End-To-End Encryption And A New Understanding Of Technology And Software Export Controls

On June 3, 2016, the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security ("BIS") and the State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls ("DDTC") both published in the Federal Register final rules updating a number of definitions in the Export Administration Regulations ("EAR") (81 Fed. Reg. 35,586) and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations ("ITAR") (81 Fed. Reg. 35,611), respectively. As the most recent effort in the Obama Administration's ongoing Export Control Reform initiative, both rules are intended to streamline and to standardize definitions across the two export control regimes. In at least one instance, however, the BIS rule offers substantially more flexibility to U.S. companies attempting to manage controlled technology and software in the cloud or via other solutions that involve offshore storage, access, and transmission of data.