From: Richard Dale Area: Public Key Encryption To: Victor Hugo 12 Apr 95 22:00:10 Subject: Re: Encrypted Messages UpdReq VH>* Where is Ilegal ??, I live in Mexico which is my zone? PGP is illegal in many countries and disapproved of in most others. The MIT version is illegal to export from the U.S. to everywhere (except Canada, I believe), but that's like trying to stop the ocean from making waves. Caution: if your country has a BATF^M^M^M^M secret police, it's best to assume that the government does not like encryption. * 1st 2.00d #567 * Diplomacy is the art of letting other people have your way. 201434369420143436942014343694201434369420143436942014343694718 From: Shawn McMahon Area: Public Key Encryption To: John Stephenson 14 Apr 95 09:51:12 Subject: Inquiry UpdReq Despite the stern warnings of the tribal elders, John Stephenson said this to Shawn McMahon: JS> Woah, hold up here. Why is PGP 2.6.i not allowed to be used in the USA? JS> Isn't it because the RSA encryption algorythm is patented by PKP, and JS> must be licenced? Yes. And when MIT licensed it, the agreement was that they'd use the RSAREF library to implement it. Also, the general legal opinion (or so I'm told) seems to be that as long as one isn't charging for the program, one can use the RSA algorithm without licensing it. Only PKP's lawyers seem to have a different opinion on that. I've yet to hear about a single case upholding their view. (Although I'm not a lawyer, and have not prepared a brief on this case, with the attendant level of research.) 201434369420143436942014343694201434369420143436942014343694718