[Lvfs-announce] Possible EAR changes required

[Lvfs-announce] Possible EAR changes required

[Richard Hughes]

Hi all,

I was notified a few hours ago that the US government implemented new
license requirements and policies to their export administration
regulations[1]. As some vendors on the LVFS are already limiting
distribution of firmware to EAR countries (e.g. Syria, Afghanistan,
etc) these new changes might affect the countries required to be on
the vendor-specific ISO-3166 export control list. Most vendors should
probably check with their legal teams and ask them if any countries
should be added to the EAR blocklist for their firmware updates. A lot
of firmware isn't covered by the EAR and so this change is not
relevant or required.

Vendor managers should already be able to control the per-country
blocklist without my involvement, but If anybody needs any assistance,
please let me know.

Richard

[1] https://www.commerce.gov/news/fact-sheets/2022/02/us-department-commerce-bureau-industry-and-security-russia-rule-fact-sheet