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Atari Online News, Etc. Volume 04 Issue 01
Volume 4, Issue 01 Atari Online News, Etc. January 4, 2002
Published and Copyright (c) 1999 - 2002
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
Thomas J. Andrews -- "Keeper of the Flame"
With Contributions by:
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=~=~=~=
A-ONE #0401 01/04/02
~ MacWorld Rumors Flying ~ People Are Talking! ~ Apple To Go Intel?!
~ New Worm For New Year! ~ XP: Not For All AOLers ~ The Yahoo Saga!
~ AOL Claims IM Flaw Fix ~ Anti-Spam Law Upheld! ~ BSA Piracy Amnesty!
~ AOL IM Whistle-blower! ~ How To Protect Your PC ~ Happy New Year!!!
-* Hackers Try Home Computers! *-
-* States Protest Microsoft's Stalling *-
-* Microsoft Request For Delay To Be Heard! *-
=~=~=~=
->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Well, I was hoping for a slow news week and I got it! First of the year, on
vacation - who really wanted to "work" this week? Not me!
Let me repeat my sentiments from last week - Happy New Year everybody! I
hope that everyone had a great New Year's Eve and the new year is starting
out well for you all! It's been a fairly quiet week here for the most part.
We got some things done that we wanted to do, visited family and friends,
and even had time to enjoy some of our holiday "goodies" along the way! I
ended the week off today with something job-related, but it was well worth
taking the little time to attend. The hospital that I work at was receiving
an accommodation for our support of a special needs program that is based at
one of the local high schools, but affiliated with a number of the local
high schools. My department is one of two who utilizes a good number of
special needs kids to perform similar tasks as my regular staff to gain real
life work experience to help enable these kids to be able to out in the real
world, get jobs, and become better self-sufficient. Over the years, we've
also hired some of these kids as permanent employees - a positive statement
of the success of this program. It's been a terrific program that I'm
really proud to be a part. And, the program sponsors surprised me with a
personal gift in appreciation, which I thought was nice. It was a great way
to start the new year off!
So here we are, with our first issue of 2002! I can't believe that Joe and
I have been at it with A-ONE for three years already, starting our fourth.
It's been a wild ride that just keeps on goin'! Thanks again to all of you
who keep reading and supporting our efforts!
Until next time...
=~=~=~=
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
compiled by Joe Mirando
joe@atarinews.org
Hidi ho friends and neighbors. I trust that you had a happy and safe
New Year's celebration. As for myself, I celebrated quietly, just as I
have most years. This year was a bit different though. This year,
Jupiter was at opposition on New Year's Eve. Opposition is when the
earth is directly between the sun and whatever planet we happen to be
talking about. In ancient times great import was often placed upon
these events. Since Jupiter won't be at opposition on New Year's Eve
again until I'm 124 years old, I decided to take a look this time.
<grin>
The view, even in a small telescope, was very nice. Of course, it's not
exactly what you see in all the news bytes, but it's more real somehow.
Knowing that the image you are seeing is not digitally mastered or
enhanced, and not the product of a billion dollar space project. As a
magician would say, it's all done with mirrors!
Anyway, I hope you had an enjoyable and safe holiday.
Now let's get on with the news and stuff from the UseNet.
From the comp.sys.atari.st NewsGroup
====================================
Ken Kosut asks about printing with NVDI:
"I am having some problems printing a file with NVDI 5.
Prior to this, I was using SpeedoGDOS/ATARIWORKS with no problems.
It is my understanding that NVDI 5 replaces SpeedoGDOS.
So I took SpeedoGDOS out.
When I boot ATARIWORKS it prompts me for GDOS. (Unable to print because
GDOS is not loaded) So I put GDOS 1.x in. I boot ATARIWORKS, but now it
says, program will not work in low resolution.
I set the resolution in MAGIC. I do not think it is low.
If I reinstall SpeedoGDOS, it will look for EXTEND.SYS
According to the NVDI manual, EXTEND.SYS doesn't seem to be needed.
Only ASSIGN.SYS
And how do I actually print the file? Do I use the print command in
ATARIWORKS, or do I drag the .STW file over the printer icon in MAGIC?
When I drag the file over the icon, it starts but then says program
terminated.
I know I have NVDI setup properly. I went through it very carefully.
Thanks for any light shed on this matter."
Peter Schneider tells Ken:
"To be more precise: The GDOS part of NVDI may replace the GDOS part of
Speedo.
If you installed NVDI properly, there should be a NVDICONF.ACC (or
CPX) to configure NVDI. This ACC or CPX can switch on/out GDOS.
A whatever GDOS program must have run from the AUTO folder (e.g.
SPDGDOS.PRG, NVDI.PRG, AMCGDOS.PRG...), if any of your programs is to
print via GDOS.
That's [Speedo looking for EXTEND.SYS] quite normal for EXTEND.SYS is
an 'extension' to the usual ASSIGN.SYS, but EXTEND.SYS is needed by
Speedo only.
I don't think Magic's printer icon is dedicated to printing non-ASCII
files. Correct me if I'm wrong. You should use AtariWorks's printer
dialog.
There should be an ASCII file NVDI.INF that shows the font paths to
the system."
Harry Sideras adds:
"I only used Speedo for a very short while and can't remember it tbh,
and I've never used Atariworks, so none of this may be very helpful,
but...
Did you use Magic with Atariworks before? What resolution are you
running in? What is showing in your new Assign.sys file for the
driver? Is it the new NVDI driver for your printer? Is the path ok?
Have you pointed Atariworks printer driver to point at the new NVDI
printer driver? (Not sure if AW needs to do this, but it was a
problem I had with Papyrus at one time).
Ken tells Harry:
"No, I've never used MagiC with AtariWorks before.
The resolution is 640 x 400 interlaced.
What is showing in your new Assign.sys file for the driver?
Path = F:\GEMSYS - (this might be the problem, I'll have to check)
01p - 10p Screen.sys files
21 PCL.sys
22 ESCP2.sys
23 CANON.sys
24 MACPRN.sys
25 PIN.sys
26 ATARILS.sys
31 META.sys
61 MEMORY.sys
81 NTOFFICE.sys
91 IMG.sys
Is it the new NVDI driver for your printer? Is the path ok?
Well, I just want to print to a dot matrix, so I wish to use 25 PIN.sys
Will double check path.
I can't point to a driver in Atariworks. SpeedoGDOS came with a printer
driver utility which allowed me to choose printers."
Peter Schneider tells Ken:
"My AtariWorks permits me to print via the 21 and 23 devices only, my
ASSIGN.SYS reading like this:
...
21 PCL.SYS ; Seitendrucker
PRES9.FNT
PRES10.FNT
PRES12.FNT
22 PIN.SYS ; 24-Nadel-Drucker
23 IMG.SYS ; 300 dpi IMGs
31 META.SYS ; METAFILE-Output
41 IMG.SYS
...
My AtariWorks prompts me for a GDOS printing device (21-30), when I
ask it to print, all devices except 21 and 23 being disabled.
I recommend you to put WDIALOG.PRG into your AUTO folder and to make
it run as one of the last ones. At least with PAPILLON that helps when
printing via GDOS."
Peter West adds:
"When you click Print in Works you should get a dialog to select
available printers that NVDI knows about. In my case I have 21 for
my PCL.SYS and 25 for PIN.SYS available. 21 is set as my default
printer in NVDI.INF. In your cases it should be 25, presumably.
Do you have the font paths set correctly in NVDI.INF? Do you have
the various fonts available on the screen? Do you have the correct
*.SYS files in your GEMSYS folder and does NVDI.INF have the
correct path to it?"
Don Wolfe asks about one of the web browsers available:
"I've been playing around with WENSUITE 330b, its working pretty good
but any URL that has pictures on it, they look weak not close to the
quality that CAB 2.7 puts out on my TT030. Am I doing something wrong
or is the Prg just weak in that area ?? Also having a problem with the
dialer, it is reluctant to turn the modem dial tone on, after banging
on the "Connect Button" several times it will dial out and connect..
Any thoughts on this program ???"
Edward Baiz tells Don:
"I have used this program before. It is ok, but needs an upgrade.
Highwire, when it comes out, will surpass any browser on the Atari.
Goto: http://highwire.atari-users.net and take a look...."
Martin Byttebier adds:
"Wensuite is far better then Adamas and it's incredibly fast. Where Cab
takes almost two minutes to load a page with 13 mid-size progressive
jpg's Wensuite does the same job in 20 sec. My guess is that to get that
speed they had to make a compromise between speed and display quality.
It's a pity the development of Wensuite is put on ice."
Since HighWire was mentioned, Martin Tarenskeen posts:
"But we have to be patient. There is still a lot of work to be done if
we want all the good things we already have with CAB plus Javascript
and more but without the crashes we know from Adamas. But there are some
really good and dedicated Atarians involved in the project so it might
really happen..."
Derek Hunt adds:
"The words "surpass any browser on the ATARI" surely is not a nice
thing for the majority of us. We are ATARIANS but at the lower
level as ST users. As I read it Highwire is aimed at those with
Mega, Falcons and clones. Rather similar to what happened to some of
our last mags. We were lucky that CAB and STiK authors thought of
the whole ATARIAN community when producing their programmes.
> But there are some really good and dedicated Atarians involved in the
project so it might really happen... <
The last sentence above says it all "there are some really good and
dedicated Atarians involved" and some very good and loyal Atarians
who could lose out."
Martin Tarenskeen interjects a bit of reality:
"It's a good thing that someone with a humble Atari ST is able to be
part of the Internet using programs like STiK, CAB, and NEWSie. But
there are restrictions when you only have 1, 2, maybe 4 MB, a little
hard disk, a slow serial port and a 8MHz 68000 processor running TOS
1.0. It's amazing what such a machine can still do - but some things
simply are not possible with it."
Rob Mahlert adds:
"HighWire is still in planning. But it has NOT been discussed to aim for
the higher end of the Atari Line. This is not official, but some of the
talk was to have it work on the ST's as a basic browser. But the more
cpu intense "add-ons" (when and if) would be for the upper end."
Mark Duckworth voices his opinion:
"I think that there should be development efforts aimed for the higher
end machines. The Atari ST could never ever hope to run Java, but
does that mean we shouldn't have it? Of course not. It sounds as
though the Highwire team is doing _exactly_ what they should be.
Making a basic browser that outpaces cab, with plug-in modules to use
the higher horsepower and ram of falcons, TTs, and the likes."
Jean-Luc Ceccoli asks about his favorite desktop:
"Is Thing 1.27 still under development, or has it been abandoned?
Is the address gryf@hrzpub.tu-darmstadt.de still valid? How can I
register Thing?"
Martin Byttebeir tells Jean-Luc:
"Yes and no. The guy who develops Thing has said to me he certainly will
release Thing 1.30 but he hasn't told me when. I've seen Thing 1.29
working and I must say it looks nice. One can have background pictures
in the windows just like Jinnee and the most important the long file
name restriction is gone. I believe the current version of Thing can't
handle names longer then 32 chars. However I'm afraid v1.30 will be the
last one."
Thomas Andersson asks about emulating an Atari:
"I would like to ask you knowledgable persons for some advice..
What would you reccomend as the best Atari ST emulator for the PC?
I used to have a Atari ST2 (I think, a pizza box thingy) and I loved
playing Ultima III on it, now I'd like to do that again! (this will be
the main usage of the emulation, playing old Atari games).
So, what would be best, where can I get it, what do I need??"
James Haslam tells Thomas:
"From personal experience I would recommend Steem.
Get it from http://steem.atari.org , however you will also need a TOS
image file (scanned from a real Atari - ie TOS v1.0, v1.2, v1.4, 1.6x
or v2.0x)."
Edward Baiz adds his opinion:
"For me, I like Pacifist. Get it at:
http://www.pacifist.fatal-design.com/"
John Whitelock adds:
"I have been using Gemulator for some years now - I don't play any
games tho'. I use it extensively for LDW Power, ST Writer, Marcel, Gfa
Draft, - all while running Neodesk3.2 - without any problems at all.
And for my use it seems much smoother and faster than the other
emulators, including STeem.
I do run STeem under Linux though as the only other emulator for Linux
is STonX, but Gemulator is still the one to beat."
Well folks, that's it for this week. 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 - No Gaming News This Week!
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
->From the Editor's Controller - Playin' it like it is!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
I haven't had much to say in my gaming comments for quite a long time! In
fact, I still don't but I did want to make a couple of observations.
Firstly, I picked up the Harry Potter game for the PC and PlayStation 1 for
my wife for Christmas. I got her hooked on the Harry Potter books after I
read one to see what the excitement was all about. We've both read them all
now. So she wanted the games. She's still playing the PS1 version and I've
completed the PC version. I must say that this was one of the most
enjoyable games I've played in quite some time. It follows a lot of the
storyline very well. The interaction with characters is terrific, the
challenges are good, and the frustration is there on occasion! The one
thing I found fault with in this game is the game controls. It's done with
the mouse and arrow keys. No joystick support. Try to fly a broom playing
Quidditch and catch the Snitch! And there are at least four scenes in which
you have to fly the broom: Quidditch training, a Quidditch match (more if
you choose!), catch Draco Malfoy after he stole a Remembrall, and to catch
the Winged Key. But, persistence paid off after many hours of trying! I'm
surprised that I actually finished the game. However, I didn't find all of
the secret passages and obtain all of the hidden surprises, so I'm going
back for another round! If you're a Harry Potter fan, I'd recommend getting
the game for any of the systems available.
The second thing is that I've been really disappointed the past few weeks
with the amount (or lack thereof) of console gaming news online. I usually
find a ton of news among the various news services that I visit. But lately
it seems the type of news has changed. Either that or because of the
holidays, there just isn't any news out there. I don't know. I would have
thought that there would be a ton of news over the holidays pertaining to
the new games out - especially with two new systems being released. I'll
keep looking, but I just wanted to ask that if any of you know of any good
console gaming news sites, drop me a line. Meanwhile, I'll just hope that
the "lack" of news is temporary and I'll keep checking my sources.
Until next time...
=~=~=~=
A-ONE's Headline News
The Latest in Computer Technology News
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
States Urge Judge Reject Microsoft Delay
Nine states opposed to a proposed settlement of the Microsoft Corp.
antitrust case asked a federal judge on Monday to reject the company's
request for a delay in hearings on alternative sanctions.
Microsoft sought a four-month delay of the hearings earlier this month,
saying the states opposed to the settlement plan were seeking a ``dramatic
expansion" of possible remedies.
But the nine dissenting states told U.S. District Court Judge Colleen
Kollar-Kotelly that Microsoft had plenty of warning they would likely seek
broad conduct remedies.
``This motion is little more than a recycling of Microsoft's previously
rejected arguments for delay," the non-settling states said in their court
filing. Kollar-Kotelly is expected to rule quickly on the request.
Under the current timetable, Kollar-Kotelly plans to have remedy hearings
start on March 11. At about the same time, there would be separate hearings
into whether the proposed settlement is in the public interest.
The U.S. Justice Department and another nine of the 18 states in the
landmark case have agreed to a settlement that would, among other things,
require Microsoft to take steps to give computer makers more freedom to
feature rival software on their machines.
But the dissenting states say the settlement as currently written contains
too many loopholes and have proposed tougher sanctions against Microsoft
for violating antitrust law.
Those states want Kollar-Kotelly to order Microsoft to sell a cheaper,
stripped-down version of its Windows operating system and do more to reveal
the workings of Windows to competitors.
The case was filed back in May of 1998 and arose out of concern Microsoft
was attempting to thwart competition by integrating its Web browser into
Windows.
An appeals court in June upheld the original trial court's ruling that the
company had illegally maintained its monopoly in personal computer
operating systems.
``That Microsoft stands to benefit from delay is obvious," said the filing
from California, Connecticut, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts.
Minnesota, Utah, West Virginia and the District of Columbia.
``It is no surprise that Microsoft would like to continue to delay the
proceeding that most threatens to deprive it of the ability to engage in
the practices condemned as unlawful by the Court of Appeals," those states
said.
But Microsoft said it needs more time to prepare for the remedy hearings.
Company spokesman Jim Desler said the non-settling states had launched what
amounted to an entirely new case against Microsoft, even as it began
implementing parts of the proposed settlement.
``Microsoft can hardly be accused of delay, we're already implementing a
tough settlement that goes beyond the liability found by the appeals
court," Desler said.
But the non-settling states said many of the settlement's key provisions
will be ineffective for up to a year.
``We have proposed reasonable remedies and the judge has set a reasonable
schedule," Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller said in a statement. ``Let's
get on to the conclusion of this case so we can prevent further harm to
competition and consumers."
Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, New York, North
Carolina, Ohio and Wisconsin have agreed to join the settlement announced
between Microsoft and the Justice Department in November.
Microsoft Judge Sets January 7 Hearing
A federal judge on Wednesday scheduled a hearing for Monday on whether to
grant Microsoft Corp.'s request to delay hearings on what antitrust remedy
should be imposed on the company.
In a motion filed Dec. 21 with U.S. District Court Judge Colleen
Kollar-Kotelly, Microsoft had argued that it needed more time to prepare
because nine states in the case were seeking a ``dramatic expansion" of
possible sanctions.
The nine states that have rejected a proposed settlement reached between
the company, the U.S. Justice Department, and nine other states, have
argued against any delay.
Under the original timetable, laid out by the judge three months ago, the
remedy hearings were set to begin March 11. Tunney Act hearings into
whether the proposed settlement is in the public interest are due to be
held around the same time.
The timing of these separate hearings could be crucial to the outcome of
the case that is approaching its fourth year.
Legal experts have said approval of the settlement, far in advance of
hearings on further remedies, would make the dissenting states' effort much
more difficult.
An appeals court in June upheld findings that the company violated
antitrust law by illegally maintaining its monopoly in personal computer
operating systems. But it rejected breaking up the company as a remedy for
the illegal acts.
The proposed settlement would require Microsoft to take steps to give
computer makers more freedom to feature rival software on their machines
and share parts of the inner workings of Windows with other software
makers.
But the nine dissenting state attorneys general say the settlement is
inadequate, and have asked Kollar-Kotelly for tougher sanctions against the
company for illegally maintaining its monopoly in personal computer
operating systems.
These states want Kollar-Kotelly to order Microsoft to sell a cheaper,
stripped-down version of its Windows operating system and give competitors
access to the inner workings of the Internet Explorer browser.
In addition, the hold-out states want the judge to ensure that Microsoft
Office, the popular business software, will be compatible with other
software platforms.
Microsoft has told Kollar-Kotelly that the schedule ``should be amended in
view of the non-settling states' dramatic expansion of the scope of the
litigation beyond what the court reasonably could have anticipated three
months ago."
But the hold-out states urged the judge in a filing Monday not to delay the
remedy hearings, saying Microsoft had plenty of warning they would likely
seek broad conduct remedies.
Apple Promises New Products Will Best Rumors
Tight-lipped Apple Computer Inc. has stirred up a storm of speculation
about new products ahead of its major trade show next week by promising to
top the best that Internet rumor sites have dreamed up.
Frustrated and excited fans wonder if Apple is manipulating rumor-mongers
it has often ignored, as well as whether the company on Jan. 7 can surprise
the faithful, many of whom were disappointed by the relatively light set of
product announcements at the mid-2001 show.
The Apple Web site, http://www.apple.com, has teased for days that great
things are in store, promising Wednesday a Macworld San Francisco show,
``Beyond the rumor sites. Way beyond."
The main speculation ahead of the show on sites like
http://www.appleinsider.com is that Chief Executive Steve Jobs will
announced flat-panel LCD screens and a new design for the low-end iMac
desktop personal computer introduced in 1998. There was the same
speculation ahead of the mid-2001 show.
Jobs has pushed his keynote ahead by a day to Tuesday and now plans to
speak for a full two hours, increasing interest.
Apple rumor and news sites serve a huge audience of Macintosh enthusiasts
hungry for gossip about the latest sensation by the company known for both
its inventiveness and secretiveness.
In the past year, the sites have often managed to guess at the broad
outline of upcoming product launches, including the October launch of the
iPod, a portable, digital music player.
Some expect Apple to announce its next-generation G5 microchip, although
http://www.thinksecret.com predicts just an upgrade to the G4 chip that
would handily surpasses the clock speed barrier of 1 gigahertz, or 1
billion cycles per second.
A faster chip on the high-end desktop and a new iMac would complement the
make-over of Apple's notebook line last year.
Apple, which declined to comment on the products, has begun dropping big
hints ahead of launches.
``This one really takes the cake," said Mac Observer, www.macobserver.com,
commenting that the company had been stepping up the hype for its events
for six months.
``The rumors are flying and Apple has all but ensured that they will
continue to do so."
Apple launched its first consumer device in nearly a decade with the iPod
and Jobs said he was considering developing a Windows version of the
device.
The iPod links to the Macintosh through the iTunes software. That is based
on Apple's cross-platform QuickTime media player, which would allow Apple
to port the iPod to Windows, said financial analyst David Bailey of Gerard
Klauer Mattison.
Apple might also extend its vision of the personal computer as the hub of
the ``digital lifestyle" by introducing a consumer device for video,
Bailey speculated.
He raised Apple to Outperform from Neutral Wednesday, forecasting that Mac
fans would buy new gear with the maturation of OS X, the new operating
system announced last year, new desktop computers and a higher profile for
Apple thanks to its new retail stores.
But with the threat education spending could dip in the weak economy,
hurting a key Apple market, and the product transitions in store, Bailey
reduced his earnings per share forecast for fiscal 2002 by 3 cents to 52
cents, compared with Apple's 2001 loss of 27 cents, which was driven by a
first- quarter loss of 73 cents per share.
Apple, one of the first to feel the chill of the cooling economy in late
2000, suffered with the rest of the personal computer industry in 2001,
repeatedly cutting its sales forecast.
But the stock fared well, rising 45 percent and attracting investors with a
horde of cash worth more than half the current stock price and a strong
brand name.
It also introduced OS X, the most substantial upgrade to its operating
system since it introduced the Macintosh in 1984 and began touting the
personal computer as the digital hub.
Certainly Apple fans are salivating, even if they are wary of the hype.
``I hope I fall out of my chair and knock myself out," wrote "Antman" on
a MacObserver forum. ``Ok ... maybe not that last part, but Apple has its
work cut out."
Rumors Swirl Ahead of Macworld 2002: A Move to Intel?
As Macworld Expo 2002 approaches, the rumors swirling around Apple
Computer's upcoming product announcements have taken on an almost National
Enquirer-style frenzy.
And Apple's famed marketing honchos, who combine the spirits of Man Ray
and P.T. Barnum, are doing top-notch work in encouraging such activity. On
Friday, three days before Apple CEO Steve Jobs gives his keynote speech,
Apple's Web site flashed the message: "To go where no PC has gone before."
Most analysts agree that Jobs will announce an updated iMac with a
flat-panel screen, following the revelation last month that the company
began purchasing 15-inch LCD screens in bulk from a Taiwanese company.
Giga Information Group vice president and research fellow Rob Enderle told
NewsFactor that the product launch of the updated iMac is "a given."
A new PDA, called the iWalk by sources close to Apple, also seems likely,
although such a device might be a Palm variant, Enderle said.
Already, the Apple Web site boasts beta versions of a Palm Desktop that
works with Apple's UNIX-based OS X operating system.
Enderle also said he expects software vendors will announce updated
versions of their products as they show increasing support for Apple's new
OS. The launch of a Windows driver to operate Apple's new iPod is expected
to be among the announcements.
Announcing new software, however, is par for the course at Macworld,
according to Enderle.
"It would be more unusual for people not to be talking about it," he said.
Many other rumors, such as the possibility of a new G5 chip and an updated
iPod, have been circulating in the last several weeks. There also has been
speculation that Apple may introduce a digital camera, its first since the
ill-fated Quicktake, which, like the Newton PDA, may have been too far
ahead of its time.
Enderle said that such a camera might be an Apple-branded product produced
by another vendor. He added that people can expect more products along
these lines as Apple makes a strong push to become a broader consumer
player in the marketplace.
According to Enderle, Apple recently has been in talks with Sony, and the
companies may announce an alliance in the future.
"In many ways, Sony is the Wintel version of Apple, go[ing], with the
exception of the education market, after pretty much the same market
segments," said Enderle. "Both offer a high coolness factor and unique
aspects of usability. They are mirror images of each other."
There have even been reports that Sony might buy out Apple, but Enderle
told NewsFactor that such an announcement is unlikely.
Perhaps the most compelling buzz surrounding the upcoming show, however,
is the possibility that Apple might move its platform from the Motorola
PowerPC chip to Intel chips.
Although Enderle does not expect Jobs will surprise attendees with such an
announcement, switching to Intel could transform Apple's position in the
marketplace by removing the cost disadvantages it presently faces relative
to other PC makers.
Moving to Intel "would bring Apple nearly identical economies of scale,"
Enderle said. "The new OS is relatively portable since the UNIX kernel [on
which it is based] has been traditionally put on Intel."
If Apple were to make the switch, it could start seeing many more
converts, Enderle added.
"Their case design is second to none," he said. "I know people who buy
used Power Macs, pull the Mac stuff out and put Intel stuff in."
AOL Claims Fix for Instant Messenger Security Flaw
AOL announced Thursday that a security flaw in its popular Instant
Messenger (AIM) software has been repaired. The hole allegedly could have
allowed hackers to take control of a victim's computer remotely.
Company spokesman Andrew Weinstein told news sources that to the best of
AOL's knowledge, the flaw had never been accessed by hackers.
A group of volunteer "security researchers" claimed Wednesday that they
had discovered the security vulnerability in the Windows versions of the
AIM application.
The group, calling itself "w00w00" and led by Utah State University
student Matt Conover, found a buffer overflow that allowed hackers "remote
penetration of the victim's system without any indication as to who
performed the attack."
Moreover, the victim of the attack had no means to prevent it. Once the
hacker accessed the victim's computer remotely, he or she would have the
ability to turn the machine into a so-called "zombie."
AOL's Andrew Weinstein acknowledged the problem Wednesday and confirmed to
news sources that a resolution problem would be deployed, adding that the
company has no knowledge of the flaw impacting any of its users.
Weinstein said that AOL would encourage software programmers detecting any
future vulnerabilities to bring them to the company's attention before
releasing any applications that demonstrate the resultant security flaws.
But in his advisory, Conover countered AOL's argument.
"Whether or not security research teams release information on
vulnerabilities, it doesn't change the fact that the vendor produced
insecure software," said Conover. "Blaming security research teams for
releasing [such] information is a cop-out."
John Pescatore, research director for Internet security at Gartner, told
NewsFactor that the saddest part of this latest discovery is that buffer
overflow is "the world's oldest security flaw."
Pescatore said that the same basic security flaw plagued Microsoft's
Windows XP two weeks ago, and has been a continual problem for both
companies.
Said Pescatore: "In the consumer space, AOL and Microsoft have the same
constant rate of security problems. You'd think their software guys would
stop this [buffer overflow] vulnerability already."
Pescatore noted that the recent vulnerabilities exploited in both AIM and
Windows XP have to do with the plug-and-play aspects of both applications.
"What we've seen is vendors rushing to jam as many features as possible
into their programs and not doing the necessary security testing to
determine what security flaws exist.
The security problems are getting worse, not better, despite the adverse
publicity Microsoft and other major vendors have received over the past
eighteen months over such issues, Pescatore added.
"The bottom line is that these guys are not cleaning up their acts, and we
can probably expect some type of government regulation in the future,"
Pescatore said.
Pescatore pointed out that government regulation is the reason cars come
equipped with seatbelts and airbags today, and the reason Firestone was
required to recall tires on Ford Explorer SUVs.
"You wouldn't let Firestone tell its customers, 'Here's a patch you can
put on your tires,'" Pescatore said.
"But how do you put seatbelts on software?" he asked.
Utah Student Defends Handling of AIM Security Flaw
Brushing back criticism, a 19-year-old Utah college student said on
Thursday he revealed a security flaw in AOL's popular instant messaging
service because when he tried to tell the media giant privately, he was
ignored.
``We never expected it to get this much attention," said Matt Conover, the
college student and one of the founders of w00w00, which bills itself as
the world's largest non-profit security team with more than 30 members in
about nine countries.
The security flaw identified by the group, which issued a report to
security mailing lists, could allow a hacker to take control of computers
through an advanced game-playing feature in certain versions of the AOL's
Instant Messenger, or AIM.
The problem results when the application is flooded with more code than it
can handle, triggering a so-called ``buffer overflow" error and allowing
extraneous code to be executed.
There are about 100 million registered AIM users, 29 million of which are
active users, according to an industry report.
W00w00 revealed the flaw Wednesday morning on a security e-mail list and
America Online had a fix ready by Thursday morning, prompting Conover to
``commend AOL's quick response."
But Andrew Weinstein, a spokesman for AOL, the Internet unit of AOL Time
Warner Inc., criticized the group for failing to give AOL more time to
evaluate and fix the flaw before announcing it to the public.
``Most software companies would strongly encourage programmers not to do
that until they have notified the software company," he said.
The company fixed the problem on its AIM server so users did not have to
download a patch for their own computers or change their settings,
according to Weinstein.
``It was resolved within 24 hours. We heard no reports from users that
anyone was affected by it," he said.
Conover said he sent an e-mail around Dec. 25 to several AOL e-mail
addresses, including one listed on the AIM web site for reporting bugs.
He waited a week and when he heard nothing from AOL he announced the flaw
and released a ``proof of concept" to demonstrate the vulnerability, he
said.
``No matter how long we waited we weren't going to hear back from them,"
said Conover, who studies computer science and math at Utah State
University in Logan, Utah. ``I now have contacts at AOL."
Another security expert called w00w00 ``irresponsible" for releasing a
demonstration of the exploit before giving AOL time to act, but said it was
prudent to announce the flaw to warn users before a malicious hacker could
take advantage of it.
``AOL makes it extremely difficult to get a hold of anybody for anything to
do with security," said Russ Cooper, surgeon general of TruSecure Corp.
who runs the NTBugTraq e-mail list on which the AIM flaw was announced.
However, another expert said demonstrations of flaws are usually necessary
to prove that the problem is legitimate.
``Unless you can produce an exploit the company will say it's a theoretical
threat," said Nicholas Weaver, a computer science graduate student at
University of California Berkeley.
Conover and Weaver criticized software companies for writing programs that
are heavy on features and rushed to market, and thus less secure -- a
complaint routinely leveled against Microsoft.
``There needs to be more due diligence for the software engineering and
development cycle," said Conover. ``There isn't enough attention (paid) to
developing the product. It goes into meeting deadlines and adding
features."
New Worm Plagues Holiday E-Mail
Antivirus experts are hoping to stave off the spread of a destructive new
computer worm called Maldal.D, also known as ZaCker, which may be lurking
in the backlogs of holiday break e-mail.
A variant of the Maldal worm discovered last month, Maldal.D is similar to
a spate of recent computer viruses in its capability to delete antivirus,
firewall and other "critical system files," senior director of Symantec
Security Response Sharon Ruckman told NewsFactor.
Rated a three out of five threat, according to Ruckman, Maldal.D is not
yet widespread on home or business PCs, to which she credits solid
security practices and the updating of antivirus definitions before
workers started opening e-mail.
Still, the mass-mailing and destructive abilities of Maldal.D has caused
concern as home and business users began the new year poring through their
e-mail.
"Look at your own practices," she said. "Sometimes you just want to get
through [e-mail] as quickly as possible."
Like most others, the worm spreads itself through Outlook e-mail and
address books and contains e-mail messages such as "Test this game,"
"Surprise!!!," "Send it to everybody you love," "1+1=3" and "See this
file," among others.
Ruckman said the worm, e-mailed with an attachment, sends itself with the
regular subject line of the infected PC. When it relaunches as programmed,
the subject is changed to ZaCker.
Definitions for the virus -- the fingerprints used by virus fighters to
tag Internet threats -- were added December 29th. The best defense against
Maldal.D is to update antivirus protection, according to Ruckman.
In addition to spreading, the Maldal.D worm raises concern because of a
payload that deletes files, according to Symantec.
"The worm will do major damage on the machine by deleting a lot of files
with extensions such as .INI, .PHP, .EXE, .COM, .MPEG, .DAT, .ZIP, .TXT,
.EXE, .XLS, .DOC and .JPG," stated a Symantec advisory.
Ruckman said the worm can also delete antivirus, firewall and other
"critical system files."
"If you become infected, you may not be able to use your system," she
said.
Those destructive and disabling capabilities are the latest trend among
virus writers, who are increasingly targeting virus defense and other
security programs, as well as files whose deletion will crash the system.
"We've been seeing the deletion of files, and specifically the deletion of
antivirus files, in the last couple of months," Ruckman said, adding that
the Goner worm of last month was among the more successful at doing this.
"We've seen much more variants or new worms that have picked up that code
and are trying to do the same thing," she said.
In addition to the mass-mailing attack on computer systems, Ruckman told
NewsFactor that the latest worm marks another trend in the antivirus
community -- time off from school equals "script-kiddie" trouble.
"During the holidays and summer, when they're not in school, you see a
higher tendency for these types of things," she said.
Hackers Turn to Home Computers
Computer hackers, once satisfied to test their skills on large companies,
are turning their sights on home computers that are faster, more powerful
and less secure than ever before.
The hackers can steal your identity, destroy your data or use your computer
to launch attacks on Web sites or your friends.
``Home machines weren't very interesting targets a few years ago," said
Mikko Hypponen of antivirus company F-Secure in Finland. ``That's all
changed now."
Experts attribute the threat to several factors:
-Many home computers are now as powerful as business computers, with enough
memory and processing power to make them alluring staging areas for
wide-scale Internet attacks that affect other computers.
-A growing number are connected directly to the Internet through high-speed
DSL and cable lines that remain open all the time. Computers that are left
on around the clock are vulnerable.
-Unlike businesses with permanent security staff, most home users are slow
to secure their computers with the latest antivirus and firewall software
and to plug security holes by downloading the necessary fixes from software
makers such as Microsoft.
-Many home users are unaware of Internet threats and are too willing to
click on unsolicited e-mails that might be infected with malicious
programs.
``Home users have generally been the least prepared to defend against
attacks," Carnegie Mellon University's CERT (Computer Emergency Response
Team) Coordination Center warns. ``In many cases, these machines are then
used by intruders to launch attacks against other organizations."
Viruses and worms - which are viruses that don't need human intervention to
multiply - make up a large part of the new threats to home computers. In
the past year, users' computers have been infected with malicious programs
with catchy names like Code Red, Nimda, SirCam, Anna Kournikova and others
that could be spread through Internet e-mail or surfing.
Antivirus firm Message Labs reported that it detected one virus per 370
e-mails in 2001, double the rate of the previous year.
The potential damage from hackers is also growing.
Several years ago, virus writers were content to simply destroy data on a
computer.
Now they can imbed malicious programs that spy on users or steal their
identity, use personal computers to attack other systems and use your
e-mail address book to unwittingly infect the computers of friends.
Even the most savvy users have been victimized.
An FBI cybercrime researcher's computer infected with the SirCam program
sent out official documents that spread the virus - to the bureau's
embarrassment
The federal government is trying to better educate and insulate home users,
hoping it will slow the spread of Internet viruses or worms that could slow
the entire Internet and its e-commerce.
The outbreak of the Code Red Internet worm last summer sparked an
unprecedented show of force from government and private industry.
``We've never seen a virus before that would not affect end-user machines
at all, it just jumped from one Web server to another," Hypponen said.
``It really made Code Red more like a weapon than anything else."
Although home computers were not affected, the message government and
private security experts want home users to take from that threat is that
computer maintenance needs to become as routine as locking your house and
car.
Home users need to routinely update their antivirus and Internet firewall
software against the latest threats and check for software fixes that
software makers provide for free.
``If you've got a system out on the Net and it's not patched, there's a
very high degree of likelihood that literally in a matter of hours you'll
be popped," warned Amit Yoran of computer security firm Riptech.
New technologies will be at risk to hacking this year, Yoran cautioned.
Wireless networking, which is now so cheap and easy to use that consumer
models are growing popular, is especially vulnerable.
``The standard itself is insecure," Yoran said. In a large-scale test of
urban wireless networks done by Riptech, experts couldn't find a corporate
network they couldn't break into.
``What we're faced with is widespread adoption (of wireless networks)
throughout corporate America and throughout consumer markets and people
haven't really thought through how to protect," he said.
With more and faster computers on the horizon and no sign of hackers giving
up their pursuits, home users will have to take security more seriously.
``They think if they don't have any secrets, they aren't a target,"
Hypponen said. ``But it's not like that at all."
Tips to Protect Home Computers
By being diligent about computer security and following some simple tips,
you can better protect yourself from the things that go bump on the
Internet.
-Use strong passwords. Choose passwords that are difficult or impossible to
guess. Mix up letters and numbers in your passwords, and use a different
password for each account. Never write your password down on a piece of
paper.
-Make regular backups of critical data. Backups must be made at least once
each day. Larger organizations should perform a full backup weekly and
incremental backups every day. At least once a month the backup media
should be verified.
-Buy and use virus protection software. That means three things: having it
on your computer, checking daily for new virus signature updates, and then
scanning all the files on your computer periodically.
-Use a firewall program as a gatekeeper between your computer and the
Internet. Firewalls are usually software products. They are essential for
those who keep their computers online through the popular DSL and cable
modem connections but they are also valuable for those who dial in.
-Do not open e-mail attachments from strangers, regardless of how enticing
the subject line or attachment may be. Be suspicious of any unexpected
e-mail attachment from someone you do know because it may have been sent
without that person's knowledge from an infected machine.
-If you get an e-mail that warns about a virus, visit an antivirus company
Web site first to check whether it is a hoax. Do not forward virus hoax
e-mails.
-Regularly download security patches from your software vendors, especially
from your operating system vendor, such as Microsoft.
California Court Upholds State's 'Anti-Spam' Law
A California appeals court has upheld a state ``anti-spam" law protecting
consumers from junk e-mail, a decision activists hailed on Friday as an
important step toward regulating commercial pitches made through the
Internet.
In a unanimous ruling, a three-judge panel of the state appeals court said
California may require Internet "spammers" to identify e-mails as
advertisements and provide ways for recipients to get off e-mail lists.
``This says that the Internet is not a lawless Wild West," John Mozena, a
spokesman for the Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email, said on
Friday.
``The court said that when real people are engaged in real business using
the Internet, they have to follow fundamental tenets of ethical business
practices," he said.
The appeals court ruling, issued on Wednesday, marked the first higher
court decision on the validity of California's 1998 law. California is one
of 18 U.S. states to have laws regulating unwanted commercial e-mail, and
similar legislation has been proposed in the U.S. Congress.
Defendants in the California case -- two Silicon Valley companies charged
with ``spamming" a Sonoma County man -- argued that the state's law should
be found unconstitutional because it interfered with interstate commerce.
That interpretation had been upheld by a San Francisco Superior Court judge
in 2000.
But the state appeals court panel disagreed, saying the legislation clearly
was aimed at individuals and entities that do business in California, use
equipment located in the state and send unsolicited e-mail ads to
California residents.
``We find that California has a substantial legitimate interest in
protecting its citizens from the harmful effects of deceptive unsolicited
commercial e-mail," Justice Paul Haerle wrote in the court's opinion.
Haerle said ``spam" clearly costs California consumers both time as they
read and delete the e-mail advertisements and potentially money in the form
of higher Internet service fees charged to defray the costs of the spam
traffic.
Lawyers for the defendants, Friendfinders Inc. and Conru Interactive,
criticized the decision as adding a new layer of regulation to business
conducted over the Internet.
But they said they did not intend to appeal the decision, preferring to go
to trial to defend the companies against charges that they violated the
1998 law.
Some AOL Members Hit Wall With XP
A technical glitch is preventing some people who use Microsoft's Windows
XP operating system from connecting to America Online's high-speed cable
service, an AOL spokesman said Thursday.
The glitch has affected a "very small number" of AOL members who are
accessing the Internet through the Time Warner Cable service with
computers running Windows XP, said AOL spokesman Andrew Weinstein.
"We are currently working with Microsoft to quickly address the issue," he
said.
The glitch will be fixed within the next two weeks, according to
Weinstein. In the meantime, AOL has implemented a different configuration
to restore connections for cable users affected by the problem.
Weinstein would not say whether the glitch was an issue with Windows XP,
AOL or Time Warner Cable. A Microsoft representative was not immediately
available for comment.
Over the past few months, AOL has been introducing its high-speed access
in cities served by Time Warner Cable, the nation's second-largest cable
network. AOL and Time Warner Cable are business divisions of media giant
AOL Time Warner.
AOL Time Warner has touted its ability to sell AOL with its cable service
subscriptions. AOL executives have noted that the company's acquisition of
Time Warner gives it a powerful means for selling broadband versions of
its online service to connected households.
Microsoft unveiled Windows XP, its controversial new operating system, in
October.
One AOL user near Tampa, Fla., who asked not to be named, said the
connection worked when he tried connecting through a computer running
Windows Me.
"AOL tech support representatives told me numerous people were having this
problem," the AOL customer added.
Group Offers Amnesty to Software Pirates
The Business Software Alliance, the main software trade group enforcing
license and copyright restrictions, is offering a limited amnesty program
this month to businesses using illegally copied software.
Under the program, businesses can conduct a software audit and begin
paying proper license fees for all applications in use without the threat
of penalties for past use, which can run as high as $150,000 for each
incident of copyright infringement.
According to a recent BSA study, one out of every four copies of software
used in the United States is illegal, which translates to an annual loss
to software makers of $2.6 billion.
Violations most typically consist of copying software from one business PC
to another without payment of extra license fees to the software
publisher.
"For the most part, the problem exists because people just aren't paying
attention to whether their software is properly licensed or not," said Bob
Kruger, the BSA's vice president of enforcement.
"A lot of these businesses are good, well-managed companies. They pay
their taxes; they obey OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health
Administration) rules. When they need a new PC, they wouldn't steal one
off a truck. Yet when they need software, they see nothing wrong with
making illegal copies."
Laura DiDio, a software analyst for Giga Information Group, agreed that
improperly copied software is a widespread problem in American business.
"At least 90 percent of the companies I speak with have some exposure (to
liability) due to noncompliant software," she said, blaming increasingly
complex licensing rules that have to be enforced by overworked corporate
information-technology staffs.
Most companies, she said, don't go far enough in their management of IT
assets and are careless in their procurement practices--forgetting, for
example, to buy access licenses.
"It's a lot of sloppiness," DiDio said. "I don't see in the corporate
world a deliberate trend to avoid software licensing."
Under the BSA amnesty program, businesses using the organization's Web
site or calling the group, at 877-536-4272, are provided with tools to
inventory all software in use. The business can then pay appropriate
license fees without penalties for previous copyright infractions.
The program is valid through Jan. 31 in the following regions, where the
BSA has sent promotional materials to more than 800,000 businesses:
Billings, Bozeman and Missoula, Mont.; Houston; Indianapolis; Nashville,
Tenn.; Norfolk and Richmond, Va.; Orlando, Fla.; and the San Francisco Bay
Area.
Amnesty programs have been offered in 28 other cities since the BSA began
such programs in August 2000. "Over time we expect we will have these in
just about every major market," Kruger said.
Kruger characterized the amnesty program as a more friendly "carrot"
approach, compared with the more typical "stick" of the BSA's widely
publicized software raids, which have resulted in $68 million in penalties
against businesses ranging from Fortune 500 companies to local mom-and-pop
stores.
"We tend to get more coverage and press for our enforcement actions,"
Kruger said. "In a way, this (program) is really the other side of the
coin. We're saying, 'Take advantage of this opportunity so you can avoid
starring in a BSA press release about an enforcement action against your
company.'"
Kruger said software audits are more common than most business executives
believe, thanks in no small part to a growing trend of disgruntled
ex-workers calling in tips to copyright enforcers.
"Unless you have no current or former unhappy employees and don't expect
to have any in the future, you're one phone call away from a BSA
investigation," Kruger said.
DiDio agreed that the amnesty program could convince more businesses to
update their software licensees.
"I like the idea of amnesty," she said. "If for no other reason, it
provides a good opportunity for people to do some self-examination and
self-policing."
But she doubted the program would lead to any widespread trend of
businesses opening their records for software audits.
"There is a natural level of suspicion between the corporate community and
the BSA and the (software) vendor community," DiDio said. "What everybody
is afraid of, rightly or wrongly, is that if they have an audit, somehow
Big Brother is going to get in and people outside their business are going
to see more than they should."
For Yahoo, Web a Portal to New Businesses
Since its inception in 1994 as "Jerry's Guide to the World Wide Web,"
Yahoo has made a name for itself, and attracted millions of Internet users
all over the world, with a massive list of categorized Web sites and free
services.
But after scooping up much of the available traffic on the Web using that
strategy, it is struggling to make money.
Now, with more than $1 billion in cash, it's launched an aggressive
strategy to acquire surviving dot-coms at bargain prices in businesses from
job postings to music.
The Internet media giant is reinventing itself into a diversified business
whose fortune is tied less to advertising, signing several deals in two
months, and muscling its way through the Internet sector in search of more
opportunities.
Indeed, the company has grown so quickly that some worry it might run into
problems. They say Yahoo now faces the challenge of converting the new
partnerships and acquisitions into profits.
``They have their plate relatively full," CIBC Internet analyst John
Corcoran said. ``I think it's fair to state they have a lot of execution
risk right now."
In its latest move -- it snatched up HotJobs.com Inc. away from its
original suitor TMP Worldwide Inc. with a $436 million offer approved
Thursday -- Yahoo is showing that it will flex its wide-ranging assets and
cash to grasp onto Web businesses it believes can thrive in the
post-meltdown Internet era.
In two months, Yahoo has linked up with U.S. No. 2 local telephone company
SBC Communications Inc. in a joint venture in high-speed Internet access,
and Internet search engine company Overture Services Inc. to include paid
advertisers in its search results.
Yahoo also has picked up Launch Media Inc., which has led to a new Yahoo
music site that will help it compete with AOL Time Warner Inc. and
Microsoft Corp. in the increasingly hot online music business.
Opening up the door to partnerships or mergers with other companies that
want to maintain their own brand names, Yahoo did not impose its own name
on Launch as it did after its acquisition of GeoCities, an online
communities service, and Broadcast.com, which streams audio and video over
the Web.
Yahoo is also participating in the fee-based digital music offering
Pressplay, which is jointly owned by Vivendi's Universal Music Group and
Sony Music Entertainment.
The moves are all part of Chief Executive Terry Semel's plan laid out at a
November analysts' meeting, which called for an equal balance of revenues
from advertising and services.
In its earlier days, Yahoo was all about traffic and stickiness, adding a
host of free services, including online yellow pages, news, e-mail and
chats.
Founded by Stanford University Ph.D students David Filo and Jerry Yang,
Yahoo ripped through corporate conventions with a young management team
that took the company public in 1996.
Showing their contempt for traditional business, the founders have given
the definition of a ``yahoo" as ``rude, unsophisticated" and ``uncouth",
according to Yahoo's Web site.
With the bursting of the dot-com bubble and the onset of the worst
advertising slump in recent history, Yahoo's popularity could no longer
guarantee continued and growing profits. On a split-adjusted basis, the
stock fell from as high as $250 to as low as $25 over last year.
A weakened ad market led Yahoo to alter its strategy from a be-all free
online services company to one that survives on a combination of ads and
paid services.
``I represent a company that's basically a free company supported by
advertising," Greg Coleman, Yahoo's executive vice president of North
American operations, said at an ad industry conference earlier this month.
``We are trying to get more money from premium operations."
As it seeks new partners, Yahoo brings with it a massive following with
sites in a dozen languages and cash holdings that, as of September 30,
reached $1.7 billion.
Henry Blodget, the outgoing Internet analyst at Merrill Lynch, said Yahoo
may now go after the real estate listings business by picking up
Homestore.com Inc., which has been bleeding money, along with smaller
dot-com companies.
Blodget -- one of the biggest cheerleaders of the Internet sector during
the dot-com boom -- said Yahoo and the dot-com companies overall could
start to see renewed growth following a brutal phase that saw the demise of
many Internet companies.
``Darwin did his thing, and now the industry can move on to a more mature
phase," Blodget said. ``Growth from here, at Yahoo and other companies,
will likely be more gradual but steady for the next several years."
Yahoo has also been seen as a potential acquisition target for other media
and technology companies including the likes of Walt Disney Co., Microsoft
Corp., Terra Lycos and USA Interactive.
The appointment of former Hollywood studio executive Terry Semel to head up
Yahoo earlier this year has only sparked more speculation that he may be
preparing the Internet media giant for a partnership with a media company.
Some industry consultants have suggested that Yahoo may sell off pieces of
its business to interested parties.
Barry Diller, trying to build his interactive commerce platform at USA
Interactive, may be a possible partner to Yahoo, or one of its rivals.
Diller may focus on local services, expanding on his CitySearch and
Ticketmaster assets, analysts said. Yahoo, with its win over TMP Worldwide
to buy HotJobs.com, will also look to
build that area -- one that many,
including large newspapers, have characterized as a strong growth
opportunity.
=~=~=~=
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