Security Researchers Wary of Wassenaar Rules 34
msm1267 writes: The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security today made public its proposal to implement the controversial Wassenaar Arrangement, and computer security specialists are wary of its language and vagaries. For starters, its definition of "intrusion software" that originally was meant to stem the effect of spying software such as FinFisher and Hacking Team, has also apparently snared many penetration testing tools. Also, despite the Commerce Department's insistence that vulnerability research does not fall under Wassenaar, researchers say that's up for interpretation.
Re:Do as we say not as we do. (Score:4, Interesting)
I don't think that's particularly odd.
Try operating a private military and see how long you get away with that.
Spying and hacking is basically the same: considered to be weaponized and therefore the state monopoly of force applies.
Note, I am not passing a judgement on whether the state monopoly on force is a good thing, only that it is generally accepted.