At 12:59 PM 7/6/99 -0400, Rodger, William wrote:
>Don't sweat it, Frank. There are no laws against import of crypto into the
>US. There is also an export exemption that lets people take out single
>copies of heavy-duty crypto software on their laptops for their personal
>use. You're covered.

This is incorrect.  There are exemptions letting _Americans_
take out single copies of strong crypto, but you have to bring them back
rather than leaving them in the foreign country or giving them
to foreigners.  I doubt there are similar exemptions for foreigners,
and even if there are, not giving them to any non-Americans again
is pretty silly, given that you're a non-Americans.

>Frank Andrew Stevenson wrote:
> Tomorrow I leave Oslo for the US, where among other things will attend
>DEFCON 7. For this occasion I have prepared a 'black disk' containing ssh
>executables that will allow me to communicate with my home network.

You've got three choices 
- Bring it to the US and leave it here (legal.)
        It may or may not be legal for you to give it to a non-American here :-)
- Don't worry about the laws because the US doesn't check exports
        on passengers and their luggage except bomb/gun xrays and drug sniffers,
        and Norway won't mind you importing it
- Try to get the US officials to tell you exactly what you can do,
        which is entertaining if you like that sort of entertainment :-)
        However, you don't have the time, since the tomorrow that you left
        was probably today by now, and this is a sport for people who 
        aren't in a hurry.

>Today I called the US embassy in Oslo to find out if I would be allowed to
>bring the disk with >me back to Norway or if I would have to macculate it
>before leaving the U.S.... A simple >question, or so I thought :-)

The embassy bureaucrat has a supervisor.  That supervisor has a supervisor.
If any of the officials can't give you an answer, you can politely ask to
speak to their supervisor.  And it's almost guaranteed that none of them
will know the answer - so that ought to get you to the Ambassador if you're
patient...




                                Thanks! 
                                        Bill
Bill Stewart, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
PGP Fingerprint D454 E202 CBC8 40BF  3C85 B884 0ABE 4639

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