[free-sklyarov] Boycott America ????

[Matthew S. Hamrick]

While it will probably take a lot more than a large multi-million dollar
company convincing the USAG to throw a Russian programmer in the hoosegow to
make me want to leave the country, I can't help but think about the
parallels between some of the things I've been hearing from friends and on
this list and the recent "defection" of a well-know stem-cell researcher
from the US to the UK.

Of the industrialized nations, the US has some of the most innocuous
regulations concerning export of crypto software and restriction on the
actions of cryptographers. Be that as it may, I still think that there may
be a crypto coder or two out there who's begun to look over their shoulder,
wondering when the other shoe is going to drop.

So, the question is, assuming you're a crypto coder, what would it take for
you to want to pack your bags and relocate to another country? On one hand,
you have your Vince Cate's who have moved off-shore, purportedly as a
protest to various US policies. On the other hand you have your Phil
Zimmerman's who by all rights should have left years ago, but stayed.

I know it's slightly off-topic, and has nothing to do with directly freeing
Mr. Sklyarov, but it is an interesting question, and the answers to these
types of questions might help in explaining to US policy-makers why this
community is so disappointed with the actions of the USANDCA.

-Sincerely,
-Matt Hamrick <mhamrick at cryptonomicon dot net>