Revisions to Definitions in the Export Administration Regulations:
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Effective September 1, 2016
Not Subject to the EAR: Information released by Instruction in a Catalog Course or Associated Teaching Laboratory of an Academic Institution (§ 734.3)(b)(3))
Q.1: I teach a university graduate course on design and manufacture of very high-speed integrated circuitry. Many of the students are foreigners. Do I need a license to teach this course?
A: No. Release of information by instruction in catalog courses and associated teaching laboratories of academic institutions is not subject to the EAR.
Q.1.2 : Would it make any difference if some of the students were from countries to which export licenses are generally required for these items?
A: No.
Q.1.3 : Would it make any difference, in teaching this course, if I talk about recent and as yet unpublished results from my...
While BIS' interpretations of the EAR are typically not inherently meaningful to OFAC with respect to its interpretations of its own regulations, there are a handful of provisions whose scopes are defined by how a certain item would be treated under the EAR. In such cases, there may be a presumption that BIS' interpretations are shared by OFAC in the absence of OFAC articulating a directly conflicting opinion.
The definition of "Information and informational materials" (in virtually all regulations but see e.g. 515.332) is one such example.
(b) The term information and informational materials does not include items:
(1) That would be controlled for export pursuant to section 5 of the Export Administration Act of 1979, 50 U.S.C. App....