Difference between revisions of "US export control"

From Madagascar
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Line 28: Line 28:
 
==Further justification==
 
==Further justification==
 
Supplement 1 to part 734 contains an example which is directly relevant to our situation.
 
Supplement 1 to part 734 contains an example which is directly relevant to our situation.
 
+
<blockquote>
 
* Question A(1): I plan to publish in a foreign journal a scientific paper describing the results of my research, which is in an area listed in the EAR as requiring a license to all countries except Canada. Do I need a license to send a copy to my publisher abroad?  
 
* Question A(1): I plan to publish in a foreign journal a scientific paper describing the results of my research, which is in an area listed in the EAR as requiring a license to all countries except Canada. Do I need a license to send a copy to my publisher abroad?  
 
* Answer: No. This export transaction is not subject to the EAR. '''The EAR do not cover technology that is already publicly available, as well as technology that is made public by the transaction in question''' (§§734.3 and 734.7 of this part). Your research results would be made public by the planned publication. You would not need a license.  
 
* Answer: No. This export transaction is not subject to the EAR. '''The EAR do not cover technology that is already publicly available, as well as technology that is made public by the transaction in question''' (§§734.3 and 734.7 of this part). Your research results would be made public by the planned publication. You would not need a license.  
 
+
</blockquote>
 
Later on in the same supplement, we have two more related questions:
 
Later on in the same supplement, we have two more related questions:
 
+
<blockquote>
 
* Question G(1): Is the export or reexport of software in machine readable code subject to the EAR when the source code for such software is publicly available?  
 
* Question G(1): Is the export or reexport of software in machine readable code subject to the EAR when the source code for such software is publicly available?  
 
* Answer: If the source code of a software program is publicly available, then the machine readable code compiled from the source code is software that is publicly available and therefore not subject to the EAR.  
 
* Answer: If the source code of a software program is publicly available, then the machine readable code compiled from the source code is software that is publicly available and therefore not subject to the EAR.  
 
+
</blockquote><blockquote>
 
* Question G(2): Is the export or reexport of software sold at a price that does not exceed the cost of reproduction and distribution subject to the EAR?  
 
* Question G(2): Is the export or reexport of software sold at a price that does not exceed the cost of reproduction and distribution subject to the EAR?  
 
* Answer: Software in machine readable code is publicly available if it is available to a community at a price that does not exceed the cost of reproduction and distribution.
 
* Answer: Software in machine readable code is publicly available if it is available to a community at a price that does not exceed the cost of reproduction and distribution.
 +
</blockquote>
  
 
==Discussion with U.S. Exports office in Washington==
 
==Discussion with U.S. Exports office in Washington==

Revision as of 19:28, 21 May 2011

This page is adapted after a similar page on the fprint wiki, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License. The analysis below was performed by Daniel Drake in 2007 and it applies directly to the Madagascar project. In what follows, the US Export Administration Regulations are referred to as "EAR".

Justification for export safety

Step 1: Items subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of another Federal agency

Step 2: Publicly available technology and software

Part 734

Back to 732.2 (step 2)

"(1) If your technology or software is publicly available, and therefore outside the scope of the EAR, you may proceed with the export or reexport if you are not a U.S. person subject to General Prohibition Seven."

General Prohibition Seven is briefly described in section 732.3(j) and applies to all U.S. nationals.

General Prohibition 7

736.2(b)(7) contains the exact text for GP7. This says:

  • You may not export certain chemicals (not relevant here)
  • You may not provide certain assistance to foreign nationals regarding encryption (not relevant here)
  • You may not do anything mentioned in 744.6(a) or 744.6(b)
    • 744.6(a) covers contributions to nuclear explosives, missiles, or biological weapons. It also covers knowingly assisting an illegal export, and helping people build chemical weapons factories. (entirely irrelevant)
    • 744.6(b) says: BIS may decide to impose export license requirements for an export at will, if they feel it may contribute to something in (a) above.

So, it does not seem possible for GP7 to apply to someone regarding the export of Madagascar.

Having completed section 734.2, and it has been deduced that the Madagascar distribution is not subject to the EAR.

Further justification

Supplement 1 to part 734 contains an example which is directly relevant to our situation.

  • Question A(1): I plan to publish in a foreign journal a scientific paper describing the results of my research, which is in an area listed in the EAR as requiring a license to all countries except Canada. Do I need a license to send a copy to my publisher abroad?
  • Answer: No. This export transaction is not subject to the EAR. The EAR do not cover technology that is already publicly available, as well as technology that is made public by the transaction in question (§§734.3 and 734.7 of this part). Your research results would be made public by the planned publication. You would not need a license.

Later on in the same supplement, we have two more related questions:

  • Question G(1): Is the export or reexport of software in machine readable code subject to the EAR when the source code for such software is publicly available?
  • Answer: If the source code of a software program is publicly available, then the machine readable code compiled from the source code is software that is publicly available and therefore not subject to the EAR.
  • Question G(2): Is the export or reexport of software sold at a price that does not exceed the cost of reproduction and distribution subject to the EAR?
  • Answer: Software in machine readable code is publicly available if it is available to a community at a price that does not exceed the cost of reproduction and distribution.

Discussion with U.S. Exports office in Washington

For further clarification, Mr. Drake contacted the U.S. exports office in Washington and explained the situation. They confirmed that such distribution is not subject to the EAR.

Statement of the authors of Madagascar

Should open-source published material become export-controlled through future changes in EAR, the authors of Madagascar (as listed in the AUTHORS.txt file in the source code distribution) maintain that the statement from the Seismic Unix distribution applies to the Madagascar project as well:

"We believe that Madagascar is a low technology product that does not appear on the Department of Commerce CCL list of restricted exports. Accordingly, we believe that our product meets the qualifications of an ECCN (export control classification number) of EAR99 and we believe it fits the qualifications of NRR (no restrictions required), and is thus not subject to export restrictions of any variety."

This opinion was expressed by the project lead (Sergey Fomel) on the rsf-user mailing list on 2011-05-09.

Conclusions

Madagascar can be exported freely out of the U.S.