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Export Licensing |
| IP Cores, Inc. is an American company. As
such, we are subject to the US export regulations. This page
contains a brief explanation of our export
licensing situation. It is intended to be used as an introductory material for engineers planning to use
our cores. It cannot and should not be used as a substitute
for a thorough review of applicable US export laws - check
with your company legal department for such a review. If you
have no time to read this text, jump
straight to conclusions. |
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| The export licensing process is well-described
on the official US government site http://www.bis.doc.gov/licensing/exportingbasics.htm.
Note that not just an American-made IP core, but the foreign-made
products based on the core might be subject to the US export
licensing. |
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| Information about us and our cores |
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| The information in this section (coupled with
the pricing information) is sufficient for an export licensing
professional to determine if an export or re-export license
is required for the core. |
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- Our AES-based cores are classified as 5E002
- Country restrictions are NS1 and AT1
- We have been granted
license exemption ENC sections
740.17(a) and 740.17(b)(1), which permit export to the
"EU+" countries (EU and Australia, Japan, New Zealand,
Norway, and Switzerland)
- We have been allowed to export our encryption cores
to the following additional countries: Bulgaria, Hong
Kong, India, Indonesia, Israel, Malaysia, Mexico,
Philippines, Romania, Singapore, South Africa, Taiwan,
Thailand, and Turkey.
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| Additional information for our US customers:
We are a California corporation and are wholly US-owned. All
our employees are US citizens. |
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| Checking the countries |
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| Look at your country row and columns NS1 and
AT1 in the Country Chart http://www.access.gpo.gov/bis/ear/pdf/738spir.pdf; see if the country is subject to one of these restrictions.
If both columns are clear, license is generally not required.
Unless you are located in Canada, don't actually bother to
look into this file - only Canada currently has both NS1 and
AT1 columns clear. |
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| Checking the exemptions |
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Exemptions relax the restrictions from the
Country Chart. Brief
description of available exemptions can be found in http://www.bis.doc.gov/Encryption/lechart1.htm
- the particular ones granted to us are listed above. If one
of these applies, you do not need a license (see the "bad
guys" lists below, though).
740.17(a) permits export
to non-government users in "EU+" countries (EU
and Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, and Switzerland,
current list can be found in Supplement 3 to
Part 740);
740.17(b)(1) permits export to subsidiaries
of American companies in practically any country of the world
(exceptions - "T" countries - currently are Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea,
Syria, and Sudan). In order to immediately use the §740.17(a) exemption,
the exporter (IP Cores) should have previously filed an exemption review
for particular core with BIS per
http://www.bis.doc.gov/Encryption/enc.htm (please check
with us); all export using §740.17(a) is
subject to semi-annual reporting (also by IP Cores). |
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| Checking the additional countries |
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| We have been granted a permission to export
our encryption cores to the end-users in the following
additional countries: Bulgaria, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia,
Israel, Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines, Romania, Singapore,
South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, and Turkey. |
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| Checking against bad guy lists |
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| To use an exemption, the company should not be
in one of the four lists of bad guys maintained by the US
government agencies; the list of lists is in the section "Who
will receive your item?" of http://www.bis.doc.gov/licensing/exportingbasics.htm. |
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| If you need a license |
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Don't be discouraged - in most cases,
getting a license is neither a long nor a hard process
- and it is completely free of charges! We can file the "Multipurpose Application"
for export online with
SNAP-R, if you provide us with sufficient data, and the relevant
US agencies are required to produce a response within 30
days. See
these
instructions for the actual details; note that most of
the information comes from us, look for words "end-user",
"purchaser" and "consignee". In particular, we will need:
- Your Name, Address, City, Country, Postal Code,
Telephone or FAX
- End User's Name, Address, City, Country, Postal Code,
Telephone or FAX (if you are not the end-user)
- Specific End-Use (complete and detailed description of
the use intended). A good example of a description for an
ASIC core: "The XYZ core will be embedded in an ABC
chip compliant with the DEF specifications. The users of the
ABC chip will not have direct access to the cryptographic
algorithms, except as defined by the DEF specifications."
We are typically required by the US Department of Commerce as a
condition for the license, to obtain from you a so
called "letter of assurance"
that simply states that your company is aware of the US
export regulations affecting our cores and will comply with
these regulations. Alternatively, we may
be required to ask the "ultimate consignee" to sign the
form
BIS-711, which pretty much states that you are going to
do with the product precisely what you told us you will do,
or (if you are really unlucky) to provide the
"End-User Certificate", which is essentially a promise from
you / your government to the US government not to re-export
the items. |
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| Does your product need a license? |
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Your product incorporating our core might be
subject to US export licensing as well. This is called "re-export"
and is covered by a complex set of rules summarized in http://www.bis.doc.gov/Licensing/ReExportGuidance.htm.
If your final product is a chip, you
might qualify for the 740.17(b)(2) or, for consumer ("mass
market") applications,
740.17(b)(3) exemptions. Note that in order to
qualify for the exemptions, you will need to submit your
product for "review", as described in
http://www.bis.doc.gov/Encryption/ MassMarket_Keys64bitsNUp.html.
You can start exporting products to non-government
users 30 days after the review request is "registered" with
BIS, unless notified otherwise. For
mass market products, you can start exporting in 30 days as
well.
It is very likely that you will
not need a US export license for your product. Your mileage
might vary, though. |
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| In a nutshell |
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For our cores,
unless your circumstances are special (say, you work for the
government, not industry):
- A subsidiary of a US company in most countries does
not need an export license
- A Canadian company does not need an export
license
- A company based in EU does not need an export license
- A company based in Australia, Japan, New Zealand,
Norway, or Switzerland does not need a license
- A company based in Bulgaria, Hong Kong, India,
Indonesia, Israel, Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines, Romania,
Singapore, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, and Turkey does not need a license
- Companies from other countries do need the export
license, so a 30-day review by the US government is
inevitable. Since there are no fees associated with the
license, we can easily apply for an export license early in
the process of engagement, so that the license is ready by
the time you need it
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