mclure@SRI-UNIX@sri-unix (06/10/82)
a033 0209 10 Jun 82
PM-Lights,380
On The Light Side
NEW YORK (AP) - A chess-playing computer is back home after spending
a month in the hands of U.S. Customs agents who thought it might leak
strategic secrets to the Soviets.
''Belle,'' a computer about the size of a camper-refrigerator and
worth about $6,000, was seized at Kennedy International Airport in a
government crackdown on the export of defense-related technology to
the Soviet Union.
''A very harmless device,'' said Godfrey K. Preiser Jr., a lawyer
for Bell Laboratories, after Belle's return to company headquarters in
Murray Hill, N.J., earlier this week.
Scientist Kenneth Thompson, who programmed Belle to play chess and
was taking it to Moscow for a demonstration, said about the only
military application for the computer would be to drop it out of an
airplane.
ap-ny-06-10 0509EDT
**********trb (06/10/82)
Belle only worth $6K? Gimme a break! Andy Tannenbaum Bell Labs Whippany, NJ (201) 386-6491
wagner (06/11/82)
So, Andy, we gave you a break. Now give us the word! Information is the game on this network. Since you know, share the knowledge with us. What is Belle worth? Michael Wagner, University of Toronto Computing Services