Commerce, Treasury Ease U.S. Telecom Export Restrictions to Sudan

The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security will now consider approval for U.S. telecom exports to Sudan on a case-by-case basis, rather than keeping in place the agency’s previous policy of denial for such exports, it said in a final rule in Wednesday's Federal Register. BIS also will expand the consumer communications devices (CDD) license exception for U.S. telecom exports to the Sudanese private sector, it said. The CCD license exception, authorized in 2009 but restricted to exports to Cuba, covers shipments to Sudan starting Wednesday. Most of the items covered under the CCD don’t require licenses for export to most countries, BIS said in the final rule. BIS published this rule alongside a concurrent Treasury Department rule. Treasury's decision on the export of hardware and software “incident to personal communications” to Sudan comes "after years of campaigning from Sudanese and international activists," Electronic Frontier Foundation Director-International Freedom of Expression Jillian York wrote on EFF's blog Wednesday. "The sanctions restrict the export of everything from MOOCs [massive open online courses] to mobile phones, harming innovation, access to information, and development. For a country like Sudan, where the number of Internet users has grown from around 400,000 to more than 8 million in less than a decade, the forthcoming influx of technology can mean a world of difference for average consumers."