The Bernstein case centers on the government's refusal to allow Daniel Bernstein to distribute, via the internet, the encryption program he wrote while a Ph.D. student in Mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley. However, the government was granted a stay and an expedited appeal by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which culminated in oral argument on December 8, 1997. The continued development of encryption software is an important issue for industries such as technology, banking, insurance and health care, as well as the growing number of businesses and individuals engaging in communications and commerce on the internet. Thelen's contribution focused on the nature of computer source code. It is our view that these holdings are on solid ground.
Source code is a form of expression and communication for computer programmers everywhere.
The expressive nature of source code has been recognized by both Congress and the Ninth Circuit. The Thelen Reid Report is published as an information service to clients and friends. Please recognize that the information is general in nature and does not constitute legal advice. We welcome your comments and suggestions.