DES export regulations relaxed

[Tony Luck]

I was told recently that most of the restrictions on the DES software that
is included in the UNIX source code have been lifted ... I don't have the
source of this information handy, so you had better go check before acting
on this information. Basically the sequence of events that happened here
at UniSoft was:

Some government officials learned that UniSoft employs pinko, subversive
foreign nationals such as myself who have on-line access to the DES source
code.

They panic and assume that I am spending my time memorizing this code so that
when I leave the U.S.A. I will "export" it back to England (a long-standing
enemy power) ... so some gentlemen in dark suits came to visit us and make us
delete all on-line copies, and lock the tapes in a safe that I don't have
access to. All foreign nationals were asked to sign a document promising not
to export the code if we happened to stumble on a copy that didn't get deleted.
UniSoft was also required to register as a munitions supplier because we had
access to the code.

Towards the end of last year (late november maybe, probably early december)
the restrictions on the code were relaxed, UniSoft was allowed to go back to
being a software company (but I bet we got onto some interesting mailing lists
in our brief forray as an international arms supplier).

-Tony