On 2 September, 2021, Open Research Institute (ORI) received an advisory opinion from US Commerce Department BIS.
The letter confirmed that posting information on the internet so that it is available to the public means that open source amateur satellite communications work is not subject to the Export Administration Regulation (EAR). Prior work established that open source amateur satellite communications work was free of International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).
This is a significant regulatory success for open source amateur satellite work and open source in general.
Work was funded by ARDC and executed by Open Research Institute. Legal assistance was provided by Thomsen and Burke LLP.
All documents and links to presentations about the work are freely available at https://github.com/phase4ground/documents/tree/master/Regulatory
Thank you to those who have supported and assisted ORI during the many stages of this successful regulatory endeavor. Making a successful argument requires competence, persistence, and patience. ORI will build upon this work moving forward in order to advance the aims and purposes of open source amateur radio work.
Visit https://www.openresearch.institute/getting-started/ to get involved.