monty%uab.csnet@csnet-relay.arpa (Montgomery Bob) (03/02/86)
Possibly the people responsible for spawning MInet and MILnet from ARPAnet would not turn a deaf ear to the issue of legal Soviet/Warsaw-pact use of technology covered by the Export-Technology Act. Although their focus in the past has been widely publicized by movies like "War Games", their unawareness or unresponsiveness to the current issue is only magnified by the lack of legislation to deal with controlling the use of commercial computer systems in the context of todays long-haul telecommunications capabilities. The authors of the Export Technology Act apparently did not forsee Russians utilizing the DNN and public domain software, or commercially available US supercomputers or CAD facilities from remote sites within their country. As of yet we have discovered that the Commerce Department cannot prevent this, and we are waiting for a reply from the Director of the Office of Export Technology qualifying his departments capability to handle such a situation. If the FBI, Commerce Department, Export Technology Office, and NSA all indicate that they are unprepared to handle such a situation, then I think that the appropriate thing to do is to forward discussion of this issue to the Congressmen or Senators responsible for introducing the Export Technology Act, notifying them of the impotence of their bill in a telecommunications environment.
abc@BRL.ARPA (Brint Cooper) (03/03/86)
> The authors of the Export Technology Act apparently did not forsee Russians >utilizing the DNN and public domain software, or commercially available >US supercomputers or CAD facilities from remote sites within their country. >As of yet we have discovered that the Commerce Department cannot prevent this, >and we are waiting for a reply from the Director of the Office of Export >Technology qualifying his departments capability to handle such a situation. > If the FBI, Commerce Department, Export Technology Office, and NSA all >indicate that they are unprepared to handle such a situation, then I think >that the appropriate thing to do is to forward discussion of this issue to the >Congressmen or Senators responsible for introducing the Export Technology >Act, notifying them of the impotence of their bill in a environment. Why? So that they can enact yet another meaningless, unenforcable piece of legislation? Perhaps the appropriate thing to do is examine the means and pros and cons of trying to inhibit the international flow of "public domain software" and "commmercially available" computers. The Russians are not the only ones to be hurt by such restrictions. Where, for example, would our technology be had such restrictions been placed on the transistor or the integrated circuit? Brint
mfidelma@bbncc5.UUCP (Miles Fidelman) (03/03/86)
re. "what if similar restrictions were placed on the transistor, integrated circuits": the Japanese wouldn't be beating the pants off of us on consumer electronics