Re: crypto in non-free
On Sun, Feb 01, 2004 at 10:14:30PM +0000, Brian M. Carlson wrote:
> non-US/non-free. crypto-in-main is crypto-in-*main*, not
> crypto-in-non-free. That's part of the reason why we still have non-US.
> This is due to some restrictions with the definition of "public domain"
> that the government uses for BXA licenses; they don't care if it has a
> copyright (which isn't really public domain) but it can't have a patent
> or usage restrictions. You may have some trouble uploading, though;
> klecker doesn't seem to be responding, at least to me.
I'd be interested in knowing where you got this idea?
The TSU license exception is defined in §740.13 of the EAR which
references §734.3(b)(3) and further references §734.7 and §734.10 which
does not use the term public domain. Nor does it require that the
software not have usage restrictions on it. The standard used is that
the technology (not necessarily the source code) is publically
available.
In fact it specificaly mentions information published in patent
applications (provided it follows some certain rules). Essentially the
patent has to be a applied for by a foreigner inventor, or filed in a
foreign patent by a US inventor. It's difficult to ensure that a crypto
tool qualifies under the patent exception because it requires some foot
work tracking down the origin of the technology and possibly foreign
patents.
However, the existence of a patent does not disqualify the license
exception. It's simply one of the possible methods of qualifying for
it.
You can read them here:
http://w3.access.gpo.gov/bis/ear/ear_data.html
Everything Debian distributes in main would qualify for the TSU
exception because the DFSG is a subset of the EAR definition of
publically available.
The problem with non-free is that some things in it may not meet the
definition of publically available. For instance a tool that didn't
include the source code would not qualify, even if the binaries are
freely distributable.
IANAL, TINLA.
--
Ben Reser <ben@reser.org>
http://ben.reser.org
"Conscience is the inner voice which warns us somebody may be looking."
- H.L. Mencken
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