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posted by CoolHand on Tuesday July 21 2015, @09:07PM   Printer-friendly
from the what-are-they-up-to-now dept.

Original URL: The Register has an article on fiddling by the US with an agreement set to negatively impact the IT security.

The period for comments on proposed amendments to the Wassenaar Arrangement – which governs the export of guns, lasers and proper weaponry, and computer hardware and software – ends today. So far, the tweaks concerning IT security products have received an overwhelming thumbs-down from the technology community.

In May the US Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) suggested altering the Wassenaar Arrangement to include controls on the selling of state-sponsored or commercial surveillance software among the 41 countries that abide by the agreement.

But the amendments were so loosely written that they would also ban the trade in vulnerability exploits, including possibly making bug bounty programs illegal, and criminalizing many of the tools used by legitimate security researchers to test software for flaws.

The BIS called for a 60-day public comment period, which closes today, and the response from both individual researchers and companies in the field has been overwhelmingly negative. On Monday Google went public with its objections, calling the proposed changes "disastrous."

"We believe that these proposed rules, as currently written, would have a significant negative impact on the open security research community," said Neil Martin, export compliance counsel for Google and Tim Willis from the Chrome security team.


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  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by PinkyGigglebrain on Tuesday July 21 2015, @10:12PM

    by PinkyGigglebrain (4458) on Tuesday July 21 2015, @10:12PM (#212107)

    "As the Americans learned so painfully in Earth's final century, free flow of information is the only safeguard against
        tyranny. The once-chained people whose leaders at last loose their grip on information flow will soon burst with
        freedom and vitality, but the free nation gradually constricting its grip on public discourse has begun its rapid slide
        into despotism. Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master."

        -- Commissioner Pravin Lal, "Librarian's Preface"

    --
    "Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   +3  
       Insightful=1, Interesting=2, Total=3
    Extra 'Interesting' Modifier   0  
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   5  
  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by edIII on Tuesday July 21 2015, @11:43PM

    by edIII (791) on Tuesday July 21 2015, @11:43PM (#212130)

    Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master

    When I decide to deny you the information on where the cookies are hidden, it's not because I believe I'm your master or wish to be. It's just that I believe that those are my cookies, and possession of that information leads to my continued possession of the cookies.

    I routinely deny people access to information, not to become their master, but so that they cannot become mine. Only part of the time does that have anything to do with actual cookies. Although, when it does, I think it's slightly more serious and the title "Wassenaar Arrangement" might still work in my household.

    Really liked the quote, and wanted to share a different perspective on it.

    --
    Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
  • (Score: 2) by penguinoid on Wednesday July 22 2015, @12:49AM

    by penguinoid (5331) on Wednesday July 22 2015, @12:49AM (#212140)

    Really? A quote from a sci-fi game?

    --
    RIP Slashdot. Killed by greedy bastards.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 22 2015, @07:21AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 22 2015, @07:21AM (#212226)

      If you disagree with the quote, argue against it.
      Disparaging it because it came from a sci-fi game is classic ad hominen.