Possible US legislative threat to Pinephone?

[Westslope]

(Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer. This is not legal advice.)

Pine64 does not operate off the US, so it will not be a big problem for them. It may make it harder for you as a user to get a PinePhone though. Since the proposed legislation appears to be about what comes preloaded by default when the device is sold, you are is unlikely to get into trouble for owning or using a PinePhone. But buying one could become more complicated for residents of the states with such legislation.

Indeed, I'm still trying to understand how it would actually work and how it would be enforced.



The Montana bill defines "Manufacturer" in a specific way, but if I look through the code, it sounds like the bill would only affect manufacturers that have a "Commercial registered agent" in the state, which I doubt Pine64 or a lot of other small manufactures do. This would lead me to believe that non-domestic phones would be unaffected if ordered through the Web. I'm not a lawyer either, so this stuff just confuses me the more I read it.

Code:

(4)        "Manufacturer" means a person that is engaged in the business of manufacturing an electronic device and has a commercial registered agent as defined in 35-7-102 and a patent.

Code:

35-7-102. Definitions. Unless the context requires otherwise, as used in this chapter, the following definitions apply:

(2) "Commercial registered agent" means an individual or a domestic or foreign entity listed under [url=https://www.leg.mt.gov/bills/mca/title_0350/chapter_0070/part_0010/section_0060/0350-0070-0010-0060.html]35-7-106[/url].

Code:

35-7-106. Listing of commercial registered agent. (1) An individual or a domestic or foreign entity may become listed as a commercial registered agent by filing with the secretary of state a commercial registered agent listing statement signed by or on behalf of the person that states:

(a) the name of the individual or the name, type, and jurisdiction of organization of the entity;

(b) that the person is in the business of serving as a commercial registered agent in this state; and

(c) the address of a place of business of the person in this state to which service of process and other notice and documents being served on or sent to entities represented by it may be delivered.

(2) If the name of a person filing a commercial registered agent listing statement is not distinguishable on the records of the secretary of state from the name of another commercial registered agent listed under this section, the person shall adopt a fictitious name that is distinguishable and use that name in its statement and when it does business in this state as a commercial registered agent.

(3) A commercial registered agent listing statement takes effect on filing.

(4) The secretary of state shall note the filing of the commercial registered agent listing statement in the index of filings maintained by the secretary of state for each entity represented by the registered agent at the time of the filing. The statement has the effect of deleting the address of the registered agent from the registered agent filing of each of those entities.