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I happen to know that two popular machine learning libraries (MLPack and Vowpal Wabbit) have merged pull requests from North Korea. I know this because I was t

I happen to know that two popular machine learning libraries (MLPack and Vowpal Wabbit) have merged pull requests from North Korea. I know this because I was teaching a class on open source software development to North Korean students in 2015 (at PUST, a university in North Korea), and this was the final project for two student groups. The pull requests got merged fine, and the country of origin was never an issue. FWIW, I am an American citizen and former military officer with a top secret clearance. I never broke US law, and I never feared any retaliation from the US government.

pydry 6y ago
https://complyadvantage.com/knowledgebase/north-korea-sanctions/ https://complyadvantage.com/knowledgebase/north-korea-sancti... I was going by this which states that "importing technology" is covered by sanctions. If encryption can get classified as munitions export (which, pre 1992 it was) I could imagine a PR from NK can fairly easily be classified as "importing technology". IANAL but if I was taking a risk averse approach like this Iranian dude then I'd err on the side of caution and not merge. I certainly wouldn't want to try and establish case law that a PR is not importing technology, either, even if, say, the lack of a financial transaction meant it technically didn't count. It's playing with fire.
Ancapistani 6y ago
I'd have to look it up to be sure, but I believe US law only restricts dealings with North Korea that are political or commercial in nature. Merging a PR shouldn't qualify. More importantly, in the US, there is at least some semblance of fairness in the judiciary. To be clear, I'm not saying "fairness always wins". Not even close. A criminal charge would entitle the defendant to a trial by jury, though, and I find it hard to believe that a jury would convict a teacher for merely collaborating with a student in an academic setting, regardless of the letter of the law.
sudosysgen 6y ago
You taught in/to North Korea?! How was the experience?

pydry 6y ago

https://complyadvantage.com/knowledgebase/north-korea-sanctions/ https://complyadvantage.com/knowledgebase/north-korea-sancti... I was going by this which states that "importing technology" is covered by sanctions. If encryption can get classified as munitions export (which, pre 1992 it was) I could imagine a PR from NK can fairly easily be classified as "importing technology". IANAL but if I was taking a risk averse approach like this Iranian dude then I'd err on the side of caution and not merge. I certainly wouldn't want to try and establish case law that a PR is not importing technology, either, even if, say, the lack of a financial transaction meant it technically didn't count. It's playing with fire.

Ancapistani 6y ago

I'd have to look it up to be sure, but I believe US law only restricts dealings with North Korea that are political or commercial in nature. Merging a PR shouldn't qualify. More importantly, in the US, there is at least some semblance of fairness in the judiciary. To be clear, I'm not saying "fairness always wins". Not even close. A criminal charge would entitle the defendant to a trial by jury, though, and I find it hard to believe that a jury would convict a teacher for merely collaborating with a student in an academic setting, regardless of the letter of the law.

sudosysgen 6y ago

You taught in/to North Korea?! How was the experience?