Buying in the States was Re: HP analyzer probes

Export restrictions have been around forever. They exist in almost every country and are (I would guess) mostly ignored (probably through ignorance) almost everywhere. While I was at DEC, the export compliance training was mandatory for everyone every so many months or years (2 years I think). The story was that someone had shipped something (possibly a VAX) to someone seemingly legit who then passed it along to someone he shouldn't have. Big fine, mandatory compliance training. I think it will be your govenrment who actually enforce it :-) It will olny matter once you get caught - pretty much like all laws :-) If anything, this one has been toned down a bit in the last few years (at least on the US side). Super computers (like, say, an entry level mobile phone these days :-)) are no longer classed as nuclear munitions so you can sell them to anyone (except people on the DPL and presumably people who know where the banned countries are). It's nothing to do with the PATRIOT act - it has been around for much longer than that. It's all to do with not selling to your Cold War enemies. All toned down because big biz realised that if they could not sell computers outside the US someone else would :-) Ecommerce helped too. If the PATRIOT act gets in the way of big business, it will go the same way. Not that I care - I'm in the UK ... I presume we have our own DPL equivalent but I have no real idea :-) Antonio -- --------------- Antonio Carlini arcarlini(a)iee.org