[amsat-bb] Open Source Satellite Work Determined to be Free of ITAR

[Rich Gopstein]

Michelle,

That's great news, but isn't that ruling only applicable to the specific
system that you asked about (digital microwave broadband...)?  It's not a
general finding that applies to anything else, right?

Rich, KD2CQ






On Tue, Aug 18, 2020, 12:24 PM Michelle Thompson via AMSAT-BB <
amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote:

> Open Source Satellite Work Determined to be Free of ITAR
>
>
> https://openresearch.institute/2020/08/18/cj-determination-open-source-satellite-work-is-free-of-itar/
>
> The United States Department of State has ruled favorably on Open Research
> Institute's commodity jurisdiction request, finding that specified
> “Information and Software for a Digital Microwave Broadband Communications
> System for Space and Terrestrial Amateur Radio Use” is definitely not
> subject to State Department jurisdiction under ITAR, the International
> Traffic in Arms Regulations. This is an important step toward reducing the
> burden of regulations restricting international cooperation on amateur
> satellite projects, which have impeded engineering work by amateurs in the
> United States for decades.
>
> Export regulations divide both technical information and actual hardware
> into three categories. The most heavily restricted technologies fall under
> ITAR, which is administered by the State Department. Technologies subject
> to more routine restrictions fall under EAR, the Export Administration
> Regulations, administered by the Department of Commerce. Technologies that
> are not subject to either set of regulations are not restricted for export.
>
> On 20 February 2020, Open Research Institute (ORI) filed a Commodity
> Jurisdiction (CJ) Request with the US State Department, seeking to
> establish that key technologies for amateur radio are not subject to State
> Department jurisdiction. “Information and Software for a Digital Microwave
> Broadband Communications System for Space and Terrestrial Amateur Radio
> Use” was assigned the case number CJ0003120. On 11 August 2020, the case
> received a successful final determination: the technology is not subject to
> State Department jurisdiction. This is the best possible outcome of a CJ
> request.
>
> The Final Determination letter can be found at
>
> https://openresearch.institute/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/08/CJ-0003120-Final-Determination-Letter.pdf
> .
>
> Under this determination, the technologies are subject to the EAR. The next
> step is to submit a classification request to the Commerce Department. ORI
> anticipates that the Commerce Department will find that these technologies
> are unrestricted under the carve-out for open source in the EAR.
>
> Open Research Institute (ORI) is a non-profit research and development
> organization which provides all of its work to the general public under the
> principles of Open Source and Open Access to Research.
>
> This work was accomplished by a team of dedicated and competent open source
> volunteers. The effort was initiated by Bruce Perens K6BP and lead by
> Michelle Thompson W5NYV.
>
> Open Research Institute developed the ideas behind the Commodity
> Jurisdiction request, hired Thomsen and Burke LLP (https://t-b.com/) for
> expert legal advice, organized the revisions of the document, and invited
> organizations and individuals with amateur satellite service interests to
> join or support the request.
>
> ORI thanks Libre Space Foundation and Dr. Daniel Estevez for providing
> their subject matter expertise and written testimony, and JAMSAT for
> helpful encouragement and support.
>
> The legal costs were fully reimbursed with a generous grant from Amateur
> Radio Digital Communications (ARDC). See
> https://www.ampr.org/grants/grant-open-research-institute/.
>
> ARDC and ORI share a vision of clearly establishing open source as the best
> and safest way to accomplish technical volunteer work in amateur radio.
> This final determination letter provides solid support for that vision. The
> determination enables the development of implementation guidelines that
> will allow free international collaboration.
>
> This clears the path for a number of interesting projects facilitating new
> methods for terrestrial and satellite communications, opening the door to
> robust global digital amateur communications.
>
> Questions and inquiries to ori at openresearch.institute
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