Re: Download of non-US illegal in US?
On Sun, 1 Sep 2002, Richard Atterer wrote:
> [Please CC, I'm not subscribed]
>
> Currently, <http://www.debian.org/CD/faq/#nonus> tells US residents
> that it's OK for them to download software in non-us for private use.
> That was true when non-us contained only crypto - but a while ago AJ
> told me that the policy for non-us is "blurry" these days, and it now
> also includes patent-encumbered software.
>
> So, should I change the FAQ entry and tell US people not to use
> non-us?? Two possible scenarios of trouble are:
>
> - A US CD vendor sells non-us CDs in the US. By doing so, he might be
> violating US patents.
> - A user downloads and uses non-us software. Technically, he's also
> in violation of the patents, but the risk of him being sued is much
> lower.
If I clearly understand the purpose of the NONUS distribution,
it's for the ITAR regulation inside US and related countries. The
ITAR regulation is mainly for cryptographic materials. But the
regulation is now more flexible but not fully.
If the NONUS include some issue with software patents, it's
really a pitty because the vast majority of Free Software could
also move to NONUS. Forget patents for Software... This is a real
pain.
just .2 EUR,
adulau
--
Alexandre Dulaunoy -- http://www.foo.be/
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