A lawyer, without any apparent background in export law, recently decided to write a post on export law for “In House,” which bills itself as the “FindLaw Corporate Counsel Blog.” The purpose of the post, it would seem, is to frighten people traveling internationally with their laptops with the suggestion that they may well be greeted on their return trip by an arrest warrant if they don’t have an export license for their laptop. No, really, he actually says that

Traveling abroad? Don’t forget your passport, your laptop, and your export license.

Wh-what export license? Oh, maybe your company attorney didn’t tell you that your laptop requires an export license.

That’s right, the United States requires a license for certain technology and software going abroad.

What the FindLaw post, in order to maximize clickbait value, never reveals is that while technically true that some laptop exports require an export license due to software or technology on that laptop, there are broad license exceptions which mean that, as a practical matter, such licenses are almost never required. That’s what License Exceptions TMP and BAG and the exemption in section 125.4(b)(9) of the ITAR are for. These are, oddly enough, never even mentioned in the FindLaw blog post.

I discussed these provisions permitting laptops to be exported without a license recently in a post about whether a requirement to check laptops in the cabin hold might mean that these provisions would no longer apply. As explained there, section 125.4(b)(9) and license exception BAG permit export of laptops (and any software or technology on them) accompanying passengers and for their personal use as long as the laptop is password protected. License exception TMP requires that the laptop remain in the effective control of the traveler. (The difference between BAG and TMP is that BAG applies to laptops owned by the traveler and TMP applies to company laptops taken on a business trip).

So, no, if you password protect that laptop and keep it with you on your travels, you’re not going to need a license just to take the laptop with you. (If you intend to transfer the laptop or give the technology or software to someone else in the foreign country, these exceptions won’t apply.)

This all goes to show that, with perhaps one exception, don’t believe everything you read on a blog!

Photo Credit: Road Warrior at LAX by Clif Burns. Copyright 2015 Clif Burns

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