Importance

October 16, 2003

Famous Crypto Case Ends With Whimper, Not Bang

According to C|Net News' Declan McCullagh, the famous cryptography export case Bernstein v. US DOJ has been dismissed due to statements by the DOJ that they promise not to enforce the law against cryptographic researchers (Cold War encryption laws stand, but not as firmly). Bernstein's case involved the desire of a cryptography researcher to distribute encryption software, which is/was strictly controlled by export regulations. The case has gone through many permutations and procedural twists. It has certainly resulted in changes to government regulations such that encryption software is much less tightly controlled than it once was. More importantly, the case has been one of the main sources for several once novel legal arguments, particularly those establishing that computer code is speech protected by the First Amendment.

See also EFF's archive on the case ("Legal Cases - Crypto - Bernstein v. US Dept. of Justice (formerly Bernstein v. Dept. of State)" Archive).

Posted by Ernest at 1:09 AM
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