2004 IEEE President Arthur Winston Addresses OFAC Ruling in Message to Members

This message to IEEE members from 2004 IEEE President Arthur Winston also will run in the May online and June print issues of The Institute. 

In early April, the IEEE received very good news. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) at the U.S. Department of the Treasury ruled that the peer review, editing, and publication of manuscripts submitted to the IEEE by authors living in U.S.-embargoed countries, including Cuba, Iran, Libya, and Sudan, can be conducted free of U.S. government restrictions.

The ruling represents major progress in the IEEE's quest to overcome the difficulties caused by the U.S. government's trade embargoes on sanctioned countries, which we have been struggling with for nearly three years. It clarifies uncertainties raised by an earlier ruling, received in September 2003, that exempted peer-review activities from OFAC regulations but prohibited the IEEE from editing without a license. The 2 April decision frees us to conduct our entire peer-review process, including style editing and copy-editing, without being subject to OFAC regulation or licensing, regardless of where an author resides.  This will likewise benefit other scholarly publishers who have similar processes.

This important ruling is the direct result of months of intensive efforts to help OFAC officials understand the intricacies of IEEE peer review and editing. Additional impetus for this desired outcome came from the input of participants at an IEEE-convened summit of scholarly publishers in February, which brought the publishing industry and OFAC face to face for the first time. We believe IEEE also benefited from ongoing activities of other publishing organizations and individuals in the U.S. government vis-a-vis the OFAC regulations. Through it all, the IEEE Board of Directors has remained firm in its belief in the unfettered exchange of scientific and technical information for educational and research purposes.

In the ruling, OFAC commended the IEEE's approach "to comply with federal law in this matter, and to work with [OFAC] in good faith to arrive at a resolution of these issues." This makes it clear we would have been acting against the law to do otherwise. I am personally pleased with this acknowledgement of our efforts since our global organization has always reflected the highest legal and ethical standards as we abide by the laws of all nations where we operate.

This positive ruling is significant, but it does not put OFAC concerns entirely behind us. OFAC regulations continue to challenge our ability to provide many services to members in embargoed countries. We are reviewing these membership issues and working diligently to find solutions that benefit all members.

This situation has been very difficult for our organization and our members worldwide, and it is of great concern to all the engineering, science, and publishing communities. Since I became 2004 IEEE president, I have heard from and communicated with many members on this subject.

I want to thank you, our members, for openly voicing your opinions about OFAC's restrictions on our publishing operations and our membership benefits. Your comments enable us to form a collective voice—and I assure you, it has been heard. I encourage you to continue to express your views on this matter.

The many messages I have received confirm my belief in the importance of communicating with you about this issue. We remain committed to keeping you informed. We will continue to run articles on the subject in IEEE Spectrum and The Institute, as appropriate. Additionally, we maintain a page at http://www.ieee.org/web/aboutus/ofac to provide the latest, most accurate information in an open manner. 

We will continue to do what is necessary to resolve the outstanding OFAC issues. I encourage your support, and I invite your comments at president@ieee.org.