On Tue, 1 Aug 1995, Richard Martin wrote:
Until a few years ago, carrying software across the border from the states to Canada, one would only pay duty on the value of the media. Canadian Customs regulations did not recognise any value in the information contained on the floppies. I haven't actively exported/imported software in this manner recently (well, I carried 2.6ui to Mobile and back without realising it (or, indeed, ever putting it in a drive) and so broke ITAR) so I'm not sure how things stand currently.
I think they might actually have been convinced of the value of software. [Department of External Affairs and International Trade has been, as noted earlier. Danger of software, at least.]
As far as I know, under current GATT regulations software is not considered a commodity, and therefore its import does not attract customs duties. However, I'm not sure about the actual behaviour of the US customs; from recent cases I can confirm that in the European Union and South Africa that rule is respected.