IBM's Translation Software Giveaway

IBM wants to give the Defense Department $45 million worth of Arabic-to-English translation hardware and software, AP reports. IBM Chairman and CEO Samuel Palmisano made the offer directly to President Bush after hearing from company employees who had served in Iraq about shortages of translators. Under the offer, IBM would provide 10,000 copies of its Multilingual Automatic Speech Translator software and 1,000 devices equipped with it. The only problem is that the Pentagon's not sure it can accept the gift. Procurement lawyers are checking that out.