Like it or not, Theo has a point... freebsd is shipping export-restricted software in the core

[Michael Powell]

Rob Farmer wrote:

> On Wed, Oct 6, 2010 at 14:46, Randal L. Schwartz <merlyn at stonehenge.com>
> wrote:
>> I understand that entirely.  Which is why it would be reasonable (and
>> downright ethical) to ensure that every FreeBSD integrator be made well
>> aware of this restriction.
>>
>> It hadn't occurred to *me* for example to think that FreeBSD might be
>> restricted.  And I hadn't seen any prominent disclaimers.  Why rely on a
>> very very buried notice?
> 
> If your business model involves importing/exporting large collections
> of material which you did not create, and further more do not outright
> own, but are licensed to use under certain conditions, then you need
> to have both a lawyer and an accountant review your setup for any
> potential issues. There are entire college degrees in international
> business and it is folly to think that all the ins and outs of a
> particular scenario will be readily apparent.
> 
> A competent review would turn up this license clause and would give
> you advice on what to do about it. I don't think complaining that you
> weren't aware of the license terms before exporting is valid.
> Furthermore, this isn't really a license issue, but more of a issue of
> federal law. If you are in the US, these laws regarding what may be
> exported to where always apply, regardless of what the license says.
> 
> Making the license more visible may be a good idea, but doesn't
> materially change the situation any.
> 

Please forgive my somewhat ignorant idea(s) on this subject, as I am 
definitely not a lawyer. 

I was under the impression that the most onerous of these export rules and 
restrictions applied to crypto technology. If this is so, what I don't quite 
grasp is what do crypto export restrictions have to do with acpi? Is acpi a 
copyrighted, patented, or trademark otherwise owned by some entity? Quite 
possibly so as it is in contrib. I just have no idea who might "own" it. Or 
how it would fall afoul of crypto export restrictions.

Looking forward to enlightenment.  :-)

-Mike