I think a recorded talk about the process, the form, and the repercussions would be of interest.
Articles have been requested too.
I think we can get things described fully in relatively short order.
It is a real pleasure to be able to make this announcement. We were prepared for a lengthy, difficult, and expensive appeals process.
The entire application hinged on the public domain carve out use. As mentioned before, the approach was based on the policies Bruce authored.
I don’t want to dump the application on the internet without a clear ok from the firm. I’ll ask (again).
Priority is enabling use of the result, so I am going to go work on that.
I’m very happy about this. Being able to contribute directly to enormous forward progress on such a serious problem for AMSAT has been a highlight.
Ready for the next tough challenge so if you know of any send them my way :D
Michelle W5NYV
On Tue, Aug 18, 2020 at 20:27 Bruce Perens bruce@perens.com wrote:
The application made it plain that our intent was to make the entire satellite design and software Open Source.
It is interesting to note that the government form actually asks if you have any Open Source software in the product.
I will leave it to ORI to decide whom to show the application. I have a copy, but no permission to disclose it.
Thanks BruceOn Tue, Aug 18, 2020 at 8:25 PM Rich Gopstein rich@ourowndomain.com wrote:
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@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@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@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 BruceOn Tue, Aug 18, 2020 at 2:59 PM Rich Gopstein via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb@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@amsat.org> wrote:
> Open Source Satellite Work Determined to be Free of ITAR > > > https://openresearch.institute/2020/08/18/cj-determination-open-source-satel... > > 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-000312... > . > > 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@openresearch.institute > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB@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 > _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@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 :-)
-- Bruce Perens - CEO at stealth startup. I'll tell you what it is eventually :-)