Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!wuarchive!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!rpi!sigma From: sigma@pawl.rpi.edu (Kevin J Martin) Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc Subject: Re: PKZIP version 1.10 and data encryption Message-ID: Date: 28 Mar 90 18:30:44 GMT References: <3726.261001b4@vax5.cit.cornell.edu> <1990Mar28.144418.832@ccu.umanitoba.ca> <5544@jarthur.Claremont.EDU> Distribution: comp Organization: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy NY Lines: 52 In article <5544@jarthur.Claremont.EDU> rspangle@jarthur.Claremont.EDU (Randy Spangler) writes: >Okay, I think we all can agree that the law is rather silly in this case. I think what the government has in mind is not too bad, but the law is, I'll agree, hopelessly unenforceable. The official DES was developed by some or another branch of the Government (DoD?), and they supposedly use it in some form or another for classified material and whatnot. It may also be illegal to publish detailed information on the algorithm - I'm not sure. If they really wanted to develop an encryption standard that would have any chance of remaining domestic, though, it was a very bad idea to release it into the US PDomain! Connectivity is too great for that, these days. Technology transfer can be instantaneous. >What we need now is a way to distribute PKZIP 1.10 to all of us with no >idea what BBS's are in our area codes. (is there an ftp-able list somewhere?) I've seen copies of "compleat" BBS lists monthly in various places, but I've never paid enough attention to remember exactly where. >I mean, at worst there should be a way to set up a mail server that will >check the address to make sure it's in the US. This is virtually impossible. Even a mailserver which intelligently understood suffixes in addresses (accepting, perhaps, .ca and .us) would have difficulty deciding about .edu and .com addresses. Actually, it may not be possible to get those outside of the US; I don't know. But what about mail through relays? Like NSFNet-Relay.AC.UK or similar addresses? What about UUCP addresses? You could never guarantee that you weren't mailing the file across either ocean. >At the least, does anyone know a BBS in the 714 area code that has 1.10? >Or can someone mail me a UUENCODED copy? I don't know about 714 or any other area code, for that matter. But, as someone pointed out, there are two copies of PKZIP 1.10 at grape.ecs.clarkson. edu, in /f/uploads - one is disguised as PKZ101.EXE and the other is PKZ110.EXE and they seem to be the same. I doubt the files will stay there for any length of time now that someone has recently pointed them out... > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- >| Randy Spangler | The less things change, the | >| rspangle@jarthur.claremont.edu | more they remain the same | > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- By the way, does anyone know why many video games these days have a briefly displayed screen which says "Illegal to export outside US and Canada"? What sort of technology could a video game (for which most of the electronics are built in Taiwan or Japan, anyway) contain that would compromise natinal (national) security? The more I think about it, the funnier it seems. Kevin Martin sigma@pawl.rpi.edu