Safeguarding America's Critical Technologies (and Avoiding Personal Risk) An Introduction to Export Control and Critical Technology Restrictions

摘要

All DOD researchers both those employed by the Federal Government and those from the industrial base become familiar with the regulations concerning classified documents and technologies early in their career. Use of safes, secure buildings and rooms, proper handling, labeling and storage are all part of the day-to-day world of dealing with classified information but how much do you know about export control regulations and the control of data and technologies that while not classified are still vital to the marketing superiority of the U.S.. For instance, suppose an engineer develops an improved processing method for high temperature ceramics that enables near net shape manufacture of complex parts. A paper is prepared which details the production method and various materials used and is presented at a Materials Research Society (MRS) conference. Forty people are in attendance during this particular session and the paper is published in the proceedings of the conference Does this engineer realize that a law may have been broken. The Department of Defense is congressionally mandated to maintain a list detailing those critical technologies that help maintain the superiority of U.S. armed forces. Technologies on this list are considered for integration into the Department of Commerce's export control lists, such that proliferation may be limited. In the example above, the engineer, in a public forum, presented a processing method that may produce components with performance characteristics which provide a competitive military edge over our adversaries.