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Personal Communication Services General License

Release Date
03/08/2010
Recent Actions Body

On March 8, 2010, the Office of Foreign Assets Control amended the Sudanese Sanctions Regulations, 31 CFR part 538, and the Iranian Transactions Regulations, 31 CFR part 560, to add general licenses that authorize the exportation to Sudan and Iran, respectively, of certain services and software incident to the exchange of personal communications over the Internet,   such as instant messaging, chat and email, and social networking. Amendments being made to the Cuban Assets Control Regulations, 31 CFR part 515, similarly authorize by general license the exportation of such services to Cuba (the exportation of goods and technology, including software, to Cuba must be separately licensed or otherwise authorized by the Department of Commerce). To qualify for these authorizations, such services and software must be publicly available at no cost to the user.