Aiet Kolkhi wrote:

> this really seems strange. AFAIK, there was a Russian version of Windows 3 
> during Soviet times. And it's really hard to see a reason why there should 
> not 
> be an OpenOffice.org for NK.

I guess laws have gotten dummer  :-(

I agree. Export regulations apply to countries, not languages. Besides, OOo is 
an 
international project. It shouldn't be bound by the export regulations of one 
particular country.

> Regarding the export control, is this because of the encryption standards 
> used 
> in OOo, or the whole product?

I hope Eike can answer this. My guess is that it's because the US doesn't like 
NK. I guess it's probably an embargo, like with Cuba and a few other countries.

> Is there really a law that restricts export to specific language?

Probably not as such, but to a specific country. The way I read Eike's message 
was that it would be difficult to convince the US authorities that we are not 
exporting to the country, if we hare localizing to the language.

But this seems a little silly to me (some governments are silly). Having the 
software in their language will not make it easier for them to download it. 
It'll 
just make it more useful. So I don't see how export restrictions could apply.

Besides, it should be possible to do the development outside of Sun, and 
outside 
the US, so there are no problems. Is this not possible?

> This act seems rather unpleasant, as the word "Open" in OpenOffice.org should 
> imply to Open pfilosophy, not to the commercialy and governmentially 
> controlled 
> policies.

I think all of us agree with that, including Eike. I guess it just comes down 
to 
whether it can be done without us getting in trouble.

> Please don't take this personal, I totally understad your situation, but we 
> have the right to at least question the legal basis of the request Sun has 
> received, as well as discuss the possibility or either filing a legal 
> complain 
> against such request, or at least having the "org" community from OOo 
> participate in adding the NK support.

It doesn't hurt to explore alternatives.


Cheers,
-- 
Daniel Carrera          | I don't want it perfect,
Join OOoAuthors today!  | I want it Tuesday.
http://oooauthors.org   | 

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