Non-US CD sales
Hi,
I'm wondering about the legality of selling Debian Non-US CDs
in the US. Which relates to *why* the packages are "Non-US":
1) Ostensibly, the main reason for the existence of the Non-US
packages is the cryptography export problem. However, I understand
that this restriction has been lifted (if not necessarily in the most
appropriate way).
2) The other potential reason is patent violation (Unisys LZW patent,
primarily).
(are there any other reasons?)
Now if 1 is the main reason, then I couldn't previously sell CDs to people
outside the US, but I'd be perfectly okay to sell them in the US (basically,
I'm only an exporter if I ship them out of the US). This is different from a
CD mirror, who can't really control where the data is going.
But, if 2 applies, the issue is fuzzier. Actually I might be okay to sell
them, because only actually using the software violates the patent (I think
-- IANAL!). On the other hand, the sales of the CD *might* be construed to
itself violate the patent (because it's a commercial use -- although I could
argue, that, since Debian itself is free, all I'm doing is selling a
CD-burning and manual-printing service).
In fact, I know of at least one US supplier which *does* sell Debian Non-US,
so I'm just wondering whether they are doing so legally, or just bucking an
admittedly very stupid law. We are thinking of also carrying the CDs, and
I'm trying to decide how to handle these.
<rant>
I'd like to stay legal in the computer business, but US lawmakers seem
determined to make that a non-deterministic condition! :-O
</rant>
Any comments?
Thanks,
Terry
--
Terry Hancock ( hancock at anansispaceworks.com )
Anansi Spaceworks http://www.anansispaceworks.com
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