It seems Python is using a default mask to compile modules.
If you open a file b.py as "r", and you import it from a.py, you can see
that b.pyc is:
-rwxr-xr-x 1 marco marco 9 24 mag 16:17 a.py
-r--r--r-- 1 marco marco 10 24 mag 16:17 b.py
-rw-r--r-- 1 marco marco 122 24 mag 16:46 b.pyc
If you try to run a.py:
-rwxr-xr-x 1 marco marco 9 24 mag 16:17 a.py
-r-xr-xr-x 1 marco marco 10 24 mag 16:17 b.py
you'll get:
-rw-r--r-- 1 marco marco 122 24 mag 16:49 b.pyc
as you can see, there is a default "mode" to create compiled modules...