It would be one thing if this law (enacted in 1950) restricted government
employees or contractors from disclosing cryptographic or COMINT info they
agreed to keep secret. But it seems to apply to anyone, including
journalists or cypherpunks, no matter how they obtained the data. That
raises First Amendment issues.
This was discussed during the Church committee hearings in 1975 (p7 of the
transcript) but I don't know if it's come up in court cases.
-Declan
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/18/798.html
Sec. 798. Disclosure of classified information
(a) Whoever knowingly and willfully communicates, furnishes,
transmits, or otherwise makes available to an unauthorized person,
or publishes, or uses in any manner prejudicial to the safety or
interest of the United States or for the benefit of any foreign
government to the detriment of the United States any classified
information -
(1) concerning the nature, preparation, or use of any code,
cipher, or cryptographic system of the United States or any
foreign government; or
(2) concerning the design, construction, use, maintenance, or
repair of any device, apparatus, or appliance used or
prepared or
planned for use by the United States or any foreign
government
for cryptographic or communication intelligence purposes; or
(3) concerning the communication intelligence activities of the
United States or any foreign government; or
(4) obtained by the process of communication intelligence
from
the communications of any foreign government, knowing the
same to
have been obtained by such processes -
Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten
years, or both.
(b) As used in subsection (a) of this section -
The term ''classified information'' means information which, at the
time of a violation of this section, is, for reasons of national
security,
specifically designated by a United States Government Agency for
limited or restricted dissemination or distribution;
The terms ''code,'' ''cipher,'' and ''cryptographic system'' include in
their meanings, in addition to their usual meanings, any method of
secret writing and any mechanical or electrical device or method
used for the purpose of disguising or concealing the contents,
significance, or meanings of communications;
The term ''foreign government'' includes in its meaning any person or
persons acting or purporting to act for or on behalf of any faction,
party, department, agency, bureau, or military force of or within a
foreign country, or for or on behalf of any government or any person
or persons purporting to act as a government within a foreign
country, whether or not such government is recognized by the United
States;
The term ''communication intelligence'' means all procedures and
methods used in the interception of communications and the
obtaining of information from such communications by other than the
intended recipients;
The term ''unauthorized person'' means any person who, or agency
which, is not authorized to receive information of the categories set
forth in subsection (a) of this section, by the President, or by the
head of a department or agency of the United States Government
which is expressly designated by the President to engage in
communication intelligence activities for the United States.
(c) Nothing in this section shall prohibit the furnishing, upon lawful
demand, of information to any regularly constituted committee of the
Senate or House of Representatives of the United States of America,
or joint committee thereof.
(d)
(1) Any person convicted of a violation of this section shall
forfeit to the United States irrespective of any provision of
State law -
(A) any property constituting, or derived from, any
proceeds
the person obtained, directly or indirectly, as the result
of
such violation; and
(B) any of the person's property used, or intended to
be used,
in any manner or part, to commit, or to facilitate the
commission
of, such violation.
(2) The court, in imposing sentence on a defendant for a
conviction of a violation of this section, shall order that the
defendant forfeit to the United States all property described in
paragraph (1).
(3) Except as provided in paragraph (4), the provisions of
subsections (b), (c), and (e) through (p) of section 413 of the
Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of
