Yet treating software as fully protected speech could lead us down that path. Export control regulations express judgments that exporting certain technological artifacts are harmful to the national well being and that the regulations make an important difference. It is reasonable and legitimate to question whether these regulations are serving the country. However, let us address that issue directly and squarely. Let us not muddle the issue by sweeping functional artifacts into the First Amendment.
Free speech is one of our most fundamental and cherished rights.
We should be cautious in applying it to the distribution of computer programs.