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Atari Online News, Etc. Volume 03 Issue 03
Volume 3, Issue 3 Atari Online News, Etc. January 19, 2001
Published and Copyright (c) 1999 - 2001
All Rights Reserved
Atari Online News, Etc.
A-ONE Online Magazine
Dana P. Jacobson, Publisher/Managing Editor
Joseph Mirando, Managing Editor
Rob Mahlert, Associate Editor
Atari Online News, Etc. Staff
Dana P. Jacobson -- Editor
Joe Mirando -- "People Are Talking"
Michael Burkley -- "Unabashed Atariophile"
Albert Dayes -- CC: Classic Chips
Rob Mahlert -- Web site
With Contributions by:
Donald A. Thomas, Jr.
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=~=~=~=
A-ONE #0303 01/19/00
~ Bluelight To Charge ~ People Are Talking! ~ Playcycle News!
~ Oni For Playstation2! ~ AOL, Nokia Strike Pact ~ eGames Update!
~ eBay Sets Fee Increase ~ Melissa Virus On Macs! ~ Librarians Sue!
-* Hotmail Trashes Users' Mail! *-
-* Silicon Valley Surviving Blackouts! *-
-* Technology Firms-Feds Team To Fight Hackers *-
=~=~=~=
->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
It's been a long week! It started off poorly when I got a call from my
weekend 3rd shift person. Her kids were sick and she couldn't work that
night. Naturally, she called that night, leaving me little time to find
coverage. I ended up going in. Not the way to start the week.
So now my normal routine is all out of kilter! I'm still trying to get
myself straightened out. This is Friday, right?
What a week for news, or the lack of it! It's been really quiet this week!
Hey, how about California and no energy! So much for de-regulation!
Silicon Valley, brought to its knees in the worst possible way: no
electricity! What irony!
All we hear about these days is dot-com this and dot-com that, one failing
right after another. Gee, think the dot-com craze has finally petered-out?
This may be the internet age, but everyone tried to cash in too quickly and
now they're quickly being whittled down to nothing. Wow, start a business
at 18, a millionaire at 19, and bankrupt at 20! It's the American way,
folks!
Until next time...
=~=~=~=
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
compiled by Joe Mirando
jmirando@portone.com
Hidi ho friends and neighbors. I've got good news, and I've got bad
news.... depending on your point of view. The news server I use for this
column is down. Therefore I can't grab the posts that you should be reading
here.
So instead of the usual question-and-answer thing, I want to step up on
my soapbox for a bit and talk about something that I've been thinking
about lately.
Don't worry. It's not religion or politics (per se), but perception
itself.
Have you ever noticed that sometimes no matter how clear and sensible a
position seems to you, someone else thinks it's the most stupid idea in
the world? Of course, the same happens in reverse too, doesn't it?
We've all been there... someone at a party brings up a topic and you
are interested until you hear their position, which you think is just
plain wrong. It's so wrong, in fact, that you don't even bother running
down in your mind WHY it's wrong.
I've come to the conclusion that it's a matter of perception. Your
point of view IS your reality. Of course, that's just my perception.
<grin>
Let's face it. Most of us are intelligent enough to, if not understand
another point of view, at least understand that there IS another
possible point of view. Although we're intelligent enough to have that
'eureka moment', we normally don't. I'm not even talking about the "my
God could beat up your God" kind of argument. I'm talking about simple
stuff like "four quarters are better than ten dimes" kind of things.
Besides our intellects, our perceptions are all we have. We've made the
mistake of thinking HOW we perceive things is WHAT we are perceiving.
And that's just not the case. That's why magicians can beguile us for
hours, and it may even be why hypnosis works on the subconscious mind.
We simply take it for granted that 'what we see is what we get' and
often (more often than we think) it just ain't so. We like to think
that we are in control of what we do and what happens around us and
that, if we just know enough and pay enough attention, we'll come out
okay.
That view was the rule of the day during the Victorian era. Remember
Sherlock Holmes? Any mystery could be solved if only you paid enough
attention to what was going on. That may also explain why Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle was a success as a writer and, ummm... much less so as a
doctor. As an author he could control events, but not as a physician.
This Victorian ethic contributed in large part to the Titanic disaster.
The HMS TITANIC was a jewel in the crown of the engineering community.
"Even God couldn't sink this ship" was the mindset, and therefore
lifeboats weren't a major concern, and we could cruise the sea as we
pleased without fear. Nature herself wouldn't dare to intrude into this
brave new world of science and propriety. Yes, it was only proper that,
at the height of civilization and culture, the unsinkable ship had been
produced.
Unfortunately, old Mother Nature had other ideas. She put her foot
down... and we just happened to be under it.
Max Planck and Neils Bohr shook the world with their theories of
quantum mechanics. No longer was it possible to look at everything as a
cold, hard equation with a definite outcome. Strange entities existed
one moment and did not exist the next. Particles could mutate into
others and some properties could never be observed no matter how much
we knew or how carefully we paid attention. The Victorian picture of
the universe was wrong.
Now, about a hundred years later, we've become a bit more sophisticated
in our beliefs about our control of our surroundings. Faced with the
fact that there are some things that we simply can't control, we've
become a society of litigators. If something doesn't work out the way
it 'should', our first impulse is to argue and bully the powers that be
into submission... to make the Universe see that we are right, or
failing that, to deny either the possibility of an outcome or the
validity of it all together. We simply can't see another point of view.
I tend to be that way when it comes to computer operating systems. I
simply can't understand how anyone could enjoy using Windows. TOS
variants (TOS 3.0x or MagiC) are my first choice, followed by Linux.
People simply CAN'T enjoy Windows, therefore they must be just plain
wrong.
Of course intellectually I understand that it's possible to enjoy using
Windows but, deep down in my soul, Sherlock Holmes hides behind the
shadow of the Titanic and whispers, "You have only to observe clearly
to see the truth of the situation. There can only be one correct
answer."
Well, all I can say is, "Come, Watson. The game is afoot!
I'm sorry for this departure from the normal format, but please tune in
again next week, same time, same station, and be ready to listen to
what they are saying when...
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
=~=~=~=
->In This Week's Gaming Section - Metropolis Street Racer!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Playcycle News! Oni!
eGames - Persistence Pays!
->From the Editor's Controller - Playin' it like it is!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
I haven't had a lot to say in this column for ages, but I just thought I'd
say a few words this week and update you on the eGames issue that was
brought forth in these pages a few months back. If you remember, ex-Atari
and all-around good guy Don Thomas related a problem with eGames, a software
publisher. The issue was that eGames portrayed their software compilations
as complete games - when that was simply not true once you bought the
software and played many of the games.
In his story, Don told us how he traded correspondence with eGames and was
essentially told: "too bad". The story got around to various gaming
magazines, complaints to the Better Business Bureau, and an e-mail campaign
to eGames ensued. And the story died down.
Well, earlier in the week, I received an e-mail from Don which I have copied
later on in this section. The crux of the message was that yes, you can
fight City Hall, and win. I'll let you be the judge of what has transpired.
Good goin', Don!
Until next time...
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News - The Latest Gaming News!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Gear Up for Racing Realism in 'Metropolis
Street Racer' for Sega Dreamcast
Ultra-Realistic Racing Game Lets Players Speed
Through Cityscapes Around the World with New Point
System Based on Racing Flair
Grab the wheel and cruise into 2001 in style with Sega of America's
``Metropolis Street Racer" for the 128-bit, Internet-ready Dreamcast video
game console. Burn luxury car rubber through ultra-real cityscapes in San
Francisco, Tokyo and London in this high-speed racing game with a totally
innovative point system. The goal of MSR is to accumulate ``Kudos" for
driving skill, speed and style. ``MSR" was rated among TV Guide's ``Best
of the Best" in the Racing category and was given 5 out of 5 stars by Next
Generation magazine. ``MSR" is available at retail stores nationwide this
month.
``MSR" is a unique test of skill, style and precision, with an
ever-expanding series of exciting driving challenges. ``Kudos" can be
earned for Speed (winning a race or beating the clock), Style (doing
``clean" laps or power-slides) or Skill (setting personal goals to beat).
As an added challenge, players will lose ``Kudos" for Bad Driving
(crashing); Unfair Advantage (using other cars or barriers to gain
position) or Car Swaps (although legal, this costs players a trade-in
penalty).
``Sega's 40-year videogame heritage is rich with hit racing titles such as
'Hang On,' the 'Daytona' racing series and 'Sega Rally,"' said Gwen Marker,
marketing communication manager, Sega of America. ``Sega is bringing racing
to a new level once again with the release of 'MSR,' with hot new features
such as the revolutionary new point system, customizable driving music and
an Internet ranking option, a first for console racing games."
Players can choose from 40 different luxury cars from worldwide
manufacturers such as Mercedes, Toyota, Renault, Rover, Mitsubishi, Alpha
Romeo and Peugeot. ``Metropolis Street Racer" offers players the choice of
more than 250 different routes in cities so accurately recreated that
players will recognize real land marks like Big Ben and Fisherman's Warf.
More than 40,000 photographs and 40 hours of video footage were used to
create 20 square miles of scenery for players to check out while tearing up
the pavement.
``Metropolis Street Racer" features ``Real World Time," which uses the
current time set to a players' Visual Memory Unit (VMU) to accurately
reflect the real time zones in the cities in which they race. In addition,
changing weather conditions challenge racers to adapt to changes in car
physics and road-handling dynamics.
``MSR" players can groove to different radio stations in each location.
The airwaves in Tokyo feature ``Tokyo 1," ``J Mix" and ``Yamonote
Broadcasting;" London stations include ``West Central 1," ``The
Underground" and ``Capital Jazz;" and San Franciscans tap toes to ``K
Vibe," ``Rock 101" and ``The Roadhouse." Players can also customize
their driving soundtrack by choosing different songs and saving them on
their VMU.
After the race, players can hit the Internet to see how they fared in
online leagues against racers from around the globe.
``Metropolis Street Racer" is available in retail stores nationwide and at
www.sega.com at a suggested retail price of $39.95. ``Metropolis Street
Racer" is rated ``E" for Everyone.
Playcycle Launches the Next Generation Video Game Exchange
"New Site Gives Gamers an Exclusive Trading Venue"
Playcycle, Inc. launches http://www.playcycle.com/, a web-based exchange
designed exclusively for the video game community.
Dedicated to gamers, Playcycle gives enthusiasts the greatest flexibility
when they are looking to buy or sell video games, consoles, and
accessories. The overall secondary video game market is valued at
$1.3 billion.
At last, gamers can:
*Tell the community what they want to buy, as well as what they have to
sell
*Choose from fixed price, negotiable price, auction, or reverse
auction formats
*Find exactly the games they want, then compare and track them
quickly and easily
*See the entire market in real time across gaming platforms and
transaction formats
At Playcycle, Members can post Seeks and Offers for the new and used video
games, consoles and accessories they want to buy and sell - posting and
membership is free. The owner of the listing is billed only $1 in the event
of a successful transaction, and there are no other required fees.
From the beginning, the Playcycle team worked with video gaming
enthusiasts across the country to create a site that fulfills the needs
of one of this nation's fastest growing communities.
Michael Thomasson, of Good Deal Games (Lexington, Ky.), a renowned online
game dealer, was so impressed that he has made Playcycle the premier outlet
for two newly published Sega CD games, Star Strike and Bug Blasters: The
Exterminators, for which he has recently secured publishing and
distribution rights.
"The uncomplicated fee structure and unique interface will draw gaming
enthusiasts and dealers alike" Mr. Thomasson said, "And since the site
is dedicated only to video games, Playcycle can assess and respond to
the ongoing needs of this close-knit community, as they did when
building the site."
The Playcycle team will continue to improve http://www.playcycle.com/ in
the months ahead, adding newly requested functionality and content.
Playcycle is "All Games All The Time!"
Take-Two Interactive's Rockstar Games Proudly
Announces the Approval of Oni for the PlayStation2
Rockstar Games, Take Two Interactive Software, Inc.'s high end video game
publishing division, is pleased to announce the approval of Oni, the highly
anticipated 3rd person action adventure game for PlayStation2 by Sony
Computer Entertainment America for release on January 29th 2001. All
elements of Oni final code, packaging, and marketing materials have been
approved.
``We are delighted that Oni has been approved by Sony Computer
Entertainment America, stated Paul Eibeler, president of Take-Two
Interactive. "As PlayStation 2 continues to redefine home entertainment,
Oni is poised to become a benchmark in next-generation gaming. The hectic
mix of hand-to-hand gunplay and combat was not possible on previous console
platforms. When you combine this with the simultaneous release of the
versions for PC and Macintosh platforms from the Gathering of Developers I
feel that Take-Two is launching a huge new gaming franchise.``
``I'm very excited about this title, the game is outstanding, and consumer
anticipation is at fever pitch" said Sam Houser, president of Rockstar
Games. ``The production and development teams at Bungie and Rockstar Games
have done an excellent job getting Oni ready for the for the PlayStation 2.
I commend and applaud everyone for their hard work and dedication."
Oni is a third-person 3D action adventure that blends hand-to-hand combat
and gunplay into a single action experience. One of the primary goals of
Oni is to deliver, for the first time, a third-person game where the action
is smooth and instantaneous without being simplistic.
The gameplay is divided 50/50 between hand-to-hand and weapons combat.
While Konoko will have an arsenal of weapons at her disposal, from pistols
to rocket launchers, realistic quantities and placement of ammo in the
environment means that the player won't be able to tear through the game
with guns blazing. Instead, Konoko's punches throws and kicks will be
critical for attacking silently, saving ammo, and simply enjoying the
satisfaction of ``hands-on" punishment.
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE Gaming Online - Online Users Growl & Purr!
"""""""""""""""""""
An update from Don Thomas, pertaining to the recent episode of misleading
packaging by games publisher, eGames:
BTW, ...I stopped by Office Depot today. They had a number of eGames
products. They all had a statement on the back that "some of the games
contained on this disc may be special editions of the originals." It is
purposely worded to downplay the truth, but at least they disclose in
advance that these "may" not be the original full versions.
=~=~=~=
A-ONE's Headline News
The Latest in Computer Technology News
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
Silicon Valley Surviving Blackouts
High-tech companies in the Silicon Valley reported no major problems from
Wednesday's rolling power outages - except for a handful of darkened
offices and an opportunity for early lunches.
Most businesses that rely on electricity for manufacturing and other
critical systems have backup generators that switch on instantly after
power is disrupted, said Michelle Montague-Bruno of the Silicon Valley
Manufacturing Group.
Hewlett-Packard Co., with 110 sites in the San Francisco Bay area, lost
power at two buildings in Mountain View and one in Cupertino. About 400
employees were affected, said spokesman Dave Berman.
The darkened buildings made work difficult, but did not affect critical
manufacturing or operations.
``This is all office stuff," he said. ``A number of things could happen,
depending on the outside light and the comfort of the building. People may
continue to stay at work or some might have setups where they can work at
home."
California cut off power to hundreds of thousands of people Wednesday in
the first rolling blackouts imposed during its electricity crisis. The
rotating, hourlong blackouts across the northern half of the state were
halted in the afternoon but were to resume statewide by evening.
Some buildings at Silicon Graphics Inc.'s Mountain View headquarters went
dark just before lunch, said spokeswoman Karen Heimbecker.
``The power went out 10 or 15 minutes before lunch, so everyone took lunch
10 to 15 minutes early," she said. ``By the time most people got back
about an hour and a half later, we were back up. It was kind of a
convenient time to have a blackout, I guess."
Cisco Systems Inc., San Jose's largest private employer, was not affected
as of mid-afternoon, spokesman Steve Langdon said. He said the Internet
equipment giant has generators ready to protect critical functions, such as
its network operations center.
Power also continued to flow into Apple Computer Inc.'s Cupertino
headquarters, and officials, speaking during the company's earnings
conference call, did not expect any problems given that its operations are
scattered around the world.
``We have normal contingency plans as most companies do, and knocking on
wood, we don't foresee any problems," said Fred Anderson, Apple's chief
financial officer.
Intel Corp. voluntarily dimmed its lights, though it never lost power at
its major California campuses in Santa Clara and Folsom, said spokesman
Bill Calder.
At Agilent Technologies Inc.'s corporate headquarters in Palo Alto, workers
were told that a blackout was possible, though power remained on through
the afternoon. As at Intel and elsewhere, power was being conserved.
``Other than dimming lights and trying to conserve, we haven't had any
effects," said spokeswoman Michele Drake. ``We're kind of on standby for
blackouts at corporate headquarters."
Companies, Feds Team To Stop Hackers
Nineteen of the nation's top technology firms - including archrivals
Microsoft, Oracle, and IBM - have teamed up with the federal government to
catch hackers.
The competitors vowed to share intelligence with each other about product
vulnerabilities and hacker trends in order to shore up public confidence in
e-commerce and protect the over $7 billion in business-to-business revenue
over the Internet.
``This initiative is done regardless of party or corporate logo," Howard
Schmidt, chief security officer at Microsoft Corp., said Tuesday of the new
Information Sharing and Analysis Center for Information Technology, or
IT-ISAC.
``We will not allow the IT-ISAC to become commercialized," said IBM vice
president Todd Gordon.
The companies will have to trust each other, as well as share valuable
competitive information with the government. The government will in turn
alert the companies to new threats.
``We are sending a strong signal to would-be attackers that we are not
going to let you get away with cyberterrorism," said outgoing Commerce
Secretary Norman Mineta, who is President-elect Bush's nominee for
transportation secretary. ``We stand united."
President Clinton in May 1998 called for more public-private partnerships
to protect the critical infrastructure. Similar collectives already exist
for electric power, telecommunications and the finance industry.
Incidents such as last February's attacks against Yahoo!, eBay and other
major Web sites as well as frequent reports of credit card thefts and
extortion attempts made the group's creation a necessity, company
executives said.
They said computer attacks have increased threefold since last year's
incidents, but added that reaction would be swifter if such an attack
happened today.
``They'd work together to see where they could best stem the attacks,"
said Allan Schoenberg, spokesman for Internet Security Systems in Atlanta,
which will provide a public Web site and analysis for the group at a
24-hour, seven days-a-week crisis center.
Most of the work will be done before an attack occurs, the executives said,
likening the collective to a ``virtual research university with an
emergency room attached to it."
Executives said that cooperation had become essential for their businesses.
Government officials lauded the effort as ``courageous."
``It is a patriotic move on their part to come together to help preserve
the economy and help preserve the national security," said Richard A.
Clarke, the president's national security advisor in charge of
counterterrorism.
To work together, the companies said they may eventually need some
antitrust exemptions and would benefit from a bill in Congress that would
exempt any data they shared with the government from freedom-of-information
requests.
The IT-ISAC group will join the two other computer response teams funded
with taxpayer money, both founded in the late 1980s. The Computer Incident
Advisory Capability, run by the Energy Department, and CERT, run by
Carnegie Mellon University and funded by the government.
CERT was founded in 1988 after a Cornell graduate student, Robert Tappan
Morris, released a computer program that took down much of the fledgling
Internet.
The executives stressed that not only large corporations will benefit from
Tuesday's announcement, but that thousands of tiny Internet storefronts use
the same software - which has the same security holes - and serve the same
customers.
``Every one of us either has been or will be attacked in cyberspace," said
Mary Ann Davidson, security product manager with database giant Oracle. ``A
threat against one is truly a threat against all."
Librarians Sue U.S. Over Internet Censorship
The American Library Association (ALA) announced its intention Thursday to
sue the U.S. over the validity of the Children's Internet Protection Act
(CIPA).
The Act, signed into law on December 21st, 2000 infringes on First
Amendment free-speech rights, says the library association. Under CIPA,
libraries and schools are required to install content filters on computers
with Internet access as a condition for receiving U.S. government funding.
The ALA argues that mandating installation of the filters would obstruct
rather than promote the purpose of improving public access to information
for which the federal funds are intended.
Specifically, the ALA claims that the new filtering rules widen the
digital divide rather than narrowing it. The federal funding programs that
could be affected include the E-rate program, the Library Services and
Technology Act, and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
The suit is not surprising, David Carney, publisher of TechLaw Journal
told the NewsFactor Network. Carney said that many groups have been
threatening legal proceedings against the Act for some time, and that
organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) have
already poked a number of legal holes in the legislation.
The Act has been targeted for being both under- and over-inclusive. Even
with filter options turned on, the ALA argues, children will be able to
access offensive materials, such as pornography, while legitimate sites
will be blocked. According to the ALA, there is no filtering software that
"differentiates constitutionally protected speech from illegal speech on
the Internet."
In 1998, that argument was successfully upheld in Loudon, Virginia, a
suburb of Washington, D.C.
The Loudon County Library Internet Policy required that a content filter
be used on all library computers with Internet access. Parents' groups and
individuals, however, fought for the right to choose what they and their
children viewed.
"The legal argument hinged on the First Amendment," said Larry Ottinger,
senior staff attorney at People for the American Way, the civil rights
group who defended the library patrons.
Ottinger told NewsFactor that "the filters blocked so much
constitutionally protected material that had absolutely nothing to do with
pornography or anything like that."
Examples of sites blocked by the filters included the graduate school of
biology at Yale University, a Quaker Web site, Have An Affair Catering,
and a beanie babies site. In addition, sex education and gay and lesbian
sites were out of reach. At the same time, materials that should have been
blocked were not. The court struck down the library's Internet policy.
"Basically, a filtering company or product doesn't try to block only
illegal materials, but they try to block a much larger category of
materials that they think people may not want," Ottinger said.
Before materials are banned, Ottinger adds, they normally have to go
through a legal procedure in which a court would determine whether or not
something is obscene or harmful to minors. "You can't automate that. A
machine can't do that. It should be voluntary," Ottinger said.
Other arguments raised by opponents of CIPA include the contention that
the right to free speech of those posting the offending material is being
violated.
"A completely different argument being advanced by some people is that
what you have here is an unfunded mandate," TechLaw's Carney said. "The
[U.S.] government tells state and local entities that you have to go and
do something, but the federal government does not give the state the money
to do that."
In other words, filtering software providers are not giving their product
away for free, but cash-strapped libraries and school districts have to
purchase it.
In Loudon, Virginia, the library board adopted an optional policy whereby
an adult or parent can use a filter purchased by the library if they
choose to do so -- but using a filter is not obligatory.
Melissa Virus On The Mac
It appears that the infamous Microsoft Word Macro virus known as Melissa
may now be a threat to the Mac. Symantec and McAfee, the two major
suppliers of Mac antivirus software, have both confirmed that a new strain
of the virus has the potential to infect users of Microsoft's Office 2001
software for the Mac.
Symantec, developer of Norton Antivirus, said it expects to have a fix
for MelissaW by Friday. The software can already detect the virus, said
Symantec group product manager David Loomstein, but NAV cannot eliminate
it until the fix is available.
Loomstein recommended that users delete any suspicious e-mail before
opening it. The document reportedly has a subject reading "Important
Message From (person's name)," with the text "Here is the document you
asked for .. don't show anyone else ;-)" in the body. The message includes
a file enclosure called Anniv.DOC, or a variant.
Application service provider Messagelabs.com reported the existence of the
virus, which appears to have started in the U.K., with one report coming in
from South Africa as well.
McAfee.com has updated its Virus Information Library with information
about the new Melissa strain.
Kmart's Bluelight.com to Charge Some for Web Access
The chief executive of Kmart Corp.'s online commerce arm
http://www.BlueLight.com on Tuesday said the company would continue to
offer free Internet access service to some subscribers, but also plans to
start charging users who stay online more than a certain number of hours
each month.
Mark Goldstein, after speaking at the National Retail Federation's annual
conference in New York, told Reuters that BlueLight.com, which had
previously offered free unlimited Internet access to all subscribers will
now offer users ``tiers" of access -- free and pay-for service.
Goldstein did not indicate how much the pay-for service would cost nor how
many hours non-paying subscribers would be able to stay online. He said
those details still remain to be hashed out and will be announced within
the next 30 days.
In December, BlueLight.com was forced to take over the Internet access
service after its partner, Spinway Inc., shut down. Since then, the
retailer has amassed 20 internal staff members who control the access
service and have been working to make it a more cost-efficient venture.
Since then, BlueLight has put restrictions on the number of hours users
could stay online in order to contain communications costs. Previously,
Spinway had offset the costs of providing the free service with online
advertising deals.
Although Goldstein said initially that BlueLight.com, a joint venture also
backed by Japan's Softbank Corp., was impacted by additional costs
associated with taking on responsibility for the Web access service, the
company has since reduced those costs from more than $4 per user per month
to about $1 per user per month.
``We just run it differently," Goldstein said. ``We didn't really care
about the advertising, so we just started optimizing the service."
On Dec. 22, BlueLight.com began allowing its subscribers to stay online no
more than 25 hours per month, shutting out the heaviest surfers from what
has been billed as the fastest-growing Internet service in the United
States. Since the service was launched in December 1999, it has signed up
more than six million subscribers.
The company said the average user of its Internet service stayed online for
about 15 hours per month, but a small number were staying online for more
than 25 hours. These users, however, did not tend to be BlueLight's target
customer, according to Goldstein.
``Basically, there were three types of people -- pornography seekers,
gamers and small business owners that for some reason were 60 percent of
our traffic," Goldstein said, adding that its prime target is 30- to
40-year-old mothers who are going to shop BlueLight.com.
``The point was that, if we were going to let these people stay on the
Internet 24 hours a day and do what they do, then they have to pay," he
added. ``So we've asked them to graduate, which was our polite word."
Over the holidays, BlueLight.com boasted a 1,060-percent improvement in
online sales over last year when Kmart ran its http://www.Kmart.com
shopping site. BlueLight did not release sales figures, however. On
Tuesday, Goldstein said the site now expects to do more than $100 million
in sales over the course of this year.
Still, taking into consideration the slowdown in retail spending over the
past year Goldstein said he did not rule out the impact an overall economic
slowdown might have on BlueLight.com's performance.
``The Kmarts, Wal-Marts and Targets are less impacted by a slowdown than
say a Neimans or a Saks," he said. ``So, from a relative perspective maybe
people will shop Kmart more, but it is going to impact all of us."
``Again we're starting at such a low base that I can't really measure what
the impact will be," Goldstein said.
eBay Rankles Users with Fee Increase
Internet auction giant eBay incurred the wrath of many of its members
Tuesday by announcing that it will hike its listing fees at the end of
January.
The announcement came one week after Yahoo! Auctions began charging
listing fees, and in advance of eBay's fourth quarter earnings
announcement, scheduled to come after the stock market closes Thursday.
Analysts are expecting a profit of 7 cents for the quarter.
The fee increases, which take effect January 31st, are the company's first
since December of 1996, eBay told users. The fee increases will also apply
to items listed on eBay Canada in U.S. dollars.
"We recognize that price increases directly impact our sellers," eBay
said. "We will continue to build a vibrant marketplace by investing
heavily in technology, marketing and customer support."
Users of eBay were quick to denounce the move on Web message boards, but
few said they would stop using eBay, which attracts far more buyers than
competitive sites such as those run by Yahoo! and Amazon.com.
However, many eBay users were already disgruntled over eBay's announcement
in late December that it would step up enforcement of policies restricting
its members from conducting off-site sales with each other.
In its note to users, eBay noted the need to continually improve the
technology of its site, a fact driven home by a 10-hour outage the company
suffered on January 3rd.
At the time, the company said it had postponed a planned upgrade until
after the holidays and that additional work would be done to avoid future
problems.
The increases will vary depending upon the price of the item being listed,
with the largest hikes -- as much as 65 percent -- being tacked onto
high-end auctions.
For instance, the insertion fee for an item worth between US$10 and $25
will increase from 50 to 55 cents, while the fee for items worth $200 or
more will move from $2 to $3.30. The company is also instituting a 10 cent
fee for the option of holding an auction open for 10 days.
While some users may initially leave eBay for other auction sites that
charge lower fees, "the overwhelming majority will continue to list
through eBay," said Derek Brown, an analyst with W.R. Hambrecht & Co.
Indeed, most analysts applauded the move by eBay, one of the few
profitable e-commerce companies, with several saying the fees could boost
revenue by 5 percent and add up to 6 cents per share in earnings during
the coming year.
"This price increase is a powerful indicator of the health of eBay's
franchise," Brown said.
In addition to being upbeat about the future, Brown is also bullish on
eBay's current performance, saying the annual "January effect" boosting
the site's traffic seems to be stronger this year than before.
"The company's performance and outlook should serve as beacons of light
for technology investors in these challenging times," he added.
The fees are likely to change eBay, at least at first. Many users seem
prepared to lower reserve prices to avoid higher fees, a move that may
increase the rate of sales on the site.
Users may also think twice before listing some items, which may help to
address recent complaints, primarily from other sellers, that too many
items are appearing for sale.
Some users speculated that the 10-day auction fee would bring more traffic
to eBay on Sundays. Sellers often list items so that auctions end on
Sunday, giving the item as much weekend exposure as possible. Rather than
pay the 10-day fee, many sellers said they would start auctions on Sunday
instead, possibly leading to heavier traffic on that day.
Hotmail Trashes Users' E-mail
Microsoft defends its aggressive efforts to curb spam, even when it means
filtering messages sent by ordinary Hotmail users.
Ben Johnson has been sending e-mail for months from his Hotmail account.
But he just discovered that some of his messages were diverted to the
trash before arriving at their destination.
Johnson, 24, is among the millions of customers caught in the crossfire of
a battle over spam. For at least five months, some Hotmail customers'
outgoing mail has been blocked.
In an apparently overzealous attempt to prevent spam, Microsoft's Hotmail
has been discarding e-mail sent to and from sites hosted by controversial
Internet service providers--even if the sites themselves were not
controversial.
What's more, Hotmail didn't tell people that some outgoing mail was being
discarded. Instead, it said the error was because of a problem connecting
to the recipient--a practice that has particularly alarmed some customers.
"If Microsoft, one of the largest technology companies, can say who we
send e-mail to, that really puts constraints on freedom of speech in the
U.S.," said Johnson, an information technology worker at a major Illinois
hospital.
Microsoft defended its actions, saying it's only trying to prevent spam.
"MSN has been very aggressive and proactive in protecting our MSN Hotmail
users from spam," Sarah Lefko, MSN product manager, said in an e-mail,
noting that the company will review blocked sites on a case-by-case basis
if a complaint is filed.
The quagmire illustrates the challenges of trying to prevent spam while
preserving free speech. After all, no one wants an in-box crammed with
unsolicited porn and bogus plans to work from home for millions of
dollars. E-mail services are struggling to find a fair way to prevent that
from happening.
Still, to subscribers such as Johnson, the practice of blocking outgoing
mail is extreme.
"It's like killing a fly with a shotgun," he said.
The controversy stems from Hotmail's membership in the Mail Abuse
Prevention System (MAPS), an organization formed to crack down on spam.
MAPS is the keeper of the Realtime Blackhole List (RBL), a list of ISPs
known to host some major spammers.
However, many of those ISPs also host sites that don't send spam, and
those sites often are blocked, too. MAPS hopes the practice will convince
legitimate sites to abandon hosts that cater to spammers.
For example, ISP Media3 Technologies is listed on the RBL because it hosts
half a dozen spammers. However, it also hosts sites such as Peacefire.org,
which alerted members this week that Hotmail users have been unable to
reach it for five months.
After Peacefire protested, mail to the organization was allowed to
continue earlier this week.
Other companies besides Hotmail also may be blocking outgoing mail, but
because they don't always notify customers, it's difficult to determine
whether it's happening unless someone complains.
When a company signs onto MAPS, it has several options to control spam. It
can use a method that compares each incoming message with a list of ISPs
on the RBL. Or it can choose another, more sweeping approach that blocks
e-mail, both incoming and outgoing, at the network borders. Companies also
can tailor their systems to block only certain sites or just incoming
mail. Hotmail apparently chose the most restrictive method.
Kelly Thompson, MAPS' RBL project manager, said most companies choose the
least severe technique. Thompson acknowledged that blocking outgoing mail
might be a little extreme, but given the huge load of spam that major
services such as Hotmail must deal with, "they have the right to be as
strict as they want."
The idea behind blocking outgoing mail is to ensure that people don't
reply to spammers, who often offer recipients a fake option of
unsubscribing from their list. Instead of removing people, spammers use
the incoming messages as a signal that an e-mail address is an active one
where they can send more spam.
Still, Web-based e-mail users are angry.
Kyle McCowin, a 21-year-old student, first learned of the blocks when he
was alerted by Peacefire earlier this week. He said he could understand
blocking incoming mail, but the move to block outgoing mail disturbed him.
"I was caught completely by surprise," he said. "As far as I'm concerned,
there's no need to block outgoing mail."
McCowin also wishes Hotmail had made it more clear that it was discarding
some of the messages he sent. "They just sort of pocket the e-mail and
don't even tell you about it," he said.
Microsoft ran into a similar spam-related problem three years ago when it
tried to block unwanted e-mails by filtering out incoming messages from
Outlook 98 that contained certain phrases or grammar, such as a string of
exclamation points or the words "for free." As a result, many people found
that they never received messages from friends who were fond of multiple
punctuation marks.
MAPS already has stirred plenty of controversy in its attempt to balance
free speech rights with spam control. In August, the organization was sued
by Harris Interactive, which claimed it was being unjustly blocked. The
suit was later dismissed. ISPs Exactis and Media3, which hosts Peacefire,
have filed similar suits. Media3 lost the first round in its court battle
Jan. 2, when a federal judge in Boston denied the company's request to be
taken off the list.
AOL, Nokia Strike Pact to Make Wireless Browser
AOL Time Warner Inc. said on Thursday it struck a licensing pact with Nokia
Corp., marking the media conglomerate's first foray into microbrowsers,
which provide wireless Web access.
Under the multiyear agreement, the AOL unit of newly merged AOL Time Warner
will develop and market a Netscape-branded version of Nokia's WAP (wireless
application protocol) browser. The Finnish telecommunications equipment
maker's browser can be used to access the Web through a variety of wireless
communications devices.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
``WAP is the most widely adopted wireless standard in the world among
carriers and handset manufacturers and it makes sense for us to work to
support that standard," Dennis Patrick, president of AOL Wireless, said in
a statement." Licensing their WAP browser source code allows us to quickly
enter the WAP market with an established technology."
The move is yet another step in the company's AOL Anywhere strategy that
aims to make its services available on devices beyond the personal computer
and aims to get a share of the growing wireless population.
An AOL spokesman said there was no disclosed timeline for implementing the
product and that in coming months the company will see how the
Netscape-branded browser is integrated and used with other manufacturers.
=~=~=~=
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