U.S. Eases Publisher Rules on Cuba, Iran (And Sudan)

[Khephra]

WASHINGTON -- American publishers are free to engage in publishing activities with people in Cuba, Iran and Sudan without fear of violating U.S. economic penalties against those countries, the Bush administration said Wednesday.

The Treasury Department's office that enforces embargoes against those countries issued a rule that lists the permissible activities related to the publishing and marketing of manuscripts, books, journals and newspapers in paper or electronic form.

U.S. publishers do not need U.S. government permission to go ahead with such ventures, the department said.

"Persons engaged in activities authorized ... can do so without seeking permission" from the Office of Foreign Assets Control, said the office's director, Robert Werner.

http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-treasury-publishers,0,1550434.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines

[Book Lover]

1. We all were going to do it anyway

I'm on a couple of wordsmith-related listservs, and frankly, word on the street was publishers weren't really changing their plans because of this bullshit. I'm glad to see it won't have to be litigated.

[Judi Lynn]

2. These guys are a laugh a minute, aren't they?

Apparently the ENTIRE WORLD misunderstood them!

A group including the association's professional and scholarly publishing division in September filed a lawsuit in a federal court in New York seeking to strike down the restrictions.

Brodsky believed the threat of litigation spurred the Treasury Department to issue the regulations Wednesday. But department officials said they had been considering the changes for some time.

Brodsky said the plaintiffs are now considering withdrawing the suit.

The old rules were "interpreted by some as discouraging the publication of dissident speech from within these oppressive regimes. That is the opposite of what we want," said Stuart Levey, the Treasury Department's under secretary for the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.
(snip/...)

Sneers are unavoidable here. This is so stupid.



Stuart Levey, Under Secretary for the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence

[madrchsod]

3. gee all the stuff i just mailed is

now legal? that`s news to me..