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SEP 9 2009
Case No. MUL-271
Sarah Stephens
Center for Democracy in the Americas
P.O. Box 53106
Washington, D.C. 20009
Dear Ms. Stephens:
This is in response to your letter dated May 29, 2009, addressed to Secretary Timothy Geithner concerning puhlished reports that at least one U.S. provider, Microsoft, has stopped offering instant messaging services to users in Cuba, Syria, Iran, Sudan, and North Korea. Secretary Geithner's office forwarded your letter to the Office of Foreign Assets Control ("OFAC") so that we may be able to respond directly to your inquiry.
OFAC administers economic and trade sanctions programs pursuant to regulations published in Chapter V of Title 31, Code of Federal Regulations, various Executive Orders, Proclamations, and statutes. Other Federal agencies also administer regulations, orders, and statutes that may be applicable to...
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1) This letter appears to predate any official word from OFAC concerning whether instant messaging services that do not require software downloads fall within the scope of the Berman Amendment exemption for information and informational materials or the exemption for "personal communications." The Treasury letter is notable for its "constructive ambiguity" on the relationship between IEEPA exemptions and the services at issue. For discussion of the letter in context of other relevant items, see sections 3-4 of General Note on Prohibitions, Licenses and Exemptions as Applied to Social Media and Other Communications-Related Internet Services and Software (System Ed. Note) and Microsoft Corp. (2012 Correspondence With the SEC).