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

Bruce Perens bruce at perens.com
Tue Aug 18 22:18:08 UTC 2020


Rich,

The most important thing here is that the DoD finding is *not permission* -
it is a finding that your project wasn't *ever* subject to ITAR. This is
thus useful to other projects that use the same Open Source strategy.

A finding is useful for risk-reduction, in that you can wave it at the
court and annoying FBI folks (they have harassed AMSAT developers in the
past) and you can use this one as a precedent if you are making a request
for another program in which you use the same strategies.

    Thanks

    Bruce


On Tue, Aug 18, 2020 at 2:59 PM Rich Gopstein via AMSAT-BB <
amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote:

> 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
> > _______________________________________________
> > Sent via AMSAT-BB at amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available
> > to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership.
> Opinions
> > expressed
> > are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of
> > AMSAT-NA.
> > Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite
> program!
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> >
> _______________________________________________
> Sent via AMSAT-BB at amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available
> to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions
> expressed
> are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of
> AMSAT-NA.
> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program!
> Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
>


-- 
Bruce Perens - CEO at stealth startup. I'll tell you what it is eventually
:-)


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