[Date Prev][Date Next] [Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index] [Thread Index]

Re: Debian and Cuba



Steve Langasek wrote:
> On Sat, Mar 26, 2005 at 12:44:11AM -0400, Maykel Moya wrote:
>>Today I attended at 'I Taller de Software Libre' in the most important
>>university here in Cuba. Some guys there are creating a Distro optimized
>>for our country, and they are taking Gentoo as base.
>
>>In their talk they said they didn't choose Debian because of legal
>>restrictions due to the USA embargo.
>
>>The obvious question is: is it illegal to use Debian in Cuba?
>
>>Could you please clarify me?
>
> It is my understanding that it is illegal under US law to knowingly export
> software (free software or otherwise) from the US to Cuba, or to Cuban
> nationals.
>
> It is my understanding that this applies to Gentoo just as much as it
> applies to Debian.

To the best of my knowledge (IANAL), there is no issue with someone in
Cuba or another embargoed country downloading Debian from
ftp.xx.debian.org, for values of xx != us or probably a few others.

Key issue here: it is *not* illegal to use Debian in Cuba[1]; it is only
illegal for someone in the US to export it to Cuba or provide it to
someone expected to do so.

[1] (barring some strange regulation of Cuba; for example, some
countries restrict encryption)

- Josh Triplett

Attachment: signature.asc
Description: OpenPGP digital signature


Reply to: