DCS: A-10C and ITAR regulations?

[Nealius]

I had a question, mainly out of curiosity. I heard about this ITAR thing (arm's regulations for import/export) and it appears that "military simulations" like DCS: A-10C can be subject to these arm's regulations and denied import/export. Obviously DCS is not regulated as such otherwise we wouldn't be playing it. So what keeps DCS "legal"?

[Cobra847]

DCS is a Game. It is and probably never will be marketed as a professional "sim".

[Nealius]

Ah, so to fall under the jurisdiction of ITAR it must be classified/marketed as a professional simulator?

[Eddie]

No, containing material/information subject to ITAR would cause it to fall under ITAR restrictions.

 

DCS doesn't contain any such material, and ED wouldn't have been given access to such material when developing it, hence it is not subject to ITAR.

[Nealius]

What material, generally speaking, would fall under ITAR restrictions? Classified material, I'm guessing?

[Deadman]

It is on line so you can check out the entire thing.

http://www.pmddtc.state.gov/regulations_laws/itar.html

 

The main one that concerns pit builders is that most real parts of aircraft and simulators fall under its rules

[Eddie]

Classified material, I'm guessing?

 

No. In fact more often than not, things covered by ITAR are not "classified" in the colloquial sense of the word.

 

ITAR covers hardware, software, or knowledge with originates in whole or part, in the US. So, potentially everything, for example if a major avionics component were covered by ITAR, its design documents and specifications may well be to. If something just contains a tiny subcomponent that is subject to ITAR, then the whole thing becomes subject to ITAR.

 

Hell my notebook at work it covered by ITAR, simply because some of the material I deal with and discuss is covered by ITAR and therefore any notes I make on such matters are also by extension ITAR controlled, even the conversations that led to those notes are subject to ITAR.

 

In short, ITAR is a royal pain in the arse.

[Nealius]

I skimmed through one of the PDF files on the site that Deadman linked, and under definitions of "defense articles" it mentioned only items "specifically designed, developed, configured, adapted, or modified for a military application." Is it the fact that DCS wasn't specifically designed for that purpose that it's in the clear? I find it interesting that your notebook, for example, is covered by ITAR, but is there anything specifically excluding something like the A-10's avionics as modeled in DCS? Is it because they are older or sufficiently "dumbed down" from the real thing that it's really of no consequence? The more I learn the more curious I become :)

[Grim_Smiles]

sufficiently "dumbed down" from the real thing that it's really of no consequence? The more I learn the more curious I become :)

 

That is exactly it. The military wouldn't train anyone on DCS, because it isn't a product capable of training military pilots to perform missions in real life. As an example of why, the ECM in DCS doesn't work like real ECM because that information is not available to ED.

 

And the info doesn't have to be classified to apply to ITAR. Every unclassified Navy and USCG drawing I've handled was stamped with an Arms Export Control Act disclaimer warning against what will happen if you violate these laws.

[Nealius]

Well, real world flight manuals are stamped with a similar disclaimer but that doesn't keep them out of our hands ;)

[Grim_Smiles]

Well, real world flight manuals are stamped with a similar disclaimer but that doesn't keep them out of our hands ;)

 

True, but likely due to Uncle Sam deciding to release the information and the disclaimer is just not removed. They can do whatever they want with the material. But if someone like me releases it without their blessing, bad things happen.

 

I'm not entirely clear on all particulars of ITAR and Export Control Act laws and its legalese, I just know that our engineering section is off limits to the handful of employees that are foreign nationals, and that all our material has to be locked up at the end of the day. If someone who isn't a US citizen even glances at a drawing I've accidentally left out, I've violated the law.