HARPER@CSC.FI ("Robert Harper Finland", CSC) (01/10/91)
For those of you interested in the legal aspects of connecting BITNET/EARN to COCOM countries then you can obtain the relevant information from the server at BITNIC. There are three files totaling about 70 Kb, and since they contain large doses of "lawyer talk", they are pretty heavy reading. The files can be obtained by sending a mail message to LISTSERV@BITNIC. Leave the subject line blank and in the main body of the mail message write. ------------8< cut here 8<---------- GET LEGAL COUNSEL GET LEGAL GTDA GET LEGAL COMMERCE ------------8< cut here 8<----------- These files contain information about the U.S. Department of Commerce rules for general availability of data which may be useful to participants in BITNET and its international Cooperating Networks: LEGAL GTDA -- The GTDA rules for info which may be generally distributed without special Dept of Commerce license LEGAL COMMERCE -- The Letter of Clarification to CREN (BITNET) from the U.S. Department of Commerce, explaining the issues involved in allowing East Block countries to connect to BITNET (directly or via EARN) LEGAL COUNSEL -- The opinion of the CREN counsel regarding the implications of allowing the East Block countries to connect to BITNET All organizations which use the networks are responsible for ensuring their own compliance to the Department of Commerce Rules, so Member Representatives, Information Representatives, and others in positions of responsibility in the organizations which participate in BITNET or other networks should take the time to become familiar with these files and to educate their faculty, students, and staff about these responsibilities. For those that want the files from an FTP site try ANONYMOUS FTP to 128.214.6.100 and directory pub/doc/earn and get the document earn-eastblock.txt. -=ROB=-