[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 197 (Friday, October 10, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Page 52976]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-26878]



[[Page 52976]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Institute of Standards and Technology
[Docket No. 970326070-7204-02]


Notice of Delayed Termination of Validation Services for Federal 
Information Processing Standards (FIPS)

AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), 
Commerce.

ACTION: Notice; Delayed termination of validation services.

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SUMMARY: The NIST Information Technology Laboratory (NIST) is 
terminating validation services for FIPS 21-4, COBOL; FIPS 69-1 
FORTRAN; FIPS 128-2, Computer Graphics Metafile, Air Transport 
Association Profile (CGM (ATA)); FIPS 160, C, and FIPS 151-2, POSIX.
    NIST announced by Department Organization Order 30-2B the formation 
of the Information Technology Laboratory (ITL). Under the new ITL 
organization, NIST is refocusing its program for information 
technology, concentrating on the development of conformance tests for 
emerging information technologies rather than the operation of software 
testing services. NIST will assist private industry and government 
agencies in establishing testing programs for these standards by 
providing NIST conformance testing materials to interested parties.

EFFECTIVE DATE: Validation services for FIPS 151-2. POSIX, will 
terminate on December 31, 1997. Validation services for FIPS 21-4, 
COBOL; FIPS 69-1, FORTRAN; FIPS 128-2, CGM (ATA); and FIPS 160, C, will 
terminate on or before September 30, 1998. These validation services 
will terminate before September 30, 1998, if other private industry 
and/or government agency testing programs have been established.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION OR COMMENTS CONTACT: Ms. Lynne Rosenthal, 
National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, 
telephone (301) 975-3283, email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The NIST announced on April 8, 1997, (62 FR 
16788-89) that it was considering the termination of the validation 
services for FIPS 21-4, COBOL; FIPS 69-1, FORTRAN; FIPS 128-2 CGM 
(ATA); FIPS 151-2, POSIX; and FIPS 160, C. In response to comments on 
the April 8, 1997, announcement, NIST is delaying termination of these 
services to give private industry and/or government agencies more time 
to establish their own validation services. If private industry and/or 
government agency testing programs are established before September 30, 
1998, NIST may announce an earlier date for terminating services.
    A Director of Conformance Testing Programs, Products, and Services 
is available on the World Wide Web (WWW) at the Universal Resource 
Locator (URL) http://www.nist.gov/ctdirectory.html. NIST test suites 
and testing procedures are distributed freely and are accessible from 
the Directory. Additional conformance testing information is available 
on the URL http://www.itl.nist.gov/div897/ctg.

    Authority: Federal Information Processing Standards Publications 
(FIPS PUBS) are issued by the National Institute of Standards and 
Technology pursuant to Section 5131 of the Information Technology 
Management Reform Act of 1996 and the Computer Security Act of 1987, 
Pub. L. 104-106.

    Dated: October 3, 1997.
Elaine Bunten-Mines,
Director, Program Office.
[FR Doc. 97-26878 Filed 10-9-97; 8:45 am]
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