NBIS license

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Hi
I'm thinking in package the fprint package. It's LGPL, but it contains a
few files licensed as follow.
I'm not sure if it's feasible to be in Debian. Can it go to main? and if
the answer is no, can it go to non-free?
Thanks.

PD: Please, include me in CC:
/******************************************************************************


This file is part of the Export Control subset of the United States NIST
Biometric Image Software (NBIS) distribution:
http://fingerprint.nist.gov/NBIS/index.html

It is our understanding that this falls within ECCN 3D980, which covers
software associated with the development, production or use of certain
equipment controlled in accordance with U.S. concerns about crime control
practices in specific countries.

Therefore, this file should not be exported, or made available on
fileservers,
except as allowed by U.S. export control laws.

Do not remove this notice.

******************************************************************************/

/* NOTE: Despite the above notice (which I have not removed), this file is
* being legally distributed within libfprint; the U.S. Export
Administration
* Regulations do not place export restrictions upon distribution of
* "publicly available technology and software", as stated in EAR section
* 734.3(b)(3)(i). libfprint qualifies as publicly available technology
as per
* the definition in section 734.7(a)(1).
*
* For further information, see
http://reactivated.net/fprint/US_export_control
*/

/*******************************************************************************

License:
This software was developed at the National Institute of Standards and
Technology (NIST) by employees of the Federal Government in the course
of their official duties. Pursuant to title 17 Section 105 of the
United States Code, this software is not subject to copyright protection
and is in the public domain. NIST assumes no responsibility whatsoever for
its use by other parties, and makes no guarantees, expressed or implied,
about its quality, reliability, or any other characteristic.

Disclaimer:
This software was developed to promote biometric standards and biometric
technology testing for the Federal Government in accordance with the USA
PATRIOT Act and the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act.
Specific hardware and software products identified in this software were
used
in order to perform the software development. In no case does such
identification imply recommendation or endorsement by the National Institute
of Standards and Technology, nor does it imply that the products and
equipment
identified are necessarily the best available for the purpose.

*******************************************************************************/

/***********************************************************************
LIBRARY: FING - NIST Fingerprint Systems Utilities

FILE: BOZORTH3.C
ALGORITHM: Allan S. Bozorth (FBI)
MODIFICATIONS: Michael D. Garris (NIST)
Stan Janet (NIST)
DATE: 09/21/2004

Contains the "core" routines responsible for supporting the
Bozorth3 fingerprint matching algorithm.

***********************************************************************
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Miguel Gea Milvaques <xerakko.RemoveThis@debian.org> writes:

> I'm thinking in package the fprint package. It's LGPL, but it contains a
> few files licensed as follow.
> I'm not sure if it's feasible to be in Debian. Can it go to main? and if
> the answer is no, can it go to non-free?
> Thanks.
>
> PD: Please, include me in CC:

Done.

> /******************************************************************************
> [...]
> Therefore, this file should not be exported, or made available on
> fileservers,
> except as allowed by U.S. export control laws.
>
> Do not remove this notice.

The notice remains, so this clause is satisfied.

> ******************************************************************************/
>
> /* NOTE: Despite the above notice (which I have not removed), this file is
> * being legally distributed within libfprint; the U.S. Export Administration
> * Regulations do not place export restrictions upon distribution of
> * "publicly available technology and software", as stated in EAR section
> * 734.3(b)(3)(i). libfprint qualifies as publicly available technology as per
> * the definition in section 734.7(a)(1).
> *
> * For further information, see http://reactivated.net/fprint/US_export_control
> */

Whether or not the files do fall under the export control restrictions
discussed, I am unable to say.

If they are being legally distributed by the export laws, then this
part isn't a problem.

If they are not, then redistribution would probably be illegal for any
party who could be prosecuted in the relevant jurisdiction for those
export controls.

> /*******************************************************************************
>
> License:
> This software was developed at the National Institute of Standards and
> Technology (NIST) by employees of the Federal Government in the course
> of their official duties. Pursuant to title 17 Section 105 of the
> United States Code, this software is not subject to copyright protection
> and is in the public domain. [...]

Explicitly disclaims copyright protection, which might help free the
work in jurisdictions that don't have a concept of "public domain".

The intent of this clause seems quite clear. I would think that by
these terms this work is freely licensed under the DFSG; whether it is
legal to redistribute is a matter of understanding the export controls
issue above.

--
\ "It was half way to Rivendell when the drugs began to take |
`\ hold" —Hunter S. Tolkien, _Fear and Loathing in Barad-Dûr_ |
_o__) |
Ben Finney


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