportable, once that same code is put into a machine-readable form, it +becomes a controlled munition. Karn's explanation of the relative ease of +scanning and conversion of the printed source code into machine-readable +form failed to move the State Department. + + + +The arbitrary regime under ITAR is now the subject of a full-blown +constitutional challenge in a California federal court, where Daniel +Bernstein, a graduate student in mathematics, has challenged the ACEA and +ITAR as vague, overbroad and in violation of the First and Fifth +Amendments. + + + +Bernstein contends that these regulations not only prohibit publication of +his work in cryptography but also restrain discussion in situations where +he cannot ascertain the nationality of all possible audience members and +obtain a license for any foreigners. Bernstein alleges that the regulations +constitute an impermissible prior-restraint on his First Amendment rights. + + + +Which brings us to the T-shirts ... + + +Billed by promoters as a "classic example of civil disobedience," the shirt +has some computer code printed on it. The code is an implementation of the +"RSA" algorithm published by three M.I.T. professors. + + + +It is the same algorithm used in Philip Zimmermann's PGP software. + + + +To ensure the shirt will qualify as a non-exportable munition, the shirt +even has machine-readable bar-code rendition of the software printed on it. +To demonstrate the arbitrariness of the arms control regulations, only U.S. +or Canadian citizens can order the shirt from the U.S. address, but since +the algorithm is widely available, non-U.S. citizens can order the shirts +from an address in England. + + + +Along with the sales pitch ("Now you, too, can become an international arms +dealer for the price of a T-shirt") come warnings that if a non-U.S. +citizen sees you wearing the shirt you may be classified as a criminal. (If +you wear it inside-out, is it a concealed weapon?) If you are arrested, the +promoters will refund the purchase price of the shirt. + + + +T-shirts are not the only item that might get you in trouble with the Feds. +If you wish to have private communications over online services or wireless +communications, you might have non-exempt encryption software on your +laptop computer. But if you take that computer on an international flight +without a temporary export license, you risk arrest as an arms dealer. +Fortunately, bills have been recently intoduced in Congress to loosen this +law. + + + +Cryptographic software is essential to development of commerce in +information. If the U.S. restrains free development of such software, U.S. +technology companies will be faced with a state-induced disadvantage. + + + +The World Trade Center bombers were caught when they tried to recover a +deposit on the rental van they blew up along with the building. And the +government has devices that can read the contents of your computer screen +from outside your office. Given these realities, is it really necessary to +prohibit discussing higher math with foreigners? +