The Department of Justice may issue severe penalties in the future for foreign hacking that violates U.S. export controls despite the “lenient” deferred prosecution agreement it announced in September (see 2109150031), national security lawyers said. Companies shouldn't expect that case to signal the start of a trend of minor penalties for hacking, the lawyers said, and should be especially cautious before providing cyber services to foreign governments.
The Treasury Department expects to issue more crypto-related sanctions and allocate more resources to better target the digital assets of cybercriminals, Treasury Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo said. Speaking during a Center for a New American Security Event event last week, Adeyemo also said the agency is placing a high priority on multilateral designations and is hoping to better understand trading partners’ concerns about U.S. secondary sanctions.
The United Kingdom adopted a second amendment to its Belarus sanctions regime, replacing the sanctions with new financial, trade and aircraft restrictions, and expanding the grounds on which a person may be designated. The amendment also reinstates a prohibition on the transfer of restricted technology that was dropped from the regime in error while correcting errors over the application of an exception for authorized conduct in the Chanel Islands, Isle of Man or British Overseas Territories.
The Bureau of Industry and Security completed an interagency review of a pre-rule that would propose new export controls on certain brain-computer interface (BCI) technologies. The rule, which was sent to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Oct. 5 (see 2110060006) and completed Oct. 19, will seek to determine whether BCI items are emerging technologies and whether effective controls can be put in place. BIS plans to ask for public comments in the pre-rule.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is accepting questions and comments ahead of the first U.S.-European Union joint outreach event on dual-use export controls under the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council. The virtual event, scheduled for Oct. 27 (see 2110190020), will allow members of industry, academia and the public to review and discuss “principles and areas for export control cooperation” along with U.S. and EU officials. BIS is accepting comments through TTCExportControls@bis.doc.gov.
Export controls may prevent some hurdles in the investment and development of emerging quantum computing technologies, the Government Accountability Office said in an Oct. 19 report. Controls may limit some U.S. trade, prevent U.S. quantum technology companies from collaborating with other countries and deter U.S. firms from employing highly skilled foreign workers, the GAO said.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is proposing to clarify and expand restrictions on using License Exception Strategic Trade Authorization (see 2109130013), which it hopes will reduce exporter “confusion” and better control certain sensitive technologies, BIS said Oct. 21.
The Bureau of Industry and Security will issue new export controls on certain cybersecurity items and create a new license exception for those exports, BIS said in an interim final rule released Oct. 20. The rule, which will align U.S. cybersecurity restrictions with controls previously agreed to at the multilateral Wassenaar Arrangement, will establish more restrictions on certain items that can be used for “malicious cyber activities” by imposing a license requirement for shipments to certain countries, BIS said. The changes take effect Jan. 19, and BIS will accept public comments until Dec. 6.
The U.S. and the European Union will hold an outreach event Oct. 27 on dual-use export controls, the European Commission said. Stakeholders may submit questions and comments in advance with the goal of reviewing and discussing areas of future export control cooperation, as identified by the EU-U.S. Trade and Technology Council's first meeting in Pittsburgh. Registration will be limited to two people per organization. The event begins at 9:30 a.m. EDT.
The State Department is reviewing whether to continue to designate the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam as a foreign terrorist organization, the agency said in a notice. It is accepting written statements or “other documentary materials” on the group’s FTO status, which must be submitted by Nov. 2. The Sri Lanka-based Liberation Tigers were designated in 1997. The FTO designation imposes certain sanctions on the group.