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 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://ben.reser.org "Conscience is the inner voice which warns us somebody may be looking." - H.L. Mencken
