[3806] in cryptography@c2.net mail archive
a unbiased lawyer on Wassenaar (Re:Foil to Wassenaar)
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Adam Back)
Mon Dec 14 10:54:41 1998
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1998 15:44:59 GMT
From: Adam Back <aba@dcs.ex.ac.uk>
To: cryptography@c2.net
Forwarded below Nicholas Bohm (a lawyer and frequent poster to
ukcrypto) injecting some reality into ex NSA lawyer Stewart Baker's
FUD.
Adam
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Date: Tue, 08 Dec 1998 22:28:34 +0000
To: ukcrypto@maillist.ox.ac.uk
From: Nicholas Bohm <nbohm@ernest.net>
Subject: Re:Foil to Wassenaar
At 09:50 AM 12/8/1998 -0500, sbaker@steptoe.com wrote:
> I would only add this caution. I think John is wrong in giving
> legal advice that Wassenaar is not binding without implementing
> legislation. That is an American approach to these matters. I
> believe that many, perhaps most, Wassenaar members derive their
> authority to regulate exports directly from the arrangement itself.
> For that reason, I would not assume that everyone everywhere is free
> to ignore the new restrictions until some further law or regulation
> is promulgated.
>
> Stewart Baker
[snip]
In the UK there would need to be amendments to the existing export control
regulations to implement changes consequential on Wassenaar. These could
be made by statutory instrument, not requiring primary legislation, to the
extent that they consist of changes to the content of the control lists.
I would expect the position to be the same in other common law countries;
and even in civil law systems which incorporate treaties directly,
Wassenaar is vague enough about the detail of the particular controls
required to be applied to make it likely that local implementation would be
needed; but Stewart Baker is of course right to recommend a local check.
Regards,
Nicholas Bohm
Salkyns, Great Canfield,
Takeley, Bishop's Stortford CM22 6SX, UK
Phone 01279 871272 (+44 1279 871272)
Fax 01279 870215 (+44 1279 870215)
Mobile 0860 636749 (+44 860 636749)
PGP RSA 1024 bit public key ID: 0x08340015. Fingerprint:
9E 15 FB 2A 54 96 24 37 98 A2 E0 D1 34 13 48 07
PGP DSS/DH 1024/3072 public key ID: 0x899DD7FF. Fingerprint:
5248 1320 B42E 84FC 1E8B A9E6 0912 AE66 899D D7FF
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