I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 3627

To amend the Export Administration Act of 1979 with respect to the control

of computers and related equipment.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

NOVEMBER 22, 1993

Ms. CANTWELL (for herself and Mr. MANZULLO) introduced the following bill;

which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

A BILL

To amend the Export Administration Act of 1979 with

respect to the control of computers and related equipment.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. GENERALLY AVAILABLE SOFTWARE.

4 Section 17 of the Export Administration Act of 1979

5 (50 U.S.C. App. 2416) is amended by adding at the end

6 thereof the following new subsection:

7 ‘‘(g) COMPUTERS AND RELATED EQUIPMENT.—

8 ‘‘(1) GENERAL RULE.—Subject to paragraphs

9 (2) and (3), the Secretary shall have exclusive au10 thority to control exports of all computer hardware,
2

•HR 3627 IH

1 software, and technology for information security

2 (including encryption), except that which is specifi3 cally designed or modified for military use, including

4 command, control, and intelligence applications.

5 ‘‘(2) ITEMS NOT REQUIRING LICENSES.—No

6 validated license may be required, except pursuant

7 to the Trading With The Enemy Act or the Inter8 national Emergency Economic Powers Act (but only

9 to the extent that the authority of such Act is not

10 exercised to extend controls imposed under this Act),

11 for the export or reexport of—

12 ‘‘(A) any software, including software with

13 encryption capabilities, that is—

14 ‘‘(i) generally available, as is, and is

15 designed for installation by the purchaser;

16 or

17 ‘‘(ii) in the public domain or publicly

18 available because it is generally accessible

19 to the interested public in any form; or

20 ‘‘(B) any computing device solely because

21 it incorporates or employs in any form software

22 (including software with encryption capabilities)

23 exempted from any requirement for a validated

24 license under subparagraph (A).
3

•HR 3627 IH

1 ‘‘(3) SOFTWARE WITH ENCRYPTION CAPABILI2 TIES.—The Secretary shall authorize the export or

3 reexport of software with encryption capabilities for

4 nonmilitary end-uses in any country to which ex5 ports of software of similar capability are permitted

6 for use by financial institutions not controlled in fact

7 by United States persons, unless there is substantial

8 evidence that such software will be—

9 ‘‘(A) diverted to a military end-use or an

10 end-use supporting international terrorism;

11 ‘‘(B) modified for military or terrorist end12 use; or

13 ‘‘(C) reexported without requisite United

14 States authorization.

15 ‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this sub16 section—

17 ‘‘(A) the term ‘generally available’ means,

18 in the case of software (including software with

19 encryption capabilities), software that is offered

20 for sale, license, or transfer to any person with21 out restriction through any commercial means,

22 including, but not limited to, over-the-counter

23 retail sales, mail order transactions, phone

24 order transactions, electronic distribution, or

25 sale on approval;
4

•HR 3627 IH

1 ‘‘(B) the term ‘as is’ means, in the case of

2 software (including software with encryption ca3 pabilities), a software program that is not de4 signed, developed, or tailored by the software

5 company for specific purchasers, except that

6 such purchasers may supply certain installation

7 parameters needed by the software program to

8 function properly with the purchaser’s system

9 and may customize the software program by

10 choosing among options contained in the soft11 ware program;

12 ‘‘(C) the term ‘is designed for installation

13 by the purchaser’ means, in the case of soft14 ware (including software with encryption capa15 bilities)—

16 ‘‘(i) the software company intends for

17 the purchaser (including any licensee or

18 transferee), who may not be the actual

19 program user, to install the software pro20 gram on a computing device and has sup21 plied the necessary instructions to do so,

22 except that the company may also provide

23 telephone help line services for software in24 stallation, electronic transmission, or basic

25 operations; and—
5

•HR 3627 IH

1 ‘‘(ii) that the software program is de2 signed for installation by the purchaser

3 without further substantial support by the

4 supplier;

5 ‘‘(D) the term ‘computing device’ means a

6 device which incorporates one or more

7 microprocessor-based central processing units

8 that can accept, store, process or provide out9 put of data; and

10 ‘‘(E) the term ‘computer hardware’, when

11 used in conjunction with information security,

12 includes, but is not limited to, computer sys13 tems, equipment, application-specific assem14 blies, modules, and integrated circuits.’’.

Æ