Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1999 19:00:58 +0000 (GMT) From: Terry Lambert <tlambert@primenet.com> To: andrsn@andrsn.stanford.edu Cc: brett@lariat.org, jon@caamora.com.au, freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Change in crypto policy in France Message-ID: <199901211900.MAA22124@usr06.primenet.com> In-Reply-To: <Pine.BSF.3.96.990120151537.5460A-100000@andrsn.stanford.edu> from "Annelise Anderson" at Jan 20, 99 03:37:21 pm
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Three points to add to this little chat... (1) The US is not bound by any treaties until they are ratified by congress; many treaties are signed, but never ratified (e.g. "the moon treaty" outlawing deployment of orbital nuclear weapons, weapons platforms, and EMP devices). (2) No one willing to blow up the world trade center would ever risk the penalties for exporting cryptography; neither would foreign powers hostile to US interests (yeah, right). (3) Technically, use of evidence obtained via wiretapping may be a violation of the 5th ammendment to the US constitution, which acknowledges the right to avoid self incrimination. In combination with the Miranda ruling, this means that any surreptiously obtained evidence can not be used for criminal prosecution. Test cases which would determine the legality of wiretapping evidence at the apellate level have a habit of being dropped before they can become binding case law. On the other hand, privacy is not explicitly guaranteed, only the ability to be secure in your person and property without due process (color me a constitutional constructionist, but Hoover and Ness tended to overstep a lot of bounds as a means to an end). Terry Lambert terry@lambert.org --- Any opinions in this posting are my own and not those of my present or previous employers. To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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