SPERRY UNIVAC COMPUTERS MIGHT CARRY NEWS OF MOSCOW OLYMPICS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01315R000400110002-7
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 27, 2004
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: July 11, 1978
• Content Type: NSPR

Approved For Release 2005/O'li21Y WkbP8 `-b' 315R000400
err
By FRANK ALLEN "It's too sensitive," said one Uni- logically urge greater rights. for
Minneapolis Star Staff Writer vac spokesman. "I can't deny it, western press coverage inside the
The news the world gets from but I can't say anything, either." Soviet Union while denying Tass
the 1980 Olympics in Moscow Another Univac official referred to an opportunity to upgrade its news
might travel through Sperry Uni- the Tass project as "a potential or- operations, Soviet officials con-
vac computers made in the Twin der." $ tended.
Cities' Western 'media coverage. of the" ? Because the Tass network is in-
The Soviet Union reportedly has .:,1980 Olympics is expected to'be.' tended to help western media cov-
chosen Sperry Univac to provide,a massive. In addition to supporting erage of the Olympics, the Soviets
message-switching network for the Soviet news agency's own. ?reportedly have indicated they also
the Tass news agency and all for=: press service during the Olympic would blame the White House for
eign news agencies for the Olym games, the Tass project would as- hampering worldwide coverage of
pics? sist coverage by foreign news see- the Olympics if approval of the
The sale of sucly an automated ? vices, whose. stories 'would be -=:network was blocked.
communications network requires switched through, Moscow with Sperry Univacs application for
approval by the U.S Commerce the Univac system. i +an export license is pending before
Department. The Tass- project 1 -the Commerce Denartment's.office
could represent about $20-million - The project has been brewing in, of export administration. Before
worth of Univac 1100-series com- Moscow and Washington for reaching a decision, the office will
puters, to. be manufactured at the, years. Export control authorities o consult an advisory
. , : group com-
company's plant in Roseville. riginally told U.S.:comptter firms:
- that no advanced message-switch- prised of representatives of the
CIA and the Departments of State,
for the Soviets would
BUT U.S. approval of ? the sale ing'network Defense and Energy. The U.S.
probably won't be .automatic or be approved in Washington. The ernment is expected to rule favor-
speedy. Officials of the Defense U.S, officials had assumed that any ably] on the project if proper safe-
Department and. the CIA are said experience with the computer net-
to be anxious about otential mili- - work could help. the Soviets build guards are built into the system,
P according to Electronic News, aj
ary adaptations of the computers up their military communications : weekly trade publication:
by the Soviets. capability, thus creating potential Approval by the Paris-based Free
International Business Machines dangers to U.S security :
Corpr World Coordinating Committee, a-
r..
. (IBM) and Burroughs Corp. affiliate of the NAtlantic
reportedly discussed the project A YEAR AGO, Control Data-,' Organization,- North
routines
with the Soviets but were not suc- faced similar objections in Wash- +
ington. The. Bloomington-based lows U.S. approval of such ex,-
cessful bidders for the contract. y fol-
Sperry Univac declined to discuss firm was denied an export license ports:
the deal., for its large-scale Cyber 76 com .
-puter. The $13-million computer
had been. ordered for weather re-
search in-Moscow as part of a glo
bal network ''' `''
"These message-switching sys-
tems normally - undergo pretty, ex-
tensive review., Washington,' -
said. a.-computer.=.industry insider.`
who. is.. familiar, with the federal:,
government's export. licensing.
process. "The fear is that they
have command-and-control appli
,cations. for. military communica-1
tions. Some- of these systems can
be modified very easily.". But the Soviets reportedly have
appealed to the U.S. government to
reverse its- opposition : to the Tass
project:: The, United States cannon
Approved For Release 2005/01/12 : CIA-RDP88-01315R000400110002-7