This is a copy of the C2Net Press Release from 24 Aug 1997
Oakland, CA - In a ruling in favor of free speech and the growth of the Internet, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California handed down an important decision for academic researchers engaged in the science of cryptography.
In her decision, Judge Marilyn Hall Patel ruled that source code, the language in which computer programs are written, is protected speech under the First Amendment, and that the Clinton Administration acted illegally when it implemented regulations which required academics to first obtain a license from the government before discussing their research with other scholars over the Internet.
"These cryptography regulations are more than just unconstitutional," said Sameer Parekh, President of C2Net Software, the leading worldwide provider of cryptography solutions. "They have crippled the growth of the worldwide Internet."
Judge Patel granted a permanent injunction covering the plaintiff, Daniel Bernstein, an Assistant Professor for Mathematics at the University of Illinois. Dr. Bernstein invented a novel encryption program called "Snuffle". The regulations prevented him from publishing his encryption program on the Internet. Patel struck down these regulations, citing the First Amendment.
"It does not appear that the Clinton Administration can learn from their mistakes. Nine months ago, Judge Patel handed down almost the exact same ruling when the State Department controlled the cryptography regulations." said Parekh. "The regulations were illegal then; They are illegal now."
"This only solves half the problem," continued Parekh. "Software companies which develop commercial products inside the United States, including Netscape and Microsoft, are still barred from selling secure versions of their software worldwide." Other companies, such as C2Net Software and Sun Microsystems, have performed an end-run around these regulations and have exported jobs, not crypto, completely legally.
C2Net Software, Inc. (http://www.c2.net/) is the leading provider of uncompromised network security software. Through its international offshore development programs, all C2Net products are exempt from U.S. government export restrictions, allowing the company to offer uncrippled, strong cryptography solutions to customers worldwide.
