re screw the people crypto is for hard core hackers spooks only in article apr shearson com pmetzger snark shearson com perry e metzger writes i wrote the chip and algorithm are classified if you reverse engineer it and tell people you are likely to go to jail well i m not a lawyer but from what i can tell this is completely and utterly untrue the u s does not have an official secrets act we do have laws that will punish you for revealing what classified information you learned in your capacity as a government official contractor etc and we have laws that prohibit stealing such information however if they sell you the chip i can t see that they can make reverse engineering it and revealing the details illegal in most cases information you come by properly is yours to use as you wish but there are certainly exceptions if you write a paper which includes sufficiently detailed information on how to build a nuclear weapon it is classified as i understand the law nuclear weapons design is automatically classified even if you do the work yourself i believe you are then not allowed to read your own paper a less serious example if you tell drivers about a speed trap they are about to run into you can be fined even though you might argue that you broke no law when you discovered the location of the policeman the charge is interfering with a police officer which is quite similar what you would be doing by reverse engineering the clipper chip don t tell me that you think this violates the constitution find some court cases which have struck down such laws many people would not be comforted by the fact that the government violated their rights when it imprisoned them john carr jfc athena mit edu
