One of the most common exports in Academic environments is the export of technical data and software. For the purposes of public interest, research and innovations, BIS and DDTC determined that technical data and software that can be classified as "publicly available" (EAR 734.3(b)(3)) or in the "public domain" (ITAR 120.11) are excluded from export controls, so absolutely no restrictions apply to them. For instance, this allows everyone (including a person from an embargoed country) to download publicly available information from the Pitt website.
Be aware that these exemptions apply only to technical data and software, i.e., there is no "publicly available" or "public domain" status for hardware.
For more information on the "publicly available" and "public domain" exemptions, please consult the following sub-sections: