Re: Question about Export Control of Epiphany

["Luis Villa" <luis tieguy org>]

Hi, Tetsuo. My answers are below.

On Fri, Nov 7, 2008 at 8:42 AM,  <mizoguchi-tetsuo nst hitachi-hitec com> wrote:
> Dear Sir or Maddam
>
> I am Tetsuo Mizoguchi of Japan.
>
> I would like to know about export control of Epiphany(the latest version).
> Is Epiphany the subject of the EAR(Export Administration Regulations),
> under which export of US products is controlled, even export from coutries
> other than the USA.
>
> In this sense, I think Epiphany is not the subjet of EAR, because it is
> developed outside the USA, distrbuted from outside the USA, and US
> technologies are not used.
> Is this right?

Epiphany is distributed from gnome.org, which is inside the US, and at
least some of the copyright holders are American citizens. This may
make it a US program for the purposes of export control; you should
consult with an expert who understands the current state of export
control law.

> Whatever the origin, Epiphanyis an open soursce program, and basically,
> it is not subject of EAR.

Open Source programs may still be subject to EAR under some
circumstances; you should consult with an expert to answer these
questions.

> However, if it has an encryption function, it may
> be controlled under EAR.
> In this sense, does Epiphany have an encryption function?

I believe that Epiphany does not have encryption functions itself;
rather, it relies on the encryption functions provided by other
software. Other people on the mailing list may be able to confirm or
reject this.

I'm sorry that I can't offer more specific answers; as you probably
know, export control is a complicated subject which is difficult to
apply to open source software like epiphany.

Good luck-
Luis