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

Wed Aug 19 03:24:51 UTC 2020

The finding said nothing about open-source, so I don't understand how you
can claim this is a win for open-source.

BTW -  I'd be thrilled if this did say something about the use of
open-source and ITAR, but it doesn't.

Rich

On Tue, Aug 18, 2020, 9:56 PM Bruce Perens <bruce at perens.com> wrote:

> 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 :-)
>>>
>>