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

Wed Aug 19 01:56:12 UTC 2020

We have the actual ITAR rules to tell us about the public knowledge
carve-out. We will receive further confirmation when we get a finding from
Department of Commerce, and of course every time a project asks for such a
finding there will be further confirmation. I don't think it will be
necessary to make as few assumptions as you did in your company.

On Tue, Aug 18, 2020, 17:21 Rich Gopstein <rich at ourowndomain.com> wrote:

> Bruce,
>
> Understood, however, the finding is very narrowly scoped - it only says
> that your system is not covered by ITAR.  It doesn't say why.  You believe
> it's related to the open-source nature of your system, however the finding *doesn't
> say that.*
>
> I worked for 28+ years in a field that was regulated by the US
> government.  We on occasion also asked for findings on various things.  We
> were NEVER allowed to make assumptions about the finding.  You could only
> go by what the finding said.  And in your case, it's only that your system
> is not covered by ITAR - nothing about *why* it's not covered. Because of
> that, you can't generalize about other systems being covered or not.  It
> may seem illogical, but that's the way the US regulatory system works.
>
> Rich
>
>
> On Tue, Aug 18, 2020 at 6:18 PM Bruce Perens <bruce at perens.com> wrote:
>
>> 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.
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>>> 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 :-)
>>
>