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US Company Fined for Exporting Math. We ain't got enough Math in the US to be sending it abroad!

by barisser 12y ago

lordbusiness 12y ago
"US Company Fined for Exporting Math." This.
dabockster 12y ago
We have enough math, but the bureaucracy keeps us from teaching it effectively.
tzs 12y ago
Isn't that like saying someone fined for exporting missiles was fined for "exporting physics", or someone fined for exporting chemical weapons was fined for "exporting chemistry"? If not, how do you distinguish them? Note: I'm not suggesting that the cryptography export restrictions are useful or make any sense it all. They don't, as far as I can tell. I'm just trying to get some discussion going as to whether reductionist arguments like "exporting math" make sense.
- superuser2 12y ago
  Neither missiles nor chemical weapons are ideas. They are not information; they are tangible. A better analogy would be someone exporting a piece of paper with the reactions involved in a chemical weapon on it, or the formulas that describe where a missile will land given certain parameters.
- djrogers 12y ago
  Missiles and chemical weapons are physical objects which one can reasonably presume to maintain at least some degree of control over. Encryption algorithms are math, theory, information. They can be reproduced, copied, and transmitted at-will, for no cost. If the difference is still non-obvious, google around for instructions to make ricin. Easy to find, and it's not illegal to share that information. Why should it be illegal to share any other data? And how could one reasonably expect to enforce it?
  - _delirium 12y ago
    It's definitely illegal to commercially export information in those areas as well, at least past some level of detail. For example it's illegal to sell missile or reactor blueprints without approval. It's not just selling the physical objects (missiles or reactors) that's illegal, but also selling the information on how to construct them.
  - anigbrowl 12y ago
    There's a difference between an algorithm and a piece of working software, as most programmers are painfully aware.
lectrick 12y ago
I like the word "puzzles" instead of "math". Makes it seem even more ridiculous.
lotsofmangos 12y ago
You've already lost the 's'. Any more would be a disaster.

US Company Fined for Exporting Math. We ain't got enough Math in the US to be sending it abroad!

lordbusiness 12y ago

"US Company Fined for Exporting Math." This.

dabockster 12y ago

We have enough math, but the bureaucracy keeps us from teaching it effectively.

tzs 12y ago

Isn't that like saying someone fined for exporting missiles was fined for "exporting physics", or someone fined for exporting chemical weapons was fined for "exporting chemistry"? If not, how do you distinguish them? Note: I'm not suggesting that the cryptography export restrictions are useful or make any sense it all. They don't, as far as I can tell. I'm just trying to get some discussion going as to whether reductionist arguments like "exporting math" make sense.

superuser2 12y ago
Neither missiles nor chemical weapons are ideas. They are not information; they are tangible. A better analogy would be someone exporting a piece of paper with the reactions involved in a chemical weapon on it, or the formulas that describe where a missile will land given certain parameters.
djrogers 12y ago
Missiles and chemical weapons are physical objects which one can reasonably presume to maintain at least some degree of control over. Encryption algorithms are math, theory, information. They can be reproduced, copied, and transmitted at-will, for no cost. If the difference is still non-obvious, google around for instructions to make ricin. Easy to find, and it's not illegal to share that information. Why should it be illegal to share any other data? And how could one reasonably expect to enforce it?
- _delirium 12y ago
  It's definitely illegal to commercially export information in those areas as well, at least past some level of detail. For example it's illegal to sell missile or reactor blueprints without approval. It's not just selling the physical objects (missiles or reactors) that's illegal, but also selling the information on how to construct them.
- anigbrowl 12y ago
  There's a difference between an algorithm and a piece of working software, as most programmers are painfully aware.

lectrick 12y ago

I like the word "puzzles" instead of "math". Makes it seem even more ridiculous.

lotsofmangos 12y ago

You've already lost the 's'. Any more would be a disaster.