Sun Microsystems Inc has denied allegations made by the Wall Street Journal that it is skirting US export regulations following the licensing of software from Russian-based Elvis+ Co. Sun, notorious for its criticism of US encryption regulations (CI No 3,028), has been accused of intending to sell the software to overseas customers direct from Elvis+, in which it has a 10% stake, thereby avoiding US export laws. Smita Deshphonde, Sun’s director of marketing for network security products said: We’re not avoiding export regulations whatsoever and didn’t intend to skirt anything. The Mountain View California company says the powerful encryption software will enable international communication costs between corporations and governments to be slashed by up to half if users switch from costly private networks to the internet and using the Elvis+ Secure Virtual Private Network software, which will go under the name of SunScreen Skip E. US companies currently have to get permission from the US Department of Commerce if they want to export encryption software over 40 bits. SunScreen Skip E is 56-bit.
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