bruce@ccavax.camb.com (09/05/90)
In article <900901162055.000009F1@MARVIN.CTSS.CO.UK>, VERKADE@CTSS.CO.UK (Herman Verkade) writes: > In the DECUS US Chapter newsletters I have seen announcements of various > CD-ROMs with DECUS software. I have tried get hold of them, but the DECUS > office here (in the UK) tells me they are not available, because of `some > legal problem'. Does anybody know more about this? Don't know for sure, but some DECUS s/w has historically been restricted because of the export licensing of anything involving DES. I would also believe that it is internal DECUS politics to do with which Decus groups 'own' what. The CDROM contents are all public domain and anyone can legally make you a copy, the same as SIG tapes get freely copied. If you have friends over here, or ones going to the N.A. DECUS symposia, get them to buy the CDROMS for you. They are currently $99, but that is only because there are some that want to charge ~$400., and others that were threatening a revolt to sell them in the $5-25 range. Mastering is about $1500., copies with simple black and white labeling and in the flip top jewel case were quoted at about $1.85 whether one wanted a few dozen, or 20,000. If you have access to DECUServe (the N.A. DECUS BBS), there are many notes about CDROM production and DECUS CDROM pricing and ethics and on and on. Try the TALK_TO_THE_BOARD 12.*, and VMS 425.*. The war is NOT over, and we may well get CDROMS priced down where they should be. One of the proposed schemes was to let LUGs buy 10-packs of a CDROM for somewhere between $50 and $100, and let the local group do the relatively bothersome individual distributions. At those prices anyone with a CDROM reader would never want 9tk SIG tapes again. In the meantime, if you can read 4mm DAT or 8mm Exabyte, and ask nicely, you may well find someone willing to pop one in and let it spin for you.
ted@nieland.DAYTON.OH.US (Ted Nieland) (09/09/90)
>In article <31806.26e4edc7@ccavax.camb.com> bruce@ccavax.camb.com writes: >In article <900901162055.000009F1@MARVIN.CTSS.CO.UK>, VERKADE@CTSS.CO.UK (Herman Verkade) writes: >> In the DECUS US Chapter newsletters I have seen announcements of various >> CD-ROMs with DECUS software. I have tried get hold of them, but the DECUS >> office here (in the UK) tells me they are not available, because of `some >> legal problem'. Does anybody know more about this? > >Don't know for sure, but some DECUS s/w has historically been restricted >because of the export licensing of anything involving DES. > (Material Deleted) > >In the meantime, if you can read 4mm DAT or 8mm Exabyte, and ask nicely, >you may well find someone willing to pop one in and let it spin for you. The CD-Roms are not allowed to be sent out of the country due to ITAR regulations. A program I submitted to the SIG tapes for the past couple of years includes DES code (which I got from Sweden), but cannot be sent out of the country under the current impression of the regulations by the DECUS Lawyers. The DECUS Library committee is working on the problem to see if the regulation can be bypassed under publications laws (the code has been "published" on Usenet and the Internet). The Library would love to send the CD-Roms to other chapters and have done so with the ones that do not restricted software on them. If the ITAR regulations are enforceable on the CD-Roms, however, anyone caught sending a copy of the CD-Roms on 8mm or DAT would be in violation or U.S. Law. The best thing to do at this time is let the lawyers finish up their work. For Future Reference, the Library is going to try and to a better job of screening software going on the CD-Roms to make sure they won't have such problems again. We don't think that most people would mind taking a program off the CD-Rom (with an explanation) in order to make the CD-Rom more distributable. -- M. Edward (Ted) Nieland U.S. DECUS Library Committee Ted@NIELAND.DAYTON.OH.US (aka uunet!dayvb!nieland!ted)
Paul.Robinson@p0.f417.n109.z1.fidonet.org (Paul Robinson) (09/10/90)
What is an "ITAR" restriction, i.e. why is it unlawful to send CD Roms out of the U.S.? -- Paul Robinson at The Black Cat's Shack (Fidonet 1:109/401) Internet: Paul.Robinson@p0.f417.n109.z1.fidonet.org UUCP: ...!uunet!blkcat!417.0!Paul.Robinson
zaft@nswses.navy.mil (Gordon C Zaft) (09/11/90)
In article <1874.26EB814B@blkcat.fidonet.org> Paul.Robinson@p0.f417.n109.z1.fidonet.org (Paul Robinson) writes: >What is an "ITAR" restriction, i.e. why is it unlawful to send CD Roms >out of the U.S.? > It's not illegal to send CD ROMS out of the country; it's illegal to send certain technology (including the source code to SPICE) out of the US. I'm not sure what ITAR is but I'm sure it's related to the various technology export restrictions. Hope this helps. -- + Gordon Zaft | zaft@suned1.nswses.navy.mil + + NSWSES, Code 4Y33 | suned1!zaft@elroy.jpl.nasa.gov + + Port Hueneme, CA 93043-5007 | Phone: (805) 982-0684 FAX: 982-8768 + + These opinions are mine, the Navy doesn't pay me to have opinions for it. +