(a) Information is “published” when it becomes generally accessible to the interested public in any form, including:
(1) Publication in periodicals, books, print, electronic, or any other media available for general distribution to any member of the public or to a community of persons interested in the subject matter, such as those in a scientific or engineering discipline, either free or at a price that does not exceed the cost of reproduction and distribution (See supplement no. 1 to this part, Questions A(1) through A(6));
(2) Ready availability at libraries open to the public or at university libraries (See supplement no. 1 to this part, Question A(6));
(3) Patents and open (published) patent applications available at any patent office; and
(4) Release at an open conference, meeting, seminar, trade show, or other open gathering.
(i) A conference or gathering is “open” if all technically qualified members of the public are eligible to attend and attendees are permitted to take notes or otherwise make a personal record (not necessarily a recording) of the proceedings and presentations.
(ii) All technically qualified members of the public may be considered eligible to attend a conference or other gathering notwithstanding a registration fee reasonably related to cost and reflecting an intention that all interested and technically qualified persons be able to attend, or a limitation on actual attendance, as long as attendees either are the first who have applied or are selected on the basis of relevant scientific or technical competence, experience, or responsibility (See supplement no. 1 to this part, Questions B(1) through B(6)).
(iii) “Publication” includes submission of papers to domestic or foreign editors or reviewers of journals, or to organizers of open conferences or other open gatherings, with the understanding that the papers will be made publicly available if favorably received. (See supplement no. 1 to this part, Questions A(1) and A(3)).
(b) Software and information is published when it is available for general distribution either for free or at a price that does not exceed the cost of reproduction and distribution. See supplement no. 1 to this part, Questions G(1) through G(3).
(c) Notwithstanding paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section, note that published encryption software classified under ECCN 5D002 on the Commerce Control List (supplement no. 1 to part 774 of the EAR) remains subject to the EAR, except publicly available encryption object code software classified under ECCN 5D002 when the corresponding source code meets the criteria specified in § 740.13(e) of the EAR. See § 740.13(e) of the EAR for eligibility requirements for exports and reexports of publicly available encryption source code under License Exception TSU.