Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!thyme!kaleb
From: kaleb@thyme.jpl.nasa.gov (Kaleb Keithley)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc
Subject: Re: Not for Export?
Message-ID: <1991Apr17.164230.19967@thyme.jpl.nasa.gov>
Date: 17 Apr 91 16:42:30 GMT
References: <1991Apr16.042431.10997@sactoh0.sac.ca.us> <1991Apr17.211013.5@lincoln.ac.nz> <1991Apr17.215726.481@csc.canterbury.ac.nz>
Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA
Lines: 48

In article cctr132@csc.canterbury.ac.nz (Nick FitzGerald) writes:
>In article english@lincoln.ac.nz writes:
>> In article mholtz@sactoh0.sac.ca.us (Mark A. Holtz) writes:
>>> I was in a local software store last week, and was looking around,
>>> and noticed that some software packages, (most notable "PageMaker
>>> 4" and (I think) "Corel Draw") said on the box "NOT FOR EXPORT -
>>> For US and Canada Only". I realize why PC Tools Deluxe and PKZip
>>> are not allowed to be exported - It's due to encryption by DES
>>> standards. But, why Pagemaker?
>> 
>> is simply commercial reasons, pagemaker will have a reseller/distributor
>> in other parts of the world, who have been given the entire market and
>> protected from people buying directly from the states. miscrsoft do this
>> also, as a result we pay twice the price for our microsoft products in
>> this part of the world.
>> 
>> can assure you it's not because of the compression routines, have
>> bought packages locally which use these compression routines.
>
>As I understand it the "full" version of PKZIP is not for export from the
>US because of the _encryption_ but I'm not sure that it's DES.  If it is
>DES this is a lousy reason to prevent us from legally obtaining this
>software.

It's not DES encryption.  english@lincoln.ac.nz was closest.  When you
buy a product like CorelDraw, part of what you are paying for is some
amount of customer support.  When you buy it in the U.S. you are paying
for that customer support in the U.S.  When you buy it in NZ, you are
paying for that support in NZ.  Try calling the U.S. support number
and telling them you're calling from NZ.  You may pay more for a M'soft
product in NZ because there is a much smaller customer base than in the
U.S. to pay for customer support.  Economies of scale comes to mind.
I don't know of a single vendor who, with a valid VISA or Mastercard
number, wouldn't happily ship to Oz, NZ, or even Europe, (hell, I'd do it
if I were in that business) just don't expect your local customer support
to be very friendly about helping you if you run into problems.

As for a "full" version of PKZIP versus any other version, I don't doubt
the existance of one or the other, but, what stops anyone, anywhere in
the world, from ftp'ing into a U.S. archive and getting this alleged 
"full" version?  There's no filters on the phone lines that can tell
the difference between PKZIP and any other file. :-)

-- 
Kaleb Keithley                        kaleb@thyme.jpl.nasa.gov

Meep Meep                             Roadrunner
Veep veep                             Quayle