Re: LYNX-DEV SSL (fwd)

[Foteos Macrides]

address@hidden (Hasan Karahasan) wrote to me:
>Hello Foteos
>address@hidden said
>> I can email you a uuencoded
>> lynx271ssleay.zip with the SSL hooks.  The SSLeay.announce file in the
>I am also interested in getting that. Sorry, but what is the problem? Why are
>people from outside north america prohibited to get that? I played around some
>days ago with ms explorer's options, and there were some options that can be
>configured for ssl. So why can microsoft use ssl and we cannot?
>reguards

        This is a FAQ, so I'm CCing to lynx-dev.

        Current US Export Laws treat SSL software, including just the
hooks for linking with an SSL library, as a munition (in the same
category as nuclear bombs).  If provided to a non-US or Canadian citizen
(or permanent resident), a US citizen technically is vulerable to a
jail sentence.  Netscape and MicroSoft have obtained licenses for
export of binaries with a weak implementation of SSL.  Such licenses
are not available for source distributions (which could be linked
for the strongest implementation).  Also, acquistions of such export
licenses is an intentionally costly process, as a further discouragement.

        In a recent court case, those laws were judged unconstitutional,
and if that holds up on appeals, the problem may end.  In the meantime,
I can only risk sending the hooks to US or Canadian citizens (or
permanent residents), who provide me with an assurence statement that
they, in turn, will not violate the US Export Laws.

                                Fote

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 Foteos Macrides            Worcester Foundation for Biomedical Research
 address@hidden         222 Maple Avenue, Shrewsbury, MA 01545
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