Disclaimer: I'm not a legal professional or expert in any way, so what I say below may be completely wrong.
Be careful, because I believe it is the case that any licence or contract is overruled by the state & federal legislation that applies to your jurisdiction. In other words, even if the GPL specifies no discrimination against other countries, this would be overruled by any federal US export laws that conflict with it if you are in the US. I don't know US export laws (I'm in Australia), but suspect it doesn't matter who produced or own the software, just whether you export it to the banned countries or not. So whether OpenOffice is produced/owned by the US or EU might be irrelevant. It may be safer to get someone in another country to export the software to the restricted countries, or place it in a convenient location that is accessible to selected persons :-) Cheers, Sam. On Wed, 15 Feb 2006 15:00:24 +1300, Wesley Parish wrote: > One quick answer: > http://foss4us.org/node/234 > > "In Syria, FLOSS fights an alien embargo > > Anas Tawileh (29) is based in Cardiff, Wales. But he's doing an unbelievable > job > in promoting Free/Libre and Open Source Software in his home country, Syria. > > Says he: "We have a very nice point (to make) in Syria. We are currently > under a > technological embargo from the US. Which means we cannot legally > obtain the license for any kind of software, whatever it is. Even Windows 95, > Windows 98 or server applications. Because these things are considered as > 'high-technology'." > > So, Anas is just going about building a network based on FLOSS. From ground > up. > > Anas narrates a story: "One guy won a personal computer, because he subscribed > to a magazine via the Middle East. But because it was violating > the US export law, they refused to ship it to him." > > This leaves his country with only two options. To "pirate" (i.e. illegally > copy) > software. But even those who take this route would not be able to > access the much-needed support for proprietary software. The other option, > points out Anas, is FLOSS." > > And the Free/Libre and Open Source Software way: > http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html > 6. Each time you redistribute the Program (or any work based on the Program), > the recipient automatically receives a license from the original licensor to > copy, distribute or modify the Program subject to these terms and conditions. > You may not impose any further restrictions on the recipients' exercise of the > rights granted herein. You are not responsible for enforcing compliance by > third > parties to this License. > > http://www.opensource.org/docs/definition.php > "5. No Discrimination Against Persons or Groups > > The license must not discriminate against any person or group of persons. > > Rationale: In order to get the maximum benefit from the process, the > maximum > diversity of persons and groups should be equally eligible to contribute to > open > sources. Therefore we forbid any open-source license from locking anybody out > of > the process. > > Some countries, including the United States, have export restrictions for > certain types of software. An OSD-conformant license may warn licensees of > applicable restrictions and remind them that they are obliged to obey the law; > however, it may not incorporate such restrictions itself." > > And the great thing about Anas Tawileh and the Syrian Linux Users Group is > that > they are doing more to spread notions of Liberty (known in the Muslim world > under the name Justice) than any idiotic rantings and ravings of certain > politicians whose names I do not wish to mention, lest like the Black Plague > they descend on me ... > > Wesley Parish > > Quoting yo yo <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > >> Hello, >> There are american laws that forbid the export of >> american software to several misconsidered countries >> like IRAN. Do these laws also apply to OpenSource >> software in general and to OpenOffice in particular? >> What is the nationality of openoffice? is it american? >> or is it countryfree? >> >> Thanks, >> Lionel. >> >> >> >> >> >> >> ______________________ >> _____________________________________________________ >> Nouveau : téléphonez moins cher avec Yahoo! Messenger ! Découvez les >> tarifs exceptionnels pour appeler la France et l'international. >> Téléchargez sur http://fr.messenger.yahoo.com >> >> --------------------------------------------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> >> > > > > "Sharpened hands are happy hands. > "Brim the tinfall with mirthful bands" > - A Deepness in the Sky, Vernor Vinge > > "I me. Shape middled me. I would come out into hot!" > I from the spicy that day was overcasked mockingly - it's a symbol of the > other horizon. - emacs : meta x dissociated-press --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
