Bernstein v. US Dept. of State (Bernstein I)

Tags: 1990s Amendment I Bernstein Case Law Crypto Wars Export Controls

Authors: Patel, Marilyn Hall

Published: April 1996

URL: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/922/1426/1592613/

Abstract: As a mathematics and cryptography PhD student at Berkeley, Daniel Bernstein developed an encryption method he called “Snuffle.” Bernstein sued for declaratory judgment upon being informed by the State Department that his paper, program, and its instructions required licensing as a munition under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, as well as for an injunction prohibitng enforcement under ITAR and the Arms Export Control Regulations on First Amendment grounds. The case progressed through three district court decisions and two Ninth Circuit decisions, and ultimately held that code is speech for First Amendment purposes.

In Bernstein I Judge Patel denied the defendant’s motion to dismiss and affirmed that source code is speech under the First Amendment. Ultimately, the Ninth Circuit held source code is indeed First-Amendment-protected free speech, and the regulations at issue unconstitutional.