> "Across 2018-2019, the RISC-V community has reflected on the geo-political landscape and we have heard concerns from around the world that investment in RISC-V must come with IP access continuity to ensure a long-term strategic investment. We first mentioned our intentions to move at the December 2018 summit. Incorporation in Switzerland has the effect of calming concerns of political disruption to the open collaboration model. RISC-V International does not maintain any commercial interest in products or services as a non-profit, membership organization. There have not been any export restrictions on RISC-V in the US and we have complied with all US laws. The move does not circumvent any existing restrictions, but rather alleviates uncertainty going forward.
> In March 2020, the RISC-V International Association was incorporated in Switzerland. Along with this, we shifted to a new, more inclusive membership structure. Members of RISC-V International have access to and participate in the development of the RISC-V ISA specification and extensions as well as related hardware and software. RISC-V has a Board of Directors composed of member representatives as well as a Technical Committee of work group leaders."
> RISC-V International has not incorporated in Switzerland based on any one country, company, government, or event. This move is reflective of community concern and managing strategic risk for our community investing in RISC-V for the next 50+ years.
> The IP contributed and produced by RISC-V International is held under industry and global standard licenses that are already open to leverage by any company regardless of jurisdiction. This licensing is a common open source approach to foster collaboration that is not tied to any geographic regulation. IP in the public domain has not been subject to export control.
Or rather, when other countries say "sanctions", they are almost always talking about something completely different than the United States.
It’s a bit like the US arresting your mom at home in Texas because you ate a baggie of magic truffles in Amsterdam.
The US has not "sanctioned" LetsEncrypt or ISRG. The US sanctions foreign entities as punishment for various reasons precisely because they are not subject to US law. That's the entire point of leveraging a sanction -- to pressure those outside of your legal jurisdiction. If they were in your jurisdiction, you'd simply arrest them.
People and organizations basically anywhere not permitted to do business with anyone your country has sanctioned. Anyone who does business internationally should be aware of their country's sanctioned list. That applies no matter where you live on the planet.
This is literally about a company that has a branch in the USA and another branch in another country, where it's bound by that country's laws. If the foreign entity which just so happens to be commercially linked to the one in the USA has any dealings with countries sanctioned by the US, the US branch is punished.
There was a case a few years ago where a public University in Brazil bought lab computers from Dell Brasil. Dell Brasil is a subsidiary of Dell, but it's 100% incorporated in Brazil, the computers were manufactured in Brazil, everything following Brazilian law. The computers were delivered with terms of service that prohibited them from being used for any dealings with US-sanctioned countries such as Iran and Cuba. The University was caught by surprise and questioned it, since they had many academic links with Cuban Universities, and Dell Brasil explained that.
I don't know how the whole ordeal ended. The Brazilian Federal Government got involved, I believe the Ministry of Exterior and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry both got involved and were at one point going to sue Dell Brasil. I suspect it ended with the University returning the computers and purchasing from another supplier.
The suggestion that Let's Encrypt could work around US sanctions by opening a branch in the EU falls under similar conditions, and the US branch would be liable if the EU subsidiary had dealings with US-sanctioned countries.
We're not talking about legal obligations in its home country though. I can buy Jack Daniels at age 19 in my country from their local subsidiary, and no-one thinks that this should be a crime for their US parent company because the US drinking age is higher. (Of course it would be a crime for either the parent or the subsidiary to sell to 19 year olds in the US)
(No-one is blaming Dell or Let's Encrypt here, to be clear, it's the US' excessive extraterritorial laws that are the problem)
> I can buy Jack Daniels at age 19 in my country from their local subsidiary, and no-one thinks that this should be a crime for their US parent company because the US drinking age is higher.
Because there is no US law that says you cannot sell alcohol to people abroad under 19. Heck, there's no US federal law that says Jack Daniels can't sell to people in the US under 19, either. And in fact, there are some places in the US where you can legally drink at 18, e.g. Puerto Rico. But if the US congress wanted to pass one of these laws and enforce it, it could.
But the US isn't really unique in applying their laws extraterritorially. See GDPR, Universal jurisdiction laws, China's National Security Law, etc... Every jurisdiction with sizable power does it. Some of these are even more extraterritorial in scope than US sanctions are.
Only applies to EU citizens' personal data, so while technically extraterritorial it doesn't feel like overreach in the same way.
> Universal jurisdiction laws
Rightly controversial when applied beyond things that are internationally agreed to be crimes against humanity, like torture or genocide.
> China's National Security Law
A perfect example of the kind of thing that the US used to define itself in opposition to.
Nations are sovereign and those with the might to push their requirements on others can do so. But I liked it better when we had a sense of the value of an open international order, where things like internet protocols were shared standards that everyone would collaborate on other than a handful of pariah states.
At least in Brazil, companies that operate there must obey local laws. What happens when those laws are in contradiction with US laws, like in the example I cited? Is Brazil supposed to cave? Is Brazil supposed to keep fining Dell Brasil until it folds? Maybe prosecute Dell Brasil's directors for actively and repeatedly disregarding the law and fines?
How does that work on a global scale?
I'll say again, this is not about a US company opening a foreign subsidiary to do things in the US that are forbidden in the US. This is about a company incorporated abroad having to follow US laws while operating wholly abroad. This is a breach of sovereignty however you look at it.
Yes, sometimes this causes compliance complication. This isn't unusual, it happens frequently.
Ultimately, every government exercises the laws of their country as they see fit, using the enforcement tools they have available to them. These rules often extend outside of their borders and apply to foreign or partially-foreign entities depending on the situation. The only limits on this are the practical means of enforcing it.
Dell Brazil would have been subject to Cuba sanctions because it was controlled by the US parent company. The US has obvious jurisdiction over Dell Technologies the parent company, and the nexus to enforce it.
Nothing you are are describing is even remotely unique to the US. No country is going to let you set up a foreign subsidiary to launder goods around sanctions law. If they did, everyone would do that and nobody would ever follow sanctions.
e.g. https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/policies/sanctions-agains...