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July 13, 2000, Thursday, SOONER EDITION

SECTION: NATIONAL, Pg. A-12, NATIONAL BRIEFS

LENGTH: 632 words

HEADLINE: SENATE TO EASE COMPUTER EXPORTS

BODY:

WASHINGTON -- The Senate voted yesterday to ease export controls on high-performance computers despite concerns that foes could turn U.S. technology against the nation.

On a 86-11 vote, the Senate adopted an amendment to the defense authorization bill that would decrease the congressional review of changes in administration export rules on such computers from 180 days to 60.

In offering the amendment, Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, said the shorter time is needed to help U.S. high-tech firms stay competitive in the global market.

But Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., said he was concerned about the effect an easing could have on national security. Supporters of the easing say controls now are ineffective because they're much stricter than foreign competitors' . The Senate in March put aside legislation to create a new process to decide what items with dual commercial and military uses would be under export controls.

NASA hacker arrested

NEW YORK -- Federal agents yesterday arrested the 20-year-old, self-proclaimed leader of a sophisticated group of Internet hackers on charges of illegally breaking into two computers at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

Raymond Torricelli, who uses the nickname "rolex," was taken into custody at his home in New Rochelle, N.Y. Authorities said he had gained access to over 800 computers -- including those at San Jose State University and Georgia Southern University -- and possessed 76,000 passwords.

According to the five-count complaint, Torricelli used one of the NASA computers, hacked in April 1998, to host an Internet chat room devoted to hacking.

King family, CBS settle

ATLANTA -- In exchange for a cash payment, the estate of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. dropped its suit yesterday against CBS News over the rights to King's 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech.

Neither side would disclose the amount of the payment, which is considered to be a tax-deductible contribution to the King Center for Non-Violent Social Change, in Atlanta. As part of the settlement, CBS will retain the right to use its film of the speech and license it to others, but the network agreed to provide information on how outside parties could contact the estate "regarding the estate's claimed intellectual property rights," said a news release both sides issued yesterday.

CBS also agreed to provide film of King's speeches for the King estate's own productions.

NAACP plans boycott

BALTIMORE -- The NAACP has opened the door to a broader boycott of states and cities that incorporate Confederate symbols in their official flags.

"We would rather see those flags that in any way show the Confederate flag come down," NAACP National Field Secretary Nelson Rivers said yesterday. "We would rather negotiate, but we do have other options."

By a voice vote of about 1,000 delegates, the NAACP voted Tuesday to call on the public to bypass all cities and states that have the Confederate flag as part of their official flag. Rivers said a number of states and cities fit that bill, including Georgia and Mississippi.

The resolution won't become NAACP policy until a vote in October by the 64-member national board of directors..

Also in the nation

Utah inmate Brian McCluskey almost found heaven at the Purgatory Correctional Facility after he thought a bag of M&Ms he earned for helping with chores at the jail was a winner in a million-dollar national contest. But an M&M spokesman confirmed McCluskey was only a first-place winner, not the grand prize winner. He apparently will get a coupon for a free 16-ounce bag of M&Ms. ... Three Tennessee fast-food workers were found shot to death yesterday in an apparent robbery at Captain D's in Smyrna.

LOAD-DATE: July 17, 2000