aegl@unisoft.UUCP (Tony Luck) (01/11/91)
I was told recently that most of the restrictions on the DES software that is included in the UNIX source code have been lifted ... I don't have the source of this information handy, so you had better go check before acting on this information. Basically the sequence of events that happened here at UniSoft was: Some government officials learned that UniSoft employs pinko, subversive foreign nationals such as myself who have on-line access to the DES source code. They panic and assume that I am spending my time memorizing this code so that when I leave the U.S.A. I will "export" it back to England (a long-standing enemy power) ... so some gentlemen in dark suits came to visit us and make us delete all on-line copies, and lock the tapes in a safe that I don't have access to. All foreign nationals were asked to sign a document promising not to export the code if we happened to stumble on a copy that didn't get deleted. UniSoft was also required to register as a munitions supplier because we had access to the code. Towards the end of last year (late november maybe, probably early december) the restrictions on the code were relaxed, UniSoft was allowed to go back to being a software company (but I bet we got onto some interesting mailing lists in our brief forray as an international arms supplier). -Tony