Xref: utzoo comp.os.vms:30164 comp.sys.dec:3982 comp.org.decus:583 Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!mcsun!ukc!slxsys!ibmpcug!ctssuk!VERKADE From: VERKADE@CTSS.CO.UK (Herman Verkade) Newsgroups: comp.os.vms,comp.sys.dec,comp.org.decus Subject: Re: CD-ROMs with DECUS software Message-ID: <900911232254.00001A14@MARVIN.CTSS.CO.UK> Date: 11 Sep 90 22:22:54 GMT References: <31806.26e4edc7@ccavax.camb.com> <19954.26e37a5b@merrimack.edu> <900901162055.000009F1@MARVIN.CTSS.CO.UK> Organization: CompuThoughts Software Solution (UK) Ltd. Lines: 78 In article , ted@nieland.DAYTON.OH.US (Ted Nieland) writes: >In article <31806.26e4edc7@ccavax.camb.com> bruce@ccavax.camb.com writes: >>In article <900901162055.000009F1@MARVIN.CTSS.CO.UK>, VERKADE@CTSS.CO.UK (Herman Verkade) writes: >>> In the DECUS US Chapter newsletters I have seen announcements of various >>> CD-ROMs with DECUS software. I have tried get hold of them, but the DECUS >>> office here (in the UK) tells me they are not available, because of `some >>> legal problem'. Does anybody know more about this? >> >>Don't know for sure, but some DECUS s/w has historically been restricted >>because of the export licensing of anything involving DES. >> > (Material Deleted) >> >>In the meantime, if you can read 4mm DAT or 8mm Exabyte, and ask nicely, >>you may well find someone willing to pop one in and let it spin for you. >The CD-Roms are not allowed to be sent out of the country due to ITAR regulations. >A program I submitted to the SIG tapes for the past couple of years includes >DES code (which I got from Sweden), but cannot be sent out of the country under >the current impression of the regulations by the DECUS Lawyers. Maybe it's time to move the Library out of the US into Europe?? :-) >The DECUS Library committee is working on the problem to see if the regulation >can be bypassed under publications laws (the code has been "published" on >Usenet and the Internet). The Library would love to send the CD-Roms to >other chapters and have done so with the ones that do not restricted software >on them. That implies that there are CD-ROMs that are available outside the US. Which ones are those? And why does DECUS in the UK say that no CD-ROMS whatsoever are available. >If the ITAR regulations are enforceable on the CD-Roms, however, anyone >caught sending a copy of the CD-Roms on 8mm or DAT would be in violation or >U.S. Law. The best thing to do at this time is let the lawyers finish up >their work. Anybody still offering? :-) >For Future Reference, the Library is going to try and to a better job of >screening software going on the CD-Roms to make sure they won't have such >problems again. We don't think that most people would mind taking a >program off the CD-Rom (with an explanation) in order to make the CD-Rom >more distributable. How often are CD-ROMs released? I have only seen it mentioned once in the SIG Newsletter (But that one was labelled #5 or so). There has recently been another tape collection. Is that one going to be on CD and, if so, would that one become available outside the US? To me CD-ROMs are the ideal solution, since I have an RRD40 sitting on my desk and I can easily store CD-ROM. Tapes involve more work, they are slower and a lot more difficult to store. BTW: What happens to the tape collections? Are there special non-US versions of those without any of the `offending' software? While on the subject of CD-ROMs: What is going on within DEC? In the UK they started advertising CD-ROM distributions for VMS in October last year. It took them until June this year to get me changed from tape to CD. Three weeks ago, I got the VMS microfiche update with a nice letter stating that they are now also available on CD-ROM. I phoned DEC and nobody knows a thing about it. I have given them the order numbers in the letter, I even faxed them a copy of what they had been sending out and still no reply what-so-ever. Is DEC really committed to CD-ROM or are they just trying to impress people with advertising stuff they haven't got? In article <31806.26e4edc7@ccavax.camb.com>, bruce@ccavax.camb.com writes: >If you have access to DECUServe (the N.A. DECUS BBS), there are many >notes about CDROM production and DECUS CDROM pricing and ethics and on and on. >Try the TALK_TO_THE_BOARD 12.*, and VMS 425.*. The war is NOT over, and >we may well get CDROMS priced down where they should be. That's another thing that doesn't seem to be available outside the US. Well, a bit of moaning and shouting does make one feel a *lot* better :-) Herman Verkade