U.S. TO TRY TO BAR ALIENS FROM SUPERCOMPUTERS

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Collection: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP90-00806R000100030072-8
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RIPPUB
Original Classification: 
K
Document Page Count: 
1
Document Creation Date: 
December 22, 2016
Document Release Date: 
September 2, 2010
Sequence Number: 
72
Case Number: 
Publication Date: 
July 30, 1985
Content Type: 
OPEN SOURCE
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Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/02 : CIA-RDP90-00806R000100030072-8 ARTICLE APpPEEqq NEW YORK TIMES ON PAGE ___ 30 July 1985 U.S. to Try to Bar Aliens From Supercomputers The Defense Department said yes- My DAVID E. SANG ER terday that it would try to keep Soviet. A j M-189a n project bloc students and scholars from virtu- But late to onal February, ally all the superoomputets in the Science Foundation saiit would tspend United States, including four major SM million to create centers now being set up at universities Purer by the National Science Foundation. , centers to help academics solve a wide range of basic research problems. the equipment most sought by the Soviet bloc, and officials say they as- sume many of the foreigners involved in academic exchanges are spies. The move has from officials at three oI the universi ties involved in the science founda- tion's project on the ground that the re- strictions could violate academic free. dom. In the past two weeks those three, Cornell University, Princeton Univer- sity and the University of Dlinois, have each refused to endorse a provision in their Government contracts that would restrict the access of some foreign na- tionals to the facilities. Direetlve Is Being Dratted But Government officials said yes- ,I terday that the universities might have i to yield if President Reagan signed a national security directive now being drafted by a group of officials of the De. tense Department, the State Depart. mein and the National Security Age& cy, among other agencies. Dr. Stephen D. Bryan, a deputy assistant secretary of defence, saala telephone interview yesterday that Soviet access to such machines would pose a "serious threat" to the United States. Dr. Bryan, who directs the Pen- tagon's efforts to regulate the flow of strategically important high-tech- nology products, added, "If you are not willing to sell the computers but give them access to the machines an your own soil, you have lost the whole ex- port-control battle in one swoop.- Supercomputers, than 10 millon eah, awhich cost more re most ad- vanced computer systems currently manufactured, and there are fewer than 150 of them installed around the world. Because of their tremendous processing speed, they can solve in a day complex mathematical problems that take the largest conventional com- puters months or years. Experts generally agree that the Soviet Union has no supercomputers. Until recently, neither have most aca- demic or industrial researchers. me umversruse awarded the centers would control access to the machines, which are act intended for any classi- fied Government work. Allen J. Sinisgall3, ' director of re- search and Princeton, said officials Very, very surprised" by the actual contact. The document, be said, stipu- lated that the consortium of universi- ties naming the Princeton center would deny access to foreign nationals from the Soviet bloc, China or other coun- ties that fell under the high-technology export control laws. "We feel it is a tremendous infringe. meat on academic freedom," said Mr. Sinisgaili, who negotiated for the con- sortium, which includes the Massachu- setts Institute of Technology, Harvard Univerity, the University of Pemsyl. vania and Rutgers, among others. "Foreign scholars are in the country for legitimate purposes," Mr. Sinis- galli said. "To restrict them would be to deny their rights. And for the first time, we are seeing the Government try to impose controls on a facility work where going re is on.a" bsolutely no classified In the and, Mr. Sinisgaili said, com- promise language was reached ac- knowleging that a "national policy" on access to drafted and that ~ter would abide by that policy. But officials at Prince. too and Cornell said yesterday that if the national policy infringed on aca- demic withdraw from theepproj have to ect. Among the four universities direct- ing the computer centers, only the Uni- the forma at San Diego ac- cepted wording suggested to the science foundation by the Defense De- partment, according to foundation offi- cials. Administrators at the university could not be reached for comment yes. terday, but National Science Founda- tion officials said the San Diego con- tract was negotiated by a private com- pany that will operate the facility for the university. STAT Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/02 : CIA-RDP90-00806R000100030072-8