from module import *
is invalid inside function definitions.
While many versions of Python do no check for the invalidity, it does not
make it more valid, no more then having a smart lawyer makes a man innocent.
Do not use it like that ever. Even in versions where it was accepted, it made
the function execution slower, because the compiler could not be certain
which names are local and which are global. In Python 2.1 this construct
causes warnings, and sometimes even errors.