Export and other controls over the dissemination of “technical data” are part of the federal government’s efforts to inhibit or prevent the transfer of advanced technology of critical military or intelligence importance from the United States to the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact nations. Some university research results might be technical data of the kind subject to these controls.
The present situation of security controls—which for the most part exempts academic research from export controls—is a balance among the conflicting purposes of government. Underlying this balance is the understanding that all participants in scientific and engineering research are unified in the wish to promote the interests of this country in better technology to deal with the nation’s problems whether they be matters of health, productivity, or security. Sound understanding of the way that the present policies are intended to work, careful attention to the details of their implementation, and...