Venable's NII Reporter
VOL. 4, No. 1 revised July 30,1998
Venable's NII Reporter is an electronic publication of the Information Law Group covering the significant legal and public policy issues encountered on the Information Superhighway. This publication highlights topical issues affecting information providers and users of cyberspace. Readers are encouraged to use the feedback form, or E-mail, to suggest additional topics, provide additional news items, or respond to comments in the publication.
Export Control Litigation
We have previously reported in Volumes 1, 2 and 3 on the administrative decisions of the Department of State concerning export of the book Applied Cryptography and a diskette containing the source code for several cryptographic algorithms published in the book. Venable is serving as counsel to Phil Karn, the individual who unsuccessfully sought permission to export the diskette, having already received permission to export the book. The entire set of trial court pleadings, together with copies of the prior administrative appeals, is available from Mr. Karn's Website.
In November, 1996, administration of export controls over cryptography was transferred from the Department of State to the Department of Commerce. As a result, the appeal which was pending at that time was sent back to the trial court for further consideration in light of the transfer of jurisdiction.
After that action, we sought administrative relief at the Commerce Department. When those requests again resulted in a denial of permission to export the diskette, we filed an Amended Complaint in the District Court.
On February 16, 1998, the Department of Justice filed a Motion to Dismiss the Amended Complaint. A copy without footnotes or Exhibits is available on this site.
On April 20, 1998, we filed our Opposition to the DOJ Motion to Dismiss, a memorandum which also supported our Cross-Motion for Partial Summary Judgment.
On June 19, 1998, the Department of Justice filed its Response to Karn's Summary Judgment pleadings.
Our response to the DOJ opposition to our Cross-Motion for Partial Summary Judgment was filed on July 30, 1998. The motions have been set for argument on September 18, 1998.
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