We seem to be talking past each other. This was THE experience of everyone in Poland who didnt straight up smuggle computers _pre_ 1985. Your examples are from 1985, yes in 1985 things finally changed when COCOM modified its stance towards 8-bit machines and Lucjan Daniel Wencel (of LDW/P.Z. Karen/California Dreams fame) negotiated a deal between Atari and Pewex.

>I find no one mentioning that the equipment bought on the Bazaars should be registered.

Neither anyone mentioned paying taxes or import duty :) because it was all _smuggled_, either hidden from customs or smoothed over with bribes. Another example is Bajtek Atari clan chief editor Wojciech Zientara personally smuggled 600XL from West Germany during one of his commercial cruises, perk of being a sailor.

Computer fairs were extremely illegal from every angle possible. Smuggled goods, illegal goods (printers), no taxes, no registered businesses, no license for commerce, renting the place under the umbrella of a Tourist Club „Pod Kamykiem” haha, illegal hard currency exchange https://spidersweb.pl/plus/2021/04/gielda-komputerowa-prl-la...

>„Bajtka” napisał o ultimatum. Redakcja odbierze giełdzie patronat, jeśli w ciągu dwóch miesięcy nie zostaną wprowadzone pewne zmiany. Chodziło m.in. o ukrócenie handlu walutami

[3] contains a lot of inaccuracies:

>COCOM ... obtaining an export license was a mere formality

not really, according to my examples 'only if the computer was necessary for the citizen's professional or scientific work'

>Moreover, 8-bit home computers were excluded from the list

only in 1985

> Pewex in cooperation with state-owned company Karen

Karen was a private company, or more accurately Polish subsidiary of American one http://atariki.krap.pl/index.php/P.Z._Karen

> Atari was sold in Pewex at the same price as the Commodore C-64 in computer bazaars but became more popular despite a smaller choice of software.

Pewex Atari required hard currency while computer fairs accepted plain zlotys. Bajtek/Top Secret/Secret Service own surveys showed ~2x more C64 than Atari in reader hands.