International Traffic in Arms Regulations(ITAR)

International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) is a set of United States government regulations that control the export and import of defense-related articles and services on the United States Munitions List. These regulations implement the provisions of the Arms Export Control Act, and are described in Title 22 (Foreign Relations), Chapter I (Department of State), Subchapter M of the Code of Federal Regulations. The Department of State interprets and enforces ITAR. Its goal is to advance national strategic objectives and U.S. foreign policy via the trade controls.
For practical purposes, ITAR regulations dictate that information and material pertaining to defense and military related technologies may only be shared with U.S. persons unless approval from the Department of State is received or a special exemption is used. United States companies can face heavy fines if the Department of State discovers they have, without approval or the use of an exemption, provided non-U.S.-persons with access to ITAR-protected products or information such as designs, test data, processes, software code, etc.
A "U.S. person" can be
a U.S. citizen;
a permanent resident who does not work for a foreign company, a foreign government, or a foreign governmental agency/organization;
a political asylee;
a part of the U.S. government, or
a corporation, business, organization, or group that is incorporated in the United States under U.S. law.
The list of ITAR-controlled technologies changes. Until 1996–1997, ITAR classified strong creptography as arms and prohibited their export from the U.S. Another change occurred as a result of Space Systems/Loral's conduct after the February 1996 failed launch of the Intelsat 708 satellite. The Department of State charged Space Systems/Loral with violating the Arms Export Control Act and the ITAR. As a result, technology pertaining to satellites and launch vehicles became more carefully protected.