FITUG e.V. Förderverein Informationstechnik und Gesellschaft

UK: Academic freedom

------- Forwarded message follows ------- To: ukcrypto@chiark.greenend.org.uk Subject: Academic freedom Date sent: Thu, 07 Feb 2002 18:03:33 +0000 From: Ross Anderson <Ross.Anderson@cl.cam.ac.uk> Send reply to: ukcrypto@chiark.greenend.org.uk

We've just realised over the last few days that the Export Control Bill, currently before the Lords, gives ministers the power of pre-publication review over scientific papers.

In the past, scientific discoveries could be classified if the scientist applied for a patent, but not if the results were simply published; this is seen by Whitehall not as a fundamental freedom, but as a loophole that needs to be quietly closed.

I have thrown together a web page with the background and the most relevant links:

http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/users/rja14/exportbill.html

If you're an academic, or a foreign national living in the UK and working with technology, or a British citizen who derives income from technology exports, this bill could be bad news. In fact, I hope everyone who cares about freedom will consider it to be unacceptable.

If you're a journalist, I hope it's a story you can run with,

Ross Anderson

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