Re: [linuxiran] Mozilla and Iran!

[Aryan Ameri]

On Wednesday 23 July 2003 06:38, Hooman Baradaran wrote:
> As you probably know by now Mozilla 1.5 Alpha was released today.
> When I open the release page I got to this message:
>
> "This source code is subject to the U.S. Export Administration
> Regulations and other U.S. law, and may not be exported or
> re-exported to certain countries (currently Afghanistan (Taliban
> controlled areas), Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan and
> Syria) or to persons or entities prohibited from receiving U.S.
> exports (including Denied Parties, entities on the Bureau of Export
> Administration Entity List, and Specially Designated Nationals). "



John D's answer was sufficent. However let me just add to it:

Mozilla's software is hosted on a server in the US. Thus it is subject 
to US law. And according to US export restriction laws, exporting 
software which has cryptography methods in it to the list of "devil 
countries" is illegal. 


>
> I have seen this elsewere (like in Oracle's web site) but isn't
> Mozilla open source 

US law covers all kinds of software more or less the same. In the view 
of the congress, there is little difference between Oracle and Mozilla. 

> and aren't Iranian (and people from all around
> the world) officially contributing to it? Then how is it that it
> can't be exported to Iran?

It can't directly be exported. However, there is a trick to it. If 
someone (i.e the Mozilla Organization) puts this software on a publicly 
available server, and then also put the warning next to it, then the 
software provider doesn't have to check wether anyone from the list of 
"banned countries" is downloading it or not. So mozilla shall put the 
warning there, and then they have fullfilled their duty and they are 
OK. 

And someone from Iran can also safely download it, and they they would 
be OK too, because they are not subject to US law.



> I mean I know that you are using it in Iran but why should it even be
> subject to U.S. laws? 

Because the software is hosted in ths US, so it is subject to US law. It 
is perfectly logical.

>I think I sent something like this before but
> it just makes me go nuts that U.S. tries to own everything including
> open source!

US is not trying to own everything open source. However they do have the 
right to force their laws on things inside their country. I generaly 
don't agree with US export laws, and I think they are useless , but 
anyway it is their law, passed by a democratic congress, and therefore 
we should all respect it. 

And I beleive they do have the right to impose their laws on things 
inside their boundries. If you don't want to be subject to their law, 
host your software somewhere else.

PS: When you think of it, you see that there are perfectly good reasons 
why many programers never travel to US. Remember Skylarov?

Cheers

-- 
/*  God is dead. Darwin and Mendel jumped 
him in an alley and beat him to death.
                --Doom Ihl' Varia */
Aryan Ameri