Sun Microsystems Inc and its subsidiaries are paying US$291,000 in fines to settle allegations that the computer giant exported computers to China that were used for military purposes, the Department of Commerce announced.
Santa Clara, California-based Sun is one of the best known technology companies to be fined in a Commerce Department crackdown on illegal exports, which intensified in the fall. The department's Bureau of Industry and Security is conducting roughly 1,500 investigations into illegal exports.
Federal officials are particularly concerned about shipments of so-called dual-use technology -- computers, software, telecommunication devices and other equipment with both military and civilian uses. Officials say dual-use exports are on the rise to China, India, Russia, Pakistan and other countries with known or suspected nuclear weapons programs.
"The Sun case shows that license conditions matter, and we're aggressively targeting compliance," Assistant Secretary of Commerce Julie Myers said Monday. "Companies are on the hook to follow the conditions on the license."
In a statement Monday, Sun emphasized that it settled the case "without admitting or denying the allegations."
"Sun maintains comprehensive procedures to comply with all aspects of US and, where applicable, foreign export control laws,' the company stated in an e-mail. "All export transactions are closely monitored by these procedures, which have been strengthened to enhance our ability to ensure full and strict compliance with applicable laws."
According to a certified letter that the Commerce Department mailed to Sun chairman Scott McNealy dated Jan. 31, 2002, Sun shipped a powerful E5000 server without the required license in February 1997.
At the time, Sun filed paperwork stating that the server was destined for the "Automated Systems Ltd Warehouse" in Hong Kong. Federal agents found the machine at the Changsha Institute of Science and Technology in Changsha, China.
Sending equipment to an address other than the one stated in the original paperwork is a violation of export code. The Changsha Institute offers courses specializing in missile and rocket research and development technology, federal agents say.
In July 1997, according to the letter to McNealy, a Sun employee "altered" a nonproliferation compliance letter and submitted the falsified document in response to a subpoena from the Bureau of Export Administration. Alteration of license documents is also a violation of export code.
Other violations include two servers shipped to Egypt without licenses in March 1998. Those computers ended up with the Egyptian military, the Commerce Department said.
In 1999, Sun sent upgrades to high-performance computers to Colombia and Venezuela, but the department found that Sun could not verify the upgrades arrived at the intended addresses.
For 24 civil violations, Sun will pay a US$269,000 fine. Two Hong Kong-based subsidiaries, Sun Microsystems China Ltd and Sun Microsystems California Ltd, will each pay US$11,000. The subsidiaries will be banned from selling anything to Changsha Institute for one year.
In November, Future Metals Inc of Tamarac, Florida, agreed to a US$180,000 civil fine for sending aluminum bars to India without export licenses. Exports of aluminum bars to India are strictly monitored for nuclear nonproliferation reasons.
Worldwide Sports & Recreation Inc, which does business as Bushnell Corp, was sentenced in August to a US$650,000 criminal fine, a US$223,000 civil fine and five years of probation for exporting more than 500 Night Ranger night vision devices to Japan and 14 other countries from 1995 to 1997.
California-based Silicon Graphics Inc pleaded guilty in January to two felony charges for exporting computers to a Russian nuclear laboratory in 1996. SGI agreed to pay US$1 million in criminal fines and US$182,000 in civil fines.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary