TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
I did the online help system for Black Duck Software who makes a
software application that sniffs out any and all use of encryption so
that it can be labeled and identified and reported to the NSA so that
products can be exported outside the US. This means that any use of
encryption - even if it's for a login password - requires that you
notify the government about it before you can get an export license
and legally sell it outside the US. If not, it's a potential prison
term for someone!
This was a real eye-opening project for me. I had always had an
interest in encryption, but this really made me aware of the depth and
extent of encryption usage and its legal status and requirements.
Kevin is right - there are all sorts of levels of information than you
need to be aware of. However, the advice I've seen on this thread is
probably good enough for most day-to-day usage as the original poster
had in mind.
My 2 cents,
John G
On Oct 22, 2009, at 11:39 AM, McLauchlan, Kevin wrote:
> <snip>
> For something that performs cryptographic operations that would
> (say) secure credit-card or inter-bank transactions, but which could
> also have government or military application, you have to be careful
> how you talk about it, write about it, etc. Never sell it to a
> government agency as your first customer - always be able to
> demonstrate that, not only did you designate/intend it as a
> commercial product, but the commercial marketplace demonstrated its
> agreement with that assertion. Etc., etc., etc.
Free Software Documentation Project Web Cast: Covers developing Table of
Contents, Context IDs, and Index, as well as Doc-To-Help
2009 tips, tricks, and best practices. http://www.doctohelp.com/SuperPages/Webcasts/
Help & Manual 5: The complete help authoring tool for individual
authors and teams. Professional power, intuitive interface. Write
once, publish to 8 formats. Multi-user authoring and version control! http://www.helpandmanual.com/
---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-
