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Atari Online News, Etc. Volume 03 Issue 10
Volume 3, Issue 10 Atari Online News, Etc. March 9, 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:
Kevin Savetz
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To download A-ONE, set your browser bookmarks to one of the
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Visit the Atari Advantage Forum on Delphi!
http://forums.delphi.com/m/main.asp?sigdir=atari
=~=~=~=
A-ONE #0310 03/09/01
~ Napster Fans Awake! ~ People Are Talking! ~ Game Boy Advance!
~ Fashion Source Released ~ Atari Back In Fashion! ~ 'Naked Wife' Virus!
~ Web AtariWriter Column! ~ Atari Book Online! ~ ICANN Meetings Open!
~ March MyAtari Out! ~ Mac Owners Most Loyal! ~ eBay Users Indicted!
-* EarthLink Promises Anonymity *-
-* Online Auctions To Net Fraud List! *-
-* Judge Orders Napster To Police Trading *-
=~=~=~=
->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Before I forget, I wanted to take a minute to thank all of you who were kind
enough to send me a note offering condolences for the recent loss of my
mother. You have no idea how much I appreciated that - thank you. I knew
that I could count on a number of my Atari/A-ONE friends to offer various
forms of support, and that occurred. What I didn't expect was the
outpouring support from people I've never met, in person or online. The
common ground was they are all Atari users or fans - the best folks around
as far as I'm concerned! Things are still pretty crazy around here and in
Maine, but we're all starting to get past this. Again, thank you all for
your support during this rough period.
Anyone living in Pennsylvania, please do me a favor and track down that
Puxatawney Phil the Groundhog, and kick him! Six more weeks of winter?
Hah! Here in New England, we got buried in snow Monday and Tuesday! The
local news reports said that we got 26 inches of snow here in my area!
However, I don't think that we got quite that much in my neighborhood.
Still, over a foot and a half of heavy wet snow was more than enough to break
my back! Before next winter, I will be buying a snowblower; this shoveling
is just too much for me these days! And now we're expecting another storm
on Friday! And, as I'm putting the last minute touches on this week's issue
tonight, the snow has begun and we've already got 3-4 inches on the ground
already! It appears that we're not going to see signs of Spring for quite
some time! My aching back!
Until next time...
=~=~=~=
Fashion Source Released
Thomas Goirand, author of Fashion (the RSC editor that was planned to be
shipped in Centek's developer's kit), has released all the source of his
program. This includes a library for programming GEM using assembly
language, a small desktop (what would have been called Rune: the Dolmen's
desktop), an image viewer, etc.
http://zigo.anotherlight.com
MyAtari March Issue
MyAtari magazine's March 2001 issue is now on the Web.
http://www.myatari.net
Atari Graphics and Arcade Game Design Book
The full text of the classic 1984 book "Atari Graphics and Arcade Game
Design" is now available on the Web. The book covers BASIC and assembly
language game programming.
http://www.atariarchives.org/agagd/
Chapter 1. Graphics Modes And Color Registers
Chapter 2. Display Lists
Chapter 3. Character Set Graphics
Chapter 4. Assembly Language Applied To Game Design
Chapter 5. Player-Missile Graphics
Chapter 6. Vertical Blank & Display List Interrupts
Chapter 7. Games That Scroll
Chapter 8. Raster Graphics & Sound
Chapter 9. Advanced Arcade Techniques
Chapter 10. Game Design Theory
Atariwriter Column On The Web
Two dozen classic articles about using AtariWriter and Atari
word-processing in general are now available on the Web.
Carolyn's Corner was a column about word-processing in general and
AtariWriter Plus in particular, written by Carolyn Hoglin. It could have
been subtitled "Secrets You Won't Learn from the Manual." It was featured
in the Mid-Florida Atari Computer Club's newsletter from 1990-1992 and
posted to CompuServe's Atari Forum during the same period.
http://www.atariarchives.org/articles/
=~=~=~=
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
compiled by Joe Mirando
jmirando@portone.com
Hidi ho friends and neighbors. There are a few things I'd like to talk
about a little bit before we get to the stuff from the Newsgroup.
Please indulge me as you usually do.
First, I'd like to to say just a few words about Dana's comments last
week. I offered to take over the lion's share of last week's issue to
give Dana time to take care of his personal business. I figured that I
could put up with it for a week... especially since the lion's share of
the work is his every other week. He felt that putting the issue
together would at least give him something to do. Since my wife and I
had to deal with the loss of her mother only a year ago, I recognized
the truth in his viewpoint.
But that's not what I'm talking about. What I AM talking about is his
appreciation of the offer. In my mind, it wasn't anything
extraordinary, or even especially kind. It's just something that one
friend does for another when there's a need. And thinking back over the
past year, I was reminded of friends that had gone out of their way,
even if just a little, to see if there was something they could do to
help. I remember the appreciation that I felt for all of my friends for
their concern. All of my "computer friends" like Dana and Rob, and 'the
gang' from our weekly chats on Delphi... and of course I couldn't
forget my buddy Ale, and all of our non-computer friends as well. Yes,
it's good to have friends, but you never really realize how good it is
until you need them. I've been lucky enough to have been blessed with
fine friends, and I try not to forget that.
I hope that Dana knows that he's got friends too. I'm not pandering
here, just stating something that we should all probably take stock of
more often. Hang in there Dana. It does get easier bit by bit.
The other thing I wanted to mention is that the SETI@home TEAM ATARI
search group is quickly approaching 39 years of CPU time contributed to
the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. If you happen to have a
PC or Mac that you'd like to put to work for the cause, please feel
free to join us. You can find out about SETI@home by visiting
http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/ and you can join TEAM Atari at
http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/cgi?cmd=team_lookup&name=team+atari
There are 43 of us at the moment, but I'd like to see a lot more. Atari
users have always been the kind of folks who would go for this kind of
stuff. SETI is a kind of rag-tag project that doesn't get the funding
or support that it deserves, and is often laughed at by others in the
community. Sound familiar? My only gripe is that there is no SETI@home
client for Atari computers. We've been 'round and 'round about it, but
the long and short of it is that the project just doesn't have the
manpower to put out a version of the software for a relatively small
number of machines that would take a lot longer to complete a unit of
data than they really want to wait. Well, I guess you can't have
everything.
The last thing I want to mention is this crazy weather. We're expecting
another snow storm here in southern New England... think of me while
you're reading this... it should be snowing here as you read this. It's
been a crazy winter here. I just hope that the summer isn't as screwy.
If it is, you'll hear me complaining about it, rest assured.
Okay, let's get on with the news, hints, tips, and info from the UseNet.
From the comp.sys.atari.st NewsGroup
====================================
Mickael Pointier asks about putting an FPU in his MegaSTE:
"I would like to know if any kind of 68881 or 68882 co processor
can be plugged on a MegaSTE motherboard.
Someone proposes [to sell] me some of those chips, but I do not know
if they are in the right "pin packaging" and if they are at the
correct frequency.
The chips looks like ST's MMU and GLUE chips but they have
pins on the bottom side instead of on the borders. It looks like
it needs something like old ZIF's sockets for pentiums processors.
For the frequency, they range from 16 mhz to 25 mhz.
Could I risk something if I plug one of these chips ?
Some incompatibilities ? Things to setup ?"
Steve Sweet tells Mickael:
"Its not that simple, you also need a GAL chip that's absent from the
mother board in order to use an FPU. I've got one in my MegaSTE, I don't
wake it up often. You should sit down and think about why you'd need
one."
Mark Bedingfield tells Steve:
"Because you can. I am on the lookout for that gal too, but Motorola no
longer make FPU's."
Djordje Vukovic adds:
"That GAL is in no way Motorola-related. AFAIK it performs address
decoding and the starting address of a memory-mapped MC68881 FPU is
computer-specific.
On an Atari it is $FFFA40 but on some other machine it may be
completely different. However, knowing the pinout of the GAL socket in
the MegaSTE, I suppose you may get someone to burn a compatible chip
for you."
Chris Swinson asks about hardware hacking an ST to upgrade RAM:
"Does anyone know how ( if possible ) to hardwire a 72pin 4 meg SIMM
into the stfm? I managed to do it with 4 30 pin simms ( used the STe
design and hardwired into the STFM ) though all the address and data
lines are correct, there seems to be a miss with the RAS lines, there
seems to be 4 RAS lines on the simm but only 2 on the ST. On the St
they are paried to 2 banks, thus 2 RAS lines, but with 1 simm it might
cause a problem."
Andy Ball tells Chris:
"I'm not going to say it's impossible, let's just say it's
not likely to be straightforward. 30 pin SIMMs are 8 or 9
bits wide, but 72 pin SIMMs are 32 or 36 bits wide. Since
the STFM has a 16-bit bus, it's probably easier to use pairs
of 30 pin SIMMs.
Joshua Kaijankoski looks for english resource files for MagiC:
"I'm a long time user of Magic 6.1 and I've installed it on several
computers. The problem I'm having is trying to get the English resource
files to work. Everything else works except for magxdesk.rsc. When magic
loads up it gives two bombs and brings up a file selector to find
magxdesk.app. It won't go through. This happened on my TT030 and now on
my MKII Falcon. Pretty annoying. Anyone have any ideas or experience on
the matter?"
Steve Sweet tells Joshua:
"I take it that Magxdesk is OK with the original german resource?. If
so, I'd obtain a replacement resource archive, i suspect yours is
corrupted.
I obtained my Magxdesk resource from DDP, purveyors of finely
translated software although I translated the binary myself.
If this doesn't cure it I suggest you start looking elsewhere for
problems.
You could try installing the demo of Jinnee, this will eliminate some
possible problems, such as MAGX.RAM corruption, then you'll want to buy
it, as its the best desktop ever produced for the Atari system.
For the RSC, [try going] here.
http://www.cix.co.uk/~derryck/index.htm
Click on the "DDP" button at the top right, scroll down midway and its
called 'MagxDesk 4.0'."
John Oakes asks for help:
"I would like some information about the software NoDESK, which was
an alternative desktop."
Martin Byttebier tells John:
"As you see it's an alternative desktop coming from no|Software
Nodesk really exists. It is a very nice desktop which was far ahead its
time. The only drawback is that it is pig to setup properly. One has to
edit some *.cnf files by hand. Also it's German only."
Well folks, that's it for this week. I know that it's kind of thin, but
the recent snow must have buried some of the posts. <grin>
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 - Game Boy Advance Ready To Go!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Xbox To Have Parental Controls?!
SpongeBob SquarePants! 'The Bouncer'!
And much more!
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News - The Latest Gaming News!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Nintendo Game Boy Set To Hit Stores
Nintendo Co. is out to prove that Mario doesn't need super-sophisticated
computer graphics to sell.
Game Boy Advance, the revamped version of the Game Boy portable video game
machine, will not have three-dimensional imagery but offers an extensive
game lineup and a monitor display with thousands of vivid colors.
It is set to hit Japanese stores March 21 for $82 and U.S. stores for
$99.95 on June 11.
Mario, the red-capped acrobatic plumber, jumps, runs and catches golden
coins the same as ever on Game Boy Advance, shown to reporters Wednesday in
Tokyo.
But the monitor can now show 32,000 colors, far more than the 56 of Game
Boy Color, which came out in 1998. Nintendo has sold more than 100 million
Game Boys since the video game came out in black-and-white 11 years ago.
The Kyoto-based company is anticipating demand for Game Boy Advance to
start at 3 million, promising initial shipments of 1 million and planning
sales of 24 million in the first year worldwide.
Compared to the latest offering from rival Sony Corp., PlayStation2, which
delivers dazzling three-dimensional images with a powerful 128-bit
processor, Game Boy Advance offers just the basics.
``Games aren't fun just because they are three-dimensional," Nintendo Vice
President Atsushi Asada said. ``Depending on technological advances isn't
enough to satisfy people."
Nintendo has come up with a game lineup of 25 titles, some from outside
software makers, for the same date the machine goes on sale. That contrasts
with PlayStation2, which has been a money-loser for Sony because of a
dearth of games.
Creators say with game-machine technology growing so complex, it takes time
and money to come up with good games.
The sale of Game Boy Advance was delayed twice - last summer and Christmas
- giving Nintendo more time to prepared with plenty of games.
Besides the Game Boy Advance version of the Mario game, the $40 ``Super
Mario Advance," the offerings cover a whole range of game entertainment,
including role-playing, car-racing, sports and action games.
The U.S. game lineup is still undecided, Nintendo said.
In one simulation game, ``Napoleon," the player can pretend to be ordering
troops through battles in snowy Europe and sandy Egypt, although the
creators have taken ample liberties with history, throwing Joan of Arc and
Nostradamus in the story line to add unexpected thrills.
Microsoft's Heavily Hyped Xbox Gets Family Friendly
Amid the considerable buzz over Microsoft's highly anticipated Xbox, few
have taken notice of the unglamorous announcement that Microsoft will
solder a V-chip-style control inside the video game console, which is
slated for introduction this fall. Details about the device won't be
unveiled until the Electronic Entertainment Expo, the annual gaming
industry powwow in May, but it will probably allow parents to prevent
their kids from playing games rated for violent or sexual content. With
the threat of regulation of the games industry continuing to percolate
on Capitol Hill, Microsoft's move is not just preemptive, it's historic.
The industry voluntarily rates its own games, but this will be the first
time a company has wired such controls directly into the hardware.
Representatives from Nintendo, Sega and Sony would not comment on
Microsoft's plan, but Arthur Pober, executive director of the industry's
Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), approves of the move. "We
have always advocated giving parents more information about the products,"
Pober says. "What's interesting about Microsoft's plan is that it also
shows that this is clearly no longer just a children's game." As the
percentage of adult game consumers continues to climb, Microsoft is betting
that it will be more profitable to censor gamers than games.
Indeed, according to the Interactive Digital Software Association, 58
percent of console game consumers are over 18 years old. Nevertheless,
under pressure from critics like Senators Joseph Lieberman and John
McCain, developers have adopted their own self-regulatory measures,
including the ESRB, which puts detailed labels and advisories on games
and in advertising. Since 1994, the ESRB's team of 100 raters -- which
includes housewives and retired schoolteachers -- evaluates all of the
console games and about three-fourths of the PC games released each
year.
And to the consternation of kids everywhere, the ratings given to video
games tend to be stricter than those given to movies. For example, an
R-rated movie might feature drug use and sexual situations. If the same
material appeared in a game, it would be rated AO (Adults Only) -- the
gaming equivalent of NC-17. To help educate parents, the ESRB plans to
begin the second in a series of broadcast public-service announcements,
featuring such squeaky-clean celebrities as Tiger Woods.
U.S. gamers already get imported games sanitized for American consumption.
Nintendo has stringent guidelines as to what can appear in its games.
Similarly, Capcom's gory Resident Evil for PlayStation was toned down for
U.S. release. Instead of shooting regular humans, gamers shoot zombies;
green blood is substituted for red.
But making such adjustments is time-consuming for developers. Not
surprisingly, many are pleased by news of Microsoft's parental controls.
"Turning humans into robots or zombies (for the sake of a family version)
is a pain in the ass," says Cliff Bleszinski, lead designer for Epic, whose
game Unreal Tournament features a "low-gore" option. Billy Pigeon, an
analyst for Jupiter Research in New York, expects gamers to have mixed
reactions to the Xbox controls. "I'm sure at least a portion of them will
try to hack it," he says. But thus far, rabid fans see parental controls
as the lesser of two evils. Posts a gamer named Hi C on a popular online
forum called Shugashack: "At least the arbitrariness is imposed from within
instead of by the government."
THQ Releases SpongeBob SquarePants: Legend of the
Lost Spatula For Game Boy Color
Nickelodeon, the #1 kids' network and THQ Inc., the #1 kids' videogame
publisher announced the release of the first interactive SpongeBob
SquarePants adventure, SpongeBob SquarePants: Legend of the Lost Spatula
for Game Boy Color. Based on Nickelodeon's chart-topping animated
television show, SpongeBob SquarePants: Legend of the Lost Spatula is now
available at major retail outlets nationwide.
``SpongeBob SquarePants is currently the #2 property on all Kids TV with
more than 28 million viewers each month," stated Peter Dille, vice
president of marketing, THQ. ``We couldn't have chosen a better time to
introduce the first of our interactive SpongeBob SquarePants adventures.
The retail community is very excited about this release."
``THQ and Nickelodeon's most recent Game Boy Color release, Rugrats in
Paris, currently ranks among the top five Game Boy Color titles at retail,"
stated Steve Youngwood, Vice President Interactive Products and Publishing,
Nickelodeon Consumer Products. ``We look forward to that same level of
success with SpongeBob SquarePants: Legend of the Lost Spatula for Game Boy
Color."
In SpongeBob SquarePants: Legend of the Lost Spatula, players travel
through Bikini Bottom as the bubbly, off-beat SpongeBob, on a quest to
become the greatest fry cook of all time. SpongeBob must find hidden clues,
unlock secret levels, feed hungry ghosts and avoid jellyfish as he searches
for the Flying Dutchman's Golden Spatula, the key to fry cook success.
SpongeBob is joined by Sandy Cheeks, Squidward, Mr. Krabs and, his very
best friend, Patrick Star in this under water Game Boy Color adventure.
Square Ships The Bouncer for the Playstation 2
Square Electronic Arts announced the release of The Bouncer for the
PlayStation2 computer entertainment system. The Bouncer combines fast-paced
fighting action with SQUARESOFT's trademark story-telling skills.
``The Bouncer is a unique game in that it incorporates a significant amount
of action, fighting and some role playing elements," said Jun Iwasaki,
president of Square Electronic Arts. ``We believe that consumers are eager
for a fresh, innovative gaming experience and that The Bouncer will deliver
the level of excitement that they are seeking. Fully voiceovered characters
combined with the heart-pounding fighting action and branching storylines
will make The Bouncer a `must have' for PlayStation 2 owners."
Helping to bring the dramatic story to life are the high-resolution
graphics and fully-utilized voiceovers. Both features are made possible by
the PlayStation 2 system's powerful graphic capabilities and new DVD
format, enhancing a dramatic plot by bringing characters to life using
details such as subtle facial expressions and almost touchable tattoos. For
the voiceovers and dialogue, players can choose from either English or
Japanese, both of which can be switched during the course of the game.
Further adding to the drama, cut scenes are rendered in real-time allowing
for seamless transition in and out of gameplay. The Bouncer is the first
PlayStation 2 game to be released with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. ``Our
commitment to giving gamers the best and most realistic gaming experience
led us to use Dolby Digital 5.1 sound for The Bouncer," said Takashi
Tokita, Director, The Bouncer, Square Co., Ltd. ``Dolby Digital draws the
player right into the action with the sounds of the colossal aircraft
engine, gigantic explosions and ambient street life."
The story begins at a bar called Fate as a bouncer named Sion, is beginning
his days shift. An otherwise routine morning is suddenly interrupted by a
violent assault by masked assailants. Unable to stop the intruders, Sion
watches as they capture his friend Dominique and flee the scene with her in
their clutches. The action then moves to new heights as Sion and two of his
fellow Fate bouncers set out to save their friend. Throughout the game,
players can earn ``Bouncer Points" which allow them to purchase new
techniques or increase life, attack and defense power. The three playable
bouncers have their own fighting style and can learn up to seven or eight
unique extra skills.
Featuring spectacular water, fire and lighting effects, the 3D environments
in the game allow the bouncers to fight enemies every step of the way.
Their travels take them through a variety of scenes from dark underground
subways to outer space. As they get closer to finding Dominique, the
bouncers begin to uncover the diabolical master plan of their shadowy
adversaries. Their quest suddenly becomes a race against time, as they try
to save their friend and stop a madman from destroying the world.
The Bouncer features three different game modes, Story Mode (story-driven
single player mode); Versus Mode (last man standing wins - up to four
players can participate by utilizing the PlayStation 2 multitap); and
Survival Mode (single player mode in which you continually battle waves of
enemies - points at the end of battle are saved as rankings). In addition
to more than a dozen characters offered in the game, players can customize
and develop characters in the Story Mode and save them to a memory card for
future battles against friends' characters in Versus Mode.
``The Bouncer brings more than just fierce punches and kicks - it features
an engaging story and plenty of gameplay modes that offer a high replay
value. Hands down, this is one of the best PS2 games." --- GamePro, April
2001 issue
``...This game looks stunning, with vibrant colors and heavy use of the
system's soft-focus effects. The characters -created by Tetsuya Nomura, the
artist behind Final Fantasy VII and VIII- really pop to life with facial
expressions and little details like flowing hair." --- EGM, March 2001
issue
``This is the first PS2 fighting game to incorporate pressure-sensitive
attacks... (tap the button for a weak jab, squeeze it for a hard punch),
and the first to reward players with experience points... you really
couldn't ask for a better looking game..." --- Game Informer, February
2001 issue
``(The Bouncer)...is certainly one of the best-looking PlayStation 2 games
to date, and its branching plot structure should give you a reason to play
through it more than a few times." --- PS2.IGN.com
The Bouncer is compatible with the DUALSHOCK2 analog controller and
carries a suggested retail price of U.S. $50. The game carries an ESRB
rating of ``T" (Teen).
High Heat Major League Baseball 2002 Ships for PlayStation
The 3DO Company announced the release of the High Heat Major League Baseball
2002 game for the PlayStation game console. High Heat features excellent
fast-paced, true to life gameplay and was recently called ``the best
baseball game for the PlayStation" by Official PlayStation Magazine. The
High Heat franchise is known for realistic batter-pitcher match-ups,
authentic recreations of all 30 MLB stadiums, superior artificial
intelligence, and multiple difficulty settings that are tuned for the
novice and hard core gamer alike. For the first time in the series'
history, the High Heat game will be available for five different gaming
platforms including the PlayStation2 and PC (shipping in March), Game Boy
Color (shipping in May), and Game Boy Advance (shipping in June).
All-Star Vladimir Guerrero of the Montreal Expos and his brother, Wilton,
of the Cincinnati Reds, true fans of the High Heat series, will endorse
this year's edition. Interestingly, 3DO discovered last year that the
Guerrero brothers were actually using High Heat (for PlayStation) not only
for fun, but also as a training tool to scout opposing MLB pitchers (Sports
Illustrated, May 1, 2000).
Interactive Imagination Shakes Up the
Gaming World With Release Of Magi-Nation
for Nintendo GameBoy Color
Interactive Imagination, a Seattle-based developer of Collectible Card
Games (CCG), video games, books, and animation, announced the shipment of
their premiere game, Magi-Nation, for Nintendo's GameBoy Color platform.
Priced at $29.99, Magi-Nation hits store shelves nationwide including Kay
Bee Toys, Toys ``R" Us, Target and Electronics Boutique.
``We are thrilled to take the leap into the video gaming industry with such
a quality product" said Phillip Tavel, senior vice president of
Interactive Imagination and the creator of Magi-Nation. ``The introduction
of the GameBoy Color game marks the first of many steps in expanding our
Magi-Nation franchise into the realms of total entertainment."
Magi-Nation is a role-playing game (RPG) based on Interactive Imagination's
popular Collectible Card Game Magi-Nation Duel, introduced to players last
fall. Players step into the shoes of Tony Jones, an everyday boy lost in
the magical world of Magi-Nation. Adventuring through wondrous levels of
forests, caverns, castles and more, young Tony interacts with local
denizens and learns that Magi-Nation is threatened by the Shadow Magi ...
and that he may be destined to save this world. Tony must become a Magi
himself and do battle with the Shadow Magi, summoning and dueling
fantastical dream creatures.
Sony Computer Entertainment America Approves Five New 3DO Games
The 3DO Company announced that four new games for the PlayStation2 computer
entertainment system have been approved by Sony Computer Entertainment
America and are now in manufacture for release in March 2001. 3DO has now
finished six games for the PlayStation 2; World Destruction League: Thunder
Tanks and AquaAqua are currently in stores.
The Warriors of Might and Magic game infuses the award-winning Might and
Magic brand with intense hand-to-hand combat, a new intuitive gameplay
interface, awe-inspiring lighting and special effects, and an innovative
new fighting system. The game will receive a Gold Award in the April issue
of PSE2 magazine. The Warriors of Might and Magic game is expected to ship
on March 20.
The High Heat Major League Baseball 2002 game brings the perfect balance of
beauty and brains to the PlayStation 2. The High Heat series was recently
named one of the ``Top 10 Games of All Time" by Computer Gaming World
magazine. According to Game Informer magazine, ``If 3DO can in fact
accomplish its goal of achieving the most realistic gameplay to date, High
Heat should be a shoo-in as the PlayStation 2 MVP." The game is expected
to ship March 27.
The Army Men Green Rogue game brings intense shooter action to the
best-selling Army Men brand. The bio-engineered Omega Soldier crashes
behind enemy lines and must battle for his very survival. Says PSE2
magazine, ``In short, Green Rogue is fast, good looking, deep and fun."
The game is expected to ship on March 20.
The boys are back and ready to take on the Tan menace in the Army Men
Sarge's Heroes 2 game. Sarge and Vikki team up against Plastro and spy
Brigitte Bleu in 17 missions across never-before-seen locations including a
toy store and inside a pinball machine. `` ... absolutely phenomenal visual
details: beautiful reflections, stellar lighting effects, and super-crazy
explosions," says GamePro magazine. The game is expected to ship on March
21.
In the Army Men Air Attack game, the heroic Captain Blade and his Alpha
Wolf Squadron take on an onslaught of new missions, improved helicopter
physics, and more game play than ever before. With twenty missions fought
over ten unique environments, each battlefield is a visual playground.
``Never before has the Army Men series enjoyed such a level of visual
perfection," says GameSpot. The game is expected to ship on March 27.
Video Game Poll Says Online Gaming Is Next Frontier
Online multiplayer gaming is the next frontier for video games, according
to conclusions from a recent gaming poll conducted by market research and
consulting firm PC Data.
The poll of about 3,500 people, conducted by e-mail, detailed game playing
habits by gender and age.
While some of the results were rather intuitive, such as men's greater
penchant for fighting games, the study also unearthed some surprises,
according to Roger Lanctot, senior director of research.
The sample had a large proportion of videogame players as just 4 percent
had not played any games in the prior three months. Some 29 percent of
those polled had played multiplayer online games.
``For both PCs and consoles, online gaming is the new frontier.
Opportunities are still in their earliest phases," he said at The Global
Gaming Forum held in Los Angeles.
Not surprising, he said, was the most popular game cited by those surveyed
-- Solitaire.
Women tended to be the biggest fans of word games and gambling, while men
prefer combat, flying, driving and world-creating strategy games. Older
players used their personal computers more, while younger gamers played
more on consoles.
Of the gamers polled, the largest group -- 41 percent -- play a typical one
to five hours a week. Some 24 percent play for less than an hour, while 5
percent play more than 20 hours per week.
Youngest gamers, largely male, tend to dominate what he called ``hard-core"
gamer categories, but older retirement-aged players also spent considerable
hours playing games.
The poll indicated that video game console shoppers value graphics,
available titles, DVD playing capabilities and price.
``These results would seem to justify the decision to include DVD playing
in many of the new consoles, and not Internet connections," Lanctot said.
Sega's discontinued Dreamcast included an Internet connection, while Sony's
PlayStation 2 did not, for example.
He acknowledged that the data ignored children 13 years old and younger and
was skewed to emphasis online usage, because those polled received the
survey by e-mail.
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE Gaming Online - Online Users Growl & Purr!
"""""""""""""""""""
Atari Video Games Back in Fashion
John Sheppard could never bring himself to get rid of the old Atari console
his parents gave him when he was five.
Packed in a box, the Atari 2600 moved from attics to basements for more
than 20 years along with the owner's favorite game, ``Frogger."
Last year, Sheppard decided to wipe off the dust and hook up the old
machine in the family log cabin. He figured it would be fun to play with
his wife and kids on rainy days.
``I cleaned it up, found all the necessary wires, connected everything,
placed Frogger in the console and turned it on," says Sheppard, the
36-year-old president of a Toronto-based technology company. ``Three hours
later, we were all hooked once again."
In an age of ever crisper, more realistic graphics, some older video game
fans are nevertheless looking back with zest to the platform of their
youth, craving to get a shot at Space Invaders, Ms. Pac Man or Pole
Position.
Considered the grandfather of video consoles, the Atari is making something
of a 21st century comeback. Maybe it's the rudimentary joysticks (remember
the orange fire button?), or the black plastic cover and fake wood-grained
trim.
The comeback is spurred by emulation software, which allows Atari games to
be played on most of the latest operating systems, from the rise of online
gaming and from a perhaps unexpected quarter - the coming wireless market.
Video gaming companies think Atari games' basic graphics and small memory
demands could make the brand a major player on wireless handhelds.
Banking on a legendary logo, Atari T-shirts are hot in trendy clothes
stores. And thousands of video gamers are browsing retro Web sites these
days to download or buy revamped Atari games.
``In the '80s, everybody had an Atari," says John Hardie of Valley Stream,
N.Y., an Atari collector and gaming expo organizer. ``You wouldn't even
say: 'Do you wanna play video games?' but 'Do you wanna play Atari?"'
Atari's odyssey began in 1972 when two engineers, Nolan Bushnell and Ted
Dabney founded Atari Inc., named after a term from the Japanese game Go.
It was the first company to turn arcade games into a living-room
phenomenon, marketing consoles attached to a TV set. Atari was also the
first to introduce on-screen scoring, two-player action and gaming
cartridges.
The Atari 2600 soon became the most popular home video gaming system
worldwide, but mismanagement, overproduction, lack of quality control and
competition ended the Atari saga in the early '90s.
``The company was passed like a football and broken into pieces," says
Carl Goodman, curator of the American Museum of the Moving Image, which
exhibits old Atari consoles and arcades. ``But nothing was able to destroy
and dampen the sense of nostalgia people had. Atari games are like mute,
black-and-white movies."
Today, years after the company went bankrupt, buried its cartridges and
sold its licenses, many Atari titles can be found on free Web sites.
Out of a total of 75 million online players, roughly 5 million play old
classic games at game networks, estimates Sean Wargo, an analyst at PC
data.
Other video game companies are also exploiting the interest for classic
games by reformatting some of their old titles for PCs or modern consoles.
Launched in 1998 for PCs, a revamped version of ``Frogger" - a little frog
lost in strange world forced to navigate numerous obstacles to get home -
has sold 6 million copies so far, while ``Frogger 2" launched last fall is
already approaching the one million mark, says John Hurlbut, senior vice
president of Infogrames Interactive Inc. which owns Atari licenses.
Infogrames even set up an ``Atari Lab" to find ways to translate Atari
titles onto platforms like cellphones and PDAs.
``Pong on my Palm would be great because it's simple, easy and people love
to play with these games: Atari is a sort of a fast food in the game
genre," says Hurlbut.
Up to 5,000 Atari items are regularly auctioned online. Many fans also end
up at O'Shea Ltd., a Kansas City, Mo.-based wholesaler that owns the
world's largest inventory of Atari cartridges.
In 1991, when Atari Corp. liquidated its inventory, company CEO Bill
Houlehan purchased around 2.3 million cartridges in mint condition. Today,
more than one million games are stored in a limestone mine 300 feet
underground.
=~=~=~=
A-ONE's Headline News
The Latest in Computer Technology News
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
Napster Fans Not Napping Yet
Though Napster announced last Friday that it would implement screening
software designed to block copyrighted material over the weekend, its
users were still downloading songs as of Monday morning without any
filtering.
The new software is supposed to winnow out an estimated 1 million-plus
copyright-protected music files by stopping searches based on the file's
name. According to Napster, the program is intelligent enough to prevent
users from circumventing it, either by intentional (or unintentional)
misspelling or by renaming a given file.
However, more than 11,000 people exchanged approximately 2.2 million files
on just one of the scores of Napster servers on Sunday evening alone.
And, hunts for Billboard's top 10 songs proved successful throughout the
weekend, as did searches for songs by such anti-Napsterites as Dr. Dre and
Metallica.
After a court hearing on Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn Hill
Patel told news sources: "The matter is submitted, and I will issue some
kind of preliminary injunction."
But Patel declined to indicate when exactly she would issue her revised
order.
Meanwhile, Napster attorney David Boies failed to provide a specific time
during the weekend when Napster would put into operation the new screening
software. Early reports had said it would installed by Saturday.
Napster, however, provided a disclaimer on its Web site, noting that
development and implementation of the filtering program would not be easy.
"It is a complex technological solution that is very taxing to the system
and will degrade the operation of the service," said Napster on its Web
site, adding that attempting to differentiate between copyrighted and
non-copyrighted material is a difficult task.
In anticipation of Patel's expected ruling, Recording Industry Association
of America (RIAA) president Hilary Rosen said in a prepared statement
issued Friday: "We are grateful for the Court's diligent efforts to
fashion an appropriate injunction and look forward to an order which makes
clear that the infringing part of Napster's business -- taking music which
isn't theirs and giving it away -- must come to an end."
On Sunday, RIAA spokesperson Amy Weiss told a news source that her
organization had no immediate comment on Napster's execution of its
file-blocking program "or lack thereof."
But according to another news source, a Napster spokesperson confirmed
that the company has in fact begun implementation of the new software.
While music from such pop stars as Britney Spears and Jennifer Lopez were
still freely available, songs from Metallica and such classic rock giants
as Jimi Hendrix had dropped off significantly.
Hoping to squeak out a few more tunes before the new filtering system goes
into effect, Napster users were still downloading feverishly as of Monday
morning.
One 36-year-old executive who is a fervent Napster user told NewsFactor
Network that he was awake most of Sunday night downloading nearly 100
songs.
"Most of them were guilty pleasures from my childhood," said the
executive. "I mean really, where else am I going to find such gems as [Rex
Smith's] 'You Take My Breath Away' or Kristy and Jimmy MacNichols' version
of 'Da Doo Run Run'?"
Court Gives Napster 72 Hours To Block Songs
In a preliminary injunction issued late Monday night, Chief Judge Marilyn
Hall Patel of the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California,
ordered Napster to block access within three business days to songs that
record companies claim are being downloaded in violation of copyright law.
The ruling, dreaded by Napster's global legion of free-music fans, has
been eagerly awaited by many in the recording industry, particularly the
major labels belonging to the Recording Industry Association of America
(RIAA).
In a brief press release, RIAA president and CEO Hilary Rosen said: "We
are gratified the District Court acted so promptly in issuing its
injunction requiring Napster to remove infringing works from its system.
We intend to provide the notifications prescribed by the Court
expeditiously, and look forward to the end of Napster's infringing
activity."
The injunction acknowledges the difficulty involved in trying to track all
copyrighted songs being traded at any given time. But according to the
ruling: "This difficulty, however, does not relieve Napster of its duty"
to block copyrighted recordings.
The court ruling states that rather than monitoring all files being traded
on a continuous basis, it is sufficient to do periodic searches from time
to time "against lists of copyrighted recordings provided by the
plaintiffs" -- the major record labels.
In an Endnote, the ruling admits that "given the limited time an
infringing file may appear on the system and the individual user's ability
to name her files, [blocking each and every] 'specific infringing file'
would be illusory."
This appears to be at least a tacit acknowledgement that Napster cannot be
held responsible for its users' endless creativity in circumventing any
type of blocking.
Once Napster receives "reasonable notice" from a record label that
copyrighted songs are on the system, the song-swapper has three business
days to prevent access to the offending files, even if the files have not
yet been included in Napster's index.
However, Napster is also obligated to act if it is "reasonable to believe
that a file available on the Napster system is a variation of a particular
work or file," which means that in addition to formal file names, Napster
must also seek out user-inspired variations, perhaps even including coded
names.
The company must also file a Report of Compliance within five days of
being notified of an infringement.
Judge Patel's preliminary injunction also provides that record companies
may notify Napster of song titles in advance of their release, requiring
Napster to block the songs before they are ever traded.
According to the ruling, "the burden is far less and the equities are more
fair to require Napster to block the transmission of these works in
advance of their release. To order otherwise would allow Napster users a
free ride -."
It remains to be seen how interested Napster loyalists will be if Napster
does indeed end the free musical ride. The company has proposed a paid
subscription service, but alternatives such as Gnutella may become the
downloading vehicle of choice for song-swappers.
And, while the recording industry seems to have won this battle, according
to some analysts it may turn out to be a Pyrrhic victory. Electronic music
downloads are clearly the wave of the future, they say, and the music
industry's "victory" may turn out to be the last-gasp defense of an
outmoded music distribution model.
Judge Orders Napster to Police Trading
A federal judge has ordered Napster to prevent users from trading
unauthorized files within the next two business days.
A federal judge has ordered Napster to curb the exchange of copyrighted
music on its Internet service, a ruling that threatens to cripple the
company and to undermine the activities of millions of people who flock to
Napster each day to freely copy songs.
The judge's injunction, issued late Monday and published today by the
court on its Web site, requires Napster to prevent users from trading
unauthorized files within three business days of receiving notice from
aggrieved copyright holders. Napster had previously said such an injunction
could force it to shut down altogether, but the company issued a short
statement today saying it would seek to comply with the terms, presumably
while remaining in business.
Still, the order, which takes effect immediately, appears to signal the
end of an era for Napster. The five major record companies, which sued
Napster asserting the company abets copyright infringement, have said they
hold the copyrights to as much as 70 percent of the work traded on the
online service.
"Napster's going to be much different," said Eric Scheirer, an industry
analyst with Forrester Research, a market research firm. "You're not going
to be able to find the stuff you find at the record store."
But the injunction, issued by Judge Marilyn Patel of the United States
District Court in San Francisco, also places a burden on the record
companies. The ruling requires the record companies not only to provide
the names of songs to which it owns the copyrights, but also to find
evidence those songs are being traded on Napster. The companies have
previously asserted that this requirement places an unfair burden on them.
Still, the record companies embraced the injunction today as providing
much-awaited relief. They said they would seek to comply promptly with the
requirement that they give Napster lists of songs to which they own the
copyrights, but declined to say how many songs this would entail.
Anticipating the ruling, users of Napster have flocked to the site in
recent months, exchanging millions of files each day. The company, started
two years ago by a 19-year- old college student, said it had around 65
million registered users, of whom 10 million use the service each day, and
as many as 2 million at any given time.
Napster users also have taken other steps to preserve the ability to trade
music. Some users are testing other services that, unlike Napster, do not
have centralized servers and will be more difficult for record companies
to police. Other Napster users are seeking to skirt the bans by modifying
the way they name songs on the service; for instance, if Napster seeks to
block exchange of the song "Fade to Black" by Metallica, Napster users may
modify the name to "Fade 2 Black" to evade a filter.
Such efforts have helped Napster users in part evade a filter that Napster
unilaterally put in place starting Sunday night, a block aimed at
preventing users from searching for songs by Metallica and Dr. Dre. Mr.
Scheirer said that even if some users sought to evade the filters, the
injunction was "likely to become effective against most Napster users."
Judge Patel's ruling modifies an injunction originally ordered in July of
2000, when she found that Napster had been used for the wholesale
infringement of copyrighted works. Two days after her ruling, the United
States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit stayed Judge Patel's
injunction. Then last month, a three-judge panel from the Ninth Circuit
issued a ruling supporting much of the legal reasoning behind Judge
Patel's original order, but requiring her to narrow the scope of her
injunction.
As required by the Ninth Circuit opinion, the modified injunction issued
Monday requires Napster and the record companies to share the burden in
identifying copyrighted works exchanged by Napster users. The injunction
also requires both the record companies and Napster to seek to identify
variations of song names, like deliberate misspellings used by Napster
users to evade the filters.
In a hearing held Friday to discuss the scope of the injunction, the
record companies had asked Judge Patel to include in an injunction a
provision allowing them to provide Napster with a list of songs before
their release in record stores. In a heated exchange between the
litigants, the record companies argued Napster should have to filter songs
pre-emptively, while Napster asserted that the requirement would be an
undue burden and that it should not be required to filter a song until it
first was exchanged by users.
On this matter, Judge Patel's ruling left some room for interpretation,
according to legal experts. Judge Patel wrote that the record companies
may provide Napster with a list of songs before their release. She then
went on to say that Napster must block access "beginning with the first
infringing file."
But a few sentences later, Judge Patel wrote that Napster must block
"transmission of these works in advance of their release."
"To order otherwise," Judge Patel wrote, "would allow Napster users a free
ride for the length of time it would take plaintiffs to identify a
specific infringing file and Napster to screen the work."
Mark F. Radcliffe, an intellectual- property lawyer with the law firm Gray
Cary Ware & Freidenrich in Palo Alto, Calif., said that it "is difficult
to tell what she means" about the prerelease, adding, "It is fair to say
this requires some thinking on the part of Napster as to what its
obligations are."
On the whole, Mr. Radcliffe said the ruling was "a pretty big loss for
Napster." He said the decision gave the company very little wiggle room to
continue to be used as a forum for the free exchange of copyrighted works,
absent permission of the copyright owners.
Hank Barry, the chief executive of Napster, is seeking to turn Napster
into a for-pay service and has sought to make deals with record labels to
provide them some proceeds from the business in exchange for rights to
license their music. Already, Napster has struck one agreement with
Bertelsmann's BMG, one of the five major record companies, but the others
have resisted, saying Mr. Barry's offer of $1 billion in payments over
five years is a paltry sum.
In a statement, Mr. Barry said Napster would comply with the court's
order, adding, "As we receive notice from copyright holders as required by
the court, we will take every step within the limits of our system to
exclude their copyrighted material from being shared."
The Internet has called into question whether basic tenets of copyright
law might be shaken by the ease with which works can now be distributed.
But Mr. Radcliffe said today's ruling "indicates to Internet service
providers, Web sites and other third parties on the Internet that put up
content that there are no special rules for the Internet."
New Virus Uses Pornographic Bait-And-Switch
A new e-mail virus that promises an eyeful to Internet users but instead
cripples Microsoft Windows emerged Tuesday, although anti-virus software
companies said they had come up with a cure by mid-afternoon.
This destructive worm appears as a forwarded e-mail with "Naked Wife" in
the Subject line. Readers who click on the attached file, called ``Naked
Wife.exe", will not get a nude picture, but will instead see a short
cartoon followed by a vulgar message, signed by ``BGK (Bill Gates Killer)."
All the while, the virus is deleting key Windows and system files on the
user's PC, rendering the computer unable to start up properly, according to
Susan Orbuch, a spokeswoman for anti- virus software maker, Trend Micro
Inc.
Similar to earlier worm-type viruses like Love Letter and Melissa, NakedWife
can spread quickly by e-mailing itself to everyone in a user's Microsoft
Outlook e-mail address book.
At least 25 corporations have been infected so far, according to McAfee, a
division of security software maker, Network Associates Inc.
Users who receive the e-mail should not click on the attachment and delete
it immediately. The virus, written in the Visual Basic language, deletes
files ending in .bmp, .com, .dll, .exe and .ini in the Windows and Windows
Systems directories.
Infected users will not be able to restart their computers and will have to
reinstall the Windows operating system.
eBay Scam Artists Face Criminal Charges
Federal prosecutors issued an indictment on Friday against three eBay
users for self-bidding on their own art auctions in an attempt to spike
bid prices.
The indictment alleges that the three men used 40 different names on eBay
to place over 50 false bids on paintings they auctioned online from
November 1998 to June 2000, including a fake Richard Diebenkorn painting
that garnered a US$135,000 bid.
Rob Chesnut, eBay's deputy general counsel, told the Associated Press that
he believed the indictment marks the first criminal case to result from
alleged shill bidding online.
eBay spokesperson Kevin Pursglove told the E-Commerce Times that the Web
auction house assisted the investigation by providing federal authorities
with access to eBay tools that can help pursue individuals who perpetrate
auction fraud.
"Anytime we see a series of listings that may be a fraud, we will often
contact the authorities and let them know what kinds of information we
have available," Pursglove said. "A lot of the information we have is
confidential and covered by our privacy policy, but we make it very clear
to our users that if they engage in any fraudulent activities we will
cooperate with the authorities to the max."
According to published reports, Kenneth A. Walton, a 33-year-old lawyer
from Sacramento, California; Kenneth Fetterman, a 33-year-old man from
Placerville, California; and 31-year-old Scott Beach of Lakewood, Colorado
were charged with a total of 16 counts of wire and mail fraud.
If convicted, the men face up to five years in prison, as well as fines
and the obligation to pay restitution to the victims.
The shilling scheme, which included the creation of phony e-mail accounts
from art experts, raised $450,000 in auction bids. In May 2000, eBay
voided the $135,805 sale of the fake Diebenkorn painting after discovering
that Walton had placed his own bid on the item using a different online
identity.
Pursglove said that because approximately 6 million items are listed on
eBay each day, it would be impossible to catch each and every fraudulent
action as it occurs. However, eBay's new proprietary software tools gives
the online auction leader the best possible chance to do so, Pursglove
said.
The software searches the bidding history of individual bidders to look
for historical shill patterns, and identifies shill patterns as they are
occurring, Pursglove said.
On March 5th, eBay announced a new partnership with Eppraisals.com, the
largest online art, antiques and collectibles appraisal company.
For a fee of around $15, eBay users can get an appraisal on an object up
for bid by sending Eppraisals the object's item number or URL. Pursglove
said Eppraisals will help eBay customers determine if an item is priced or
described accurately, with a turnaround time of around 48 hours.
Pursglove said that eBay's alliance with Eppraisals "will go a long ways
towards building confidence shoppers have on our site."
Online Auctions Top FBI Net Fraud List
Despite widespread consumer fears about online credit card fraud, the No.
1 scam on the Internet is Web auction fraud, according to a report
released Tuesday by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the
National White Collar Crime Center.
Internet auction fraud was the problem in 64 percent of the complaints
filed with the government's Internet Fraud Complaint Center. Credit card
and debit card fraud counted for just under 5 percent of the complaints.
"Victims of crime, whether it be Internet fraud or other crimes, are using
the Internet as a reporting tool," FBI Director Louis J. Freeh said. "Now
critical investigative information can be shared with our law enforcement
colleagues around the country in a readily retrievable way."
The FBI report, which looked at complaints logged by the Center from May
to November 2000, said that the total dollar loss for all complaints
exceeded US$12.3 million.
During its first six months of operation, the Center logged 20,014
complaints and referred 6,087 to law enforcement agencies around the
country for future action. Of those, 5,273 involved online auction fraud.
The average dollar amount of Internet fraud cases referred to law
enforcement was $255 and the total dollar amount of all Internet fraud
cases was $4.6 million over the six month period. The largest dollar loss
reported was $366,248.
"E-business is no longer just a buzzword," said Texas state securities
commissioner Denise Voigt Crawford, board member of the National White
Collar Crime Center. "It's here to stay and we must find ways to help
consumers and businesses have confidence in the transaction technology
they choose."
Notably, over 17 percent of referred cases involved losses of $1,000 or
more. The FBI also said that nearly one-third of all losses were under
$100 and two-thirds of complainants lost under $500.
Another common complaint came from people who ordered and paid for
merchandise online, but did not receive what they ordered. Twenty-two
percent of the complaints fell into that category.
While investment fraud was the problem for just over 1 percent of the
fraud victims, those bilked by phony investments scams lost the most
money, posting an average loss of $500.
The FBI reported that California was the hot spot for Internet fraud, with
most of the con artists -- and most of the victims -- being from the
state.
The Internet Fraud Complaint Center found that 17.3 percent of individual
perpetrators and 19.8 percent of business perpetrators were operating in
California. Likewise, 15.4 percent of individual complainants and 15.8
percent of business complainants also hailed from the Golden State.
Other states with high concentrations of dot-con artists and victims were
Florida and New York.
The report found that the typical victim reporting a complaint "tends to
be a male, in his mid-30s, residing in one of the more populated U.S.
states, and was involved in a fraudulent online auction transaction that
resulted in a loss of over $200."
However, the Internet Fraud Complaint Center stressed: "It is important to
note that anyone is susceptible to falling prey to an Internet fraud."
The Internet Fraud Complaint Center is not the first agency to list
auction fraud as the No. 1 online consumer complaint. In October, the U.S.
Federal Trade Commission said that auction fraud topped the list of
complaints received through its Consumer Sentinel database.
Additionally, in January, eMarketer released a report showing that auction
fraud accounts for 87 percent of all online crime.
ICANN Meetings Open in Massachusetts
The agency that oversees Internet addresses, appointed by the U.S.
government in 1998, admits it still hasn't figured out how best to serve
the millions of Web surfers affected by its policies.
Structural changes are among the agenda items as the Internet Corporation
for Assigned Names and Numbers begins quarterly meetings Friday in
Melbourne, Australia.
Much of the dissent comes from ICANN's decision last year to hold elections
for only five of the nine at-large seats set aside for the general Internet
community.
A study on the future of at-large seats is pending, with one option to
scrap them completely.
``If these at-large seats are eliminated, there will be no democratic
voice," said Barbara Simons, an unsuccessful at-large candidate who led a
discussion on ICANN at a computer conference in Cambridge on Wednesday.
Eric Grimm, an Internet lawyer in Ann Arbor, Mich., complained that key
decisions were being rushed through without adequate input from Net users.
In addition to structural changes, ICANN board members will review the
recent selection of new domain names, the use of non-English characters and
proposed changes to a contract for running ".com," ".net" and ".org"
databases.
The board will also continue persuading other countries to recognize
ICANN's authority and to contribute the equivalent of membership fees.
In some ways, ICANN is in a bind. The Internet community demands action in
Internet time, but that approach leads to complaints that ICANN perhaps
acts too hastily.
``In an ideal world, we
would set aside a year or two where we just work on
structure," ICANN chief policy officer Andrew McLaughlin said in a phone
interview.
``But the Internet is evolving," he added. ``The market demands a
responsive administrative organization. We have no choice but to go ahead
with major decisions as best we can."
Case in point: November's decision to select seven new domain names to
relieve the crowded field of addresses ending in ".com."
A cloud remains over the recent selections because of perceptions that
ICANN rushed through the process and did so without input from any of the
elected board members, who were seated minutes after the selections were
finalized. ICANN chairman Vinton Cerf has acknowledged that he wants to
address procedural flaws which occurred during that process.
``I realize there are kinks to be worked out, but that's not an excuse for
treating this as an experimental process that doesn't have consequences,"
said Peter Schalestock, attorney for Group One Registry Inc., the
unsuccessful bidder of ".one."
At-large board member Karl Auerbach, elected last year on an anti-ICANN
platform, said selections could have been ``vastly different" with the
input of elected representatives.
ICANN has its defenders, including companies victorious in their bids for
new domain names.
Brian O'Shaughnessy of VeriSign Inc., which joined in a winning bid for
".info," said ICANN can never reach a final form.
``Times change. Technologies change. Institutions and society change," he
said.
Also on the agenda in Melbourne is a proposal to restructure ICANN's Domain
Name Supporting Organization, a committee to make recommendations on domain
name policy.
Jonathan Weinberg, a Wayne State University professor, said the committee
is ``badly in need of reform," but he's not sure bad structure is solely
to blame.
``It's mostly an excuse," Weinberg said. ``ICANN likes to stress it's a
work in progress. That's the way of deflecting criticism whenever anyone
says anything bad."
EarthLink Promises "Anonymous" Web Surfing
EarthLink is mining privacy paranoia in a bid to sign up new subscribers,
a move that could add new heat to marketing battles in the bitterly
competitive Internet access business.
"They are watching you," the Internet service provider asserts in a TV
spot that began running last week. "Compiling your information. Invading
your privacy. At EarthLink, we would never do that. We just provide the
totally anonymous Internet."
The ad campaign, by TBWA Chiat/Day, underscores growing consumer concern
about prying online marketers--fears that have become mainstream enough to
be turned into a marketing opportunity itself. EarthLink rivals including
AOL Time Warner's America Online have long advertised their privacy
features as a way to attract new customers. Regardless of whether such ads
can resolve the question of who protects consumers best, they could bring
greater scrutiny to the privacy policies of ISPs.
"The ISP is the absolute gateway for consumers to get onto the Internet.
They're in the position to see virtually everything that a consumer does;
very often these privacy policies don't make that clear," said Ray
Everett-Church, an attorney who runs privacy consultancy Privacyclue.com.
At least one Internet analyst said EarthLink may have gone too far in
touting its service as "anonymous" in its bid to compete in a tough
market.
"It sounds like EarthLink is grasping at straws," said Bruce Kasrel, a
senior analyst at Forrester Research, who pointed to the difficulty in
standing out among the thousands of ISPs. The company faces tough
competition in various realms, such as price and offerings, he said, which
is a disadvantage when rivals can provide portal deals or free services.
"It's not really a solid promise to say that they're going to protect your
privacy when all they're really protecting is stuff like names and
addresses that can be gotten a million other ways," said Kasrel. Consumers
understand their privacy is lost with these services, he said.
Nevertheless, privacy experts say companies that disclose their practices
within their privacy policies are legitimate. Most of the major ISPs have
reasonable privacy policies that reassure consumers that they're not doing
anything untoward with their customer data. Even many free ISPs, such as
Juno Online Services, where consumers enter a quid pro quo agreement to
give up their personal information in exchange for a subsidized service,
are explicit about what they share with third parties and why.
"The reality is, like EarthLink, we do not give out consumer individual
subscriber information to anyone," said Charles Ardai, chief executive of
Juno, which runs a free and a paid service.
For its part, AOL said it has created "a gold standard for Internet
privacy" and will continue to do so.
Still, some ISPs are forging extremely close relationships with marketers,
which might make some consumers uncomfortable. The pliability of some Net
access providers has encouraged several companies, such as Predictive
Networks and Idealab-backed Compete.com, to collect and analyze consumer
data via ISPs to market targeted promotions to Web visitors.
Predictive Networks, used in low-cost Net connections from ATT they kind
of roll over and show you their belly. That's a big concern," said
Privacyclue.com's Everett-Church, pointing to so-called John Doe suits in
which plaintiffs pressure ISPs to get the names and addresses of the
accused.
Although EarthLink doesn't immediately roll over--it gives subscribers
notice of a civil suit and gives them 10 days to contest it--privacy
advocates said there are other remedies that would go further in helping
consumers.
"The best thing that companies can do (to protect consumer privacy) is not
record information in the case of these John Doe lawsuits. It's possible
just not to record data, because then it would be hard to trace it back to
consumers," said Richard Smith, chief technology officer for the
Denver-based Privacy Foundation.
On this point, EarthLink says it knows when a subscriber logs on or off
the network but not where that person travels online. Furthermore, the
company said it only keeps such data for 30 days. "In the event of a large
(criminal) case, we would be able to give that information over," said
Steve Dougherty, director of systems vendor management for EarthLink.
Despite shortfalls, privacy advocates say ISPs can take steps to protect
consumers' privacy.
ISPs can block a subscriber's IP address, making it nearly impossible to
detect a subscriber's location, which can be tracked for targeted
advertising or other purposes.
AOL, for example, issues IP addresses that make it look like most
subscribers are from the same point in Virginia, its headquarters.
EarthLink, on the other hand, says that its IP addresses are "obscured"
because they are issued from a large pool of addresses, although they can
be pinpointed to the city level.
Another privacy concern for some ISP customers involves a vulnerability in
Windows that can expose a consumer's disk drive to anyone on the Internet.
The disk-sharing function uses certain ports, and ISPs can block all
traffic to these ports so that their subscribers are protected.
EarthLink doesn't block ports "because there are valid uses for them,"
said Dougherty. Uses for them include file sharing for an in-house
printer, he said.
Although ISPs are increasingly touting their privacy features in general,
consumers are largely clueless when it comes to details because of the
complexity of standard privacy policies.
"These disclosures are buried in the user agreements, and even if
consumers read through the five or 10 pages, it still may not sink in,"
Privacyclue.com's Everett-Church said.
Survey: Macintosh Owners Still Most Loyal
Apple customers are still the most loyal to their brand, according to a new
survey by Harris Interactive, the Internet-based research firm. The survey
included over 140,000 Internet users, including more than 6,500 who
purchased a home personal computer in the first three quarters of 2000.
The study found wide disparity in repurchase loyalty -- the percent of
brand owners that bought the same brand when they purchased a new home
computer -- among the top computer brands. For example, just over half (53
percent) of Mac owners who bought a personal computer in the first
three-quarters of 2000 repurchased a Mac.
Gateway's customer loyalty was highest among Wintel brands with a 45
percent repurchase rate. IBM had the lowest repurchase loyalty among the
top brands, with only 9 percent. Dell had 40 percent, Hewlett Packard had
33 percent, and Compaq had 29 percent.
"As the consumer PC market matures, repurchase loyalty is a key measure for
PC brands," said Dave Tremblay, director of technology research for Harris
Interactive. "First time buyers account for only about one-fifth of all
consumer personal computer purchases. While strength in that segment is a
bonus, you can't build a business relying on these buyers. The easiest
buyers to capture should be a brand's current users."
If a company can't successfully sell to its own customers, it will likely
have problems selling to its competitors' customers, he added. IBM is a
good example of this, according to Tremblay. When IBM de-emphasized its
traditional retail consumer distribution channels, its customers abandoned
the brand. Fewer than one in ten IBM brand PC owners repurchased an IBM
brand PC.
"While strong repurchase loyalty is not enough (witness Apple's high
loyalty but declining share), it is a very good place to start," Tremblay
said.
=~=~=~=
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