A contributor is not allowed to use Fedora legally?

[Kyle Maxwell]

On Tue, 21 Sep 2004 13:26:49 -0500, Michael Jezierski - Systec
Conveyors <mjezierski at systecconveyors.com> wrote:
> Roozbeh Pournader wrote:
> 
> >I was wondering if I can do anything about not being able to use Fedora
> >Core legally. To use software that is partly my own (I am a copyright
> >co-holder for Mozilla, FriBidi, GNOME translations (sometimes under the
> >name "FarsiWeb", Pango, etc), I need to "warrant that I am not located
> >in Iran":
> >
> However the trade sanctions between the USA (where this agreement was
> created) and the named countries (Iraq, Iran, Cuba, etc.) is quite
> clear. At first I thought this was the standard "128 bit encryption"
> that the US Government doesn't want in "unfriendly" hands. But the
> wording tells me that this applies to the whole software. As long as
> Fedora as a whole is a product of USA origins, then I'm afraid that you
> won't be able to "legally" use the software. Then again I think most
> computer software of USA based companies falls into that prohibition,
> including Micro$not.

I'm not a lawyer either, but given the trade sanctions, I wonder if
Fedora can even redistribute code that came from Iran? This is
definitely a sticky wicket and an interesting case for Lessig's "code
== law" mantra. Not that's it's *technically* difficult for the OP to
get around, but the ethical concerns he raises are something that Red
Hat should definitely attempt to address. Given their history of
attempting to support the Free Software and Open Source ethoses (sp?),
I'd think they would work hard to do the Right Thing, which is
probably legal assistance to acquire the proper permit and so forth.

Then again, this could end up being a case of the irresistible force
meeting the immovable object.

-- 
Kyle Maxwell
[krmaxwell at gmail.com]