House computer-export bill says nyet to nukes
Manufacturers of high-end workstations may soon have to complete extra paperwork before selling their products overseas.
An amendment to the 1998 Defense Authorization bill that passed in the House Wednesday requires companies to apply for licenses to sell high-end workstations and supercomputers to so-called "computer tier 3 eligible" countries -- namely, China, Russia, Pakistan, India, and Israel.
"Any export or re-export of United States supercomputers ... to countries of proliferation concern must have prior written approval of the Commerce, Defense, Energy and State Departments, (as well as) the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency," said a description of the amendment.
The amendment comes at a critical time. The New York Times reported on Monday that 16 high-end computers from IBM Corp. made their way to a Russian nuclear facility. The same act has been played out by other computer makers in other parts of the world.
Are the requirements too restrictive? Not according to Hewlett-Packard Co., which says the limits will not have a major effect on its business. "Russia has been a historically good market for us," said Brad Whitworth, a company spokesman. "We are growing quickly in the market and we see that continuing."
Whitworth added that HP has done well selling technology into the Russian banking market and has also had wins with scientific facilities such as the Russian space agency's ground control center.
Yet, the risks of those computers going astray are real. "Given the recent track record [of U.S. companies]," said Whitworth, "I can see why people feel it is necessary to be cautious right now."
The amendment defines a "supercomputer" as a computer with 2,000 million theoretical operations per second, or MTOPS -- a measurement calculated using a processor's clock rate, floating point capabilities, and special functions.
Some reports in the media speculated that personal computers may fall into this category in the near future.
That's a lot of nonsense, according to Intel Corp.
"We won't see personal computers in this category for some time," said Manny Vara, an Intel spokesperson. "We are talking four to five years. (Saying that this hurts the PC industry) is just wrong."
A 300MHz Pentium II processor -- currently Intel's fastest -- weighs in at about 350 MTOPS, said Vara. The 200MHz Pentium Pro is less of a powerhouse at 233 MTOPS.
"Even a 4-processor (Pentium Pro) system would be well below the halfway mark," said Vara. "The computers that this is aimed at are in the $100,000 range today. You won't find them on the desktop."
Hewlett-Packard's Whitworth agrees. "(The amendment) should not get down into personal computer use," he said. "And as the PC creeps up into this category, they will raise the limit."
The amendment was sponsored by Rep. Floyd Spence (R-S.C.) and added to the defense bill in mid-June of this year. The bill will now go to the Senate for consideration.