Silicon Graphics Charged with Violating U.S. Export Laws

Silicon Graphics Inc. was hit with criminal charges of violating U.S. export regulations when it shipped four supercomputers to a Russian nuclear laboratory in 1996, rekindling controversy over an incident that raised questions at the time about export controls on computer technology. In a two-count complaint filed in U.S. District Court in San Jose, federal prosecutors accused the Mountain View company of failing to obtain the necessary Commerce Department licenses to export the computers to a high-security lab that designs Russia's nuclear weapons.