Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!snorkelwacker!usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!xanth!mcnc!rti!bcw
From: bcw@rti.rti.org (Bruce Wright)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: PKZIP 1.10 is there...
Summary: The fatal mistake ...
Message-ID: <3747@rtifs1.UUCP>
Date: 7 Apr 90 02:25:17 GMT
References: <90090.221919ESCP1@FRECP12.BITNET> <107@demott.COM> <411@sigma8.sm.luth.se>
Organization: Research Triangle Institute, RTP, NC
Lines: 31

In article <411@sigma8.sm.luth.se>, d89-bfr@sm.luth.se (d89-bfr) writes:
> Why is there such a law in the first place?
> What's it good for? As far as I can see there can't be any purpose at
> all, and it's only good for making trouble with international
> relations. If something is believed to be safe enough to be public
> inside the US, it IS safe enough to be public everywhere. If it's NOT
> safe enough to be public everywhere it's NOT safe enough to be public
> inside the US either. Can someone give me some arguments for having
> such a law? 

Your fatal mistake is assuming that US law has some connection with
logic :-).  Don't worry, there's even worse - you haven't had to deal
with the US tax code (my wife's comment about part of it:  "But that
doesn't make any _sense_!!!"  my reply:  "You're trying to apply logic
to it").

A fair amount of junk laws get passed for no better reason than to
make good copy for the press or issues to create with which to attack 
the legislator's opponents ("I voted to keep American secrets in this
country and not let them get in the hands of our enemies"  or "I
voted to keep Government funds from being used to finance pornographic
art" or whatever).

And then there are the real howlers that get passed - like the
legislators in Indiana that decided that they would simplify the
lives of school students everywhere by mandating that the value of
pi was henceforth to be set to 3, exactly.  Really.

There's no _point_ trying to understand laws like this.  

						Bruce C. Wright