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Atari Online News, Etc. Volume 03 Issue 46
Volume 3, Issue 46 Atari Online News, Etc. November 16, 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
Thomas J. Andrews -- "Keeper of the Flame"
With Contributions by:
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Visit the Atari Advantage Forum on Delphi!
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=~=~=~=
A-ONE #0346 11/16/01
~ Video Game War Grows! ~ People Are Talking! ~ Xbox Debuts!
~ Enzi's New Net Tax Plan ~ Dot-Com Stunts Dead?! ~ Net Tax Ban Renewed!
~ Keeper of the Flame! ~ GameCube This Weekend! ~ Get Rid of Viruses!
~ Computer Worms Mystery ~ New Opera Windows Beta ~ Hewlett Proxy Fight?
-* U.S. Defends Case Settlement *-
-* Online Privacy Shifts To Security! *-
-* As Free Goes To Fee, Internet Users Say No *-
=~=~=~=
->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
This week, we welcome back T.J. Andrews and his "Keeper of the Flame"
column. As TJ explains, there were good reasons why we haven't seen him for
awhile. It's great to have him back within the pages of A-ONE again!
Before I forget, Delphi users just learned that there will be some major
changes to the system, especially if you are a DelphiPlus member. While
I'll be relaying the details in next week's issue, a significant change to
happen over the next couple of months is the change to Delphi's domain name.
Instead of delphi.com, it will be delphiforums.com. So, any e-mail
addresses or web sites pertaining to a current Delphi site must be updated
to reflect the new domain name. The Delphi pages for A-ONE and the Atari
Advantage Forum urls have been updated in our masthead above. Please make
the corrections in your address books and bookmarks!
I came across a couple of articles this week that were similar in nature,
pertaining to the growing trend of a number of dot-com services, etc.
starting to charge for something that, up to now, had been free. There are
a number of factors for this growing trend, but I'd imagine that a large
portion is due to the continued downhill slide of the dot-com world. What
is not surprising, as these studies show, is that users are not succumbing
to spending the money to continue to use these services. In fact, the
majority of affected users are simply going elsewhere and finding comparable
or better services, and still getting them for free.
Does that surprise you? It certainly doesn't me! Users already pay a good
amount of money for internet service - their ISP and whatever. Do people
really think that the users are going to pay for content when there are many
other sites offering it for free? Let's get real here, folks!
Want to know what I feel is the root cause for so many dot-coms going down
the tubes? Well, I'll tell you anyway! Greed. The internet became a huge
fad overnight. It also became an incredible money-maker. Millionaires,
even billionaires, were created instantly. I'm not talking about longtime
businessmen making it big, but 18- and 19-year olds with some good ideas
that blossomed on the web quickly. More and more people got "the bug" and
tried the same. The internet exploded with popularity and money was rolling
in by the truckloads to these new internet entrepreneurs. And many went
from rags, to riches, back to rags.
And now the ones closing in on the brink of disaster are looking to make the
end user pay. And some are looking to gain more wealth by doing the same.
Forget it. Users aren't stupid, at least most of them. I have little
sympathy for these dot-com companies. Don't expect me to pay for something
that you were giving away for free, especially without doing anything to
improve upon what you were giving away.
You'll find these two studies elsewhere in this week's issue. Although not
overly surprising, the news is interesting. I'd like to hear what you think
about it.
Otherwise, it's been fairly uneventful this week. Not a lot of news out of
COMDEX yet. But, it appears that due to the recent events throughout the
world, the show is smaller than usual. When I come across some interesting
reports, I'll bring them to you.
The holiday season is rapidly approaching. The trees around here are almost
devoid of leaves. I figure I have one more pass to make around the yard to
complete the cycle of cleaning them all up! I think I've cleaned the yard
up three times already; I'm hoping that this weekend will be the end of it.
Then I can get the new snowblower ready for the inevitable!
I hope that everyone has a terrific Thanksgiving next week. We'll be going
to my in-laws this year, so no leftovers for me this year! That's going to
hurt! I think I may just buy a small turkey in the next couple of weeks
just so I can have those leftovers!
Until next time...
=~=~=~=
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
compiled by Joe Mirando
joe@atarinews.org
Hidi ho friends and neighbors. Well, my ISPs' news servers are back up
and running now.
Wouldn't you just know it?.... Both news servers went back online
within an hour of me turning in last week's "column". Sometimes that's
just the way it goes.
The difficulties with my new job are levelling off now, and things are
coming along nicely. It's still a lot of work, but I'm getting more
accustomed to it.
Y'know, it's been a while since I mentioned SETI@Home, hasn't it? Well,
TEAM ATARI has so far contributed almost 59 years of CPU time to the
search for extraterrestrial intelligence, searching for intelligent
signals in over 37 thousand units of data. And there are only 49 of us
participating. 49 Atari users, that is. The entire SETI@Home project is
composed of 3.3 million computer users.
If you are interested in the possibility of helping to look for "ET",
go to
http://iosef.ssl.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/cgi?cmd=team_lookup&name=Team+Atari
and take a look at the TEAM ATARI stats. After that, swing by
http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/ and see how easy it is to join up
and have your computer start searching the skies. C'mon, ET is waiting!
<grin>
Well, let's get to the news, hints, tips, and info from the UseNet.
From the comp.sys.atari.st NewsGroup
====================================
Martin Tarenskeen posts this about a program whose name is the same as
one of my computer "handles":
"I downloaded the new Porthos v1.25 update on http://www.dsd.net and
gave this PDF viewer a second try. The previous version wouldn't start
on my MiNT/N.AES Falcon.
This one does. That's better! But I can't load the manual.pdf file: It
starts loading but crashes with a BUS ERROR before I can see and read
it. Then I tried loading and reading some very small readme.pdf files I
had somewhere. More success here. It loads faster than with
Ghostscript/GEMGS but the fonts don't look just as good. Does not
surprise me: for ghostscript a big folder with many fonts is installed,
whereas porthos only has a font folder with a small number of fonts.
Bigger and more serious pdf files won't load on my 14 MB Falcon030
(yet?).
Please try 1.25 on your system and react in this newsgroup and to
Porthos' author"
Jorgen Nyberg tells Martin:
"A little tip that sometimes help with troublesome pdf-files. Try
drag'n'drop, sounds strange, but sometimes that helps."
Peter West adds:
"Yes, and also try it with the minimum number of AUTO folder and
START folder programs. I found my crashing was due to DOCK.APP in
my START folder - removing it cured the crashes.
I also found that in mono resolutions 5 of the icons were the
same! They are different in 16-colour and up. The author is aware
of it and hopes to have a fix for this soon."
Derryck Croker adds his thoughts:
"I can't see any reason why Porthos cannot have an option to use fonts
stored on another partition, the current situation is more than a
little silly.
I've copied aliases of my PS fonts into Porthos' font folder, but it
hasn't really brought any benefits to the few PDF files that I've been
able to try.
Summary, it still needs some work!"
Edward Baiz adds some more:
"This version acts much the same on my Hades as did the last version.
The author stated that 1.25 will now run under N.AES, but I had already
gotten 1.0 to run under N.AES/Mint/MintNet. The manual.pdf gave me the
same results. It loads and runs under Magic, but under Mint/MintNet I
loads up in color, so it looks like a setup problem on my part which I
am looking into. Small PDF files fun fine. I loaded in a 1.2meg PDF
that had graphics and it loaded fine. I then chose a 9meg pdf with
graphics. The first page loaded in fine, but when I chose another page,
it comes up for about 1-2 seconds and then I get a runtime error and am
returned to the desktop. I have 250meg in my Hades, so it does not look
like a memory problem.
I downloaded a book in pdf form (about 900k). It loads just fine, but
it looks
like the graphics do not show up. The print shows up and sometimes that
big gaps and I assume they are for the graphics. I found out if you try
to go to the next page before the present page loads, the program
hangs, but does not crash the computer.
Has anyone gotten the Thumbnail option to work? I see from looking at
the manual that you can display the thumbnails, but I cannot seem to
get them to show. It would help if we had an English manual.
Has anyone exported any images? I have the demo to Papillon. Pressing
the Shift key and holding down a mouse key brings up a box with options
one being to export images. It then looks for the Papillon program.
When I click on the Papillon program, it loads, but nothing else
happens. I guess this happens because of the fact that it is a demo.
I am still satisfied with the program. Most of the PDF's work fine. It
is the because of the much bigger PDF's, that Porthos needs an
adjustment."
Hugh Falk asks about running his favorite game on an emulator:
"Has anybody been able to get Epyx's Rogue to run under an emulator? I
can't.
I have an original Rogue disk . However, I'm trying to use a disk
image I
found on the net. The game seems to run fine, but after a couple of
levels
you will always die and instead of your name on the tombstone it will
say
"Pirate, scum of the earth."
The problem is that the ST disk SEEMS easy to copy...and the game runs.
But
the game recognizes that the disk is not an original and kills you and
calls
you a pirate.
I'd like to solve this in 1 of 2 ways:
1) Ideally I want an image of Rogue that works properly with emulators.
Then I can just play it under Winston or Steem. Could somebody point
me to one?
2) Optionally I can use my original ST Rogue disk with an emulator.
However, neither Winston nor Steem seem to support this. I remember
Pacifist supporting this, but I can no longer get Pacifist to work under
Window Me. Is there another Windows Me compatible emulator out there
that can read ST disks from the PC drive? Does this feature even work
right in Pacifist?"
Edward Baiz tells Hugh:
"I have found that Rogue likes to run under Regular TOS, so try setting
your emulator to that. Under anything about regular TOS, Rogue runs,
but with problems."
Ken Kosut asks for help with MagiC and XBoot:
"I recently installed Magic 6.01
I have a set that boots Magic and NVDI.
When Magic boots, it goes through a reset, then comes back
into XBoot. But at this point, I am unable to use the mouse in Xboot.
I let it go (till the bar disappears) then it boots Magic and NVDI
and I see the desktop with the icons I have assigned.
Why does Magic go through a reset?
I also cannot seem to assign a program to boot in Xboot.
Seems like I have to wait for the desktop, then go to the program
that I want to use manually. Is there a work around for this?"
Lyndon Amsdon tells Ken:
"This is fine if you run different MAgic setups, but this is not the
way to do it as MAgic installs itself, so you can not select to go to a
TOS or Mint setup, or even Linux for that matter. The booter should be
the first thing to load, well, just after the hard disk driver."
Fred Horvat tells Ken:
"My understanding of the reset is to remove TOS from RAM and to load
MagiC, which is the reason for the 2 boots."
Paul Williamson adds:
"I have overcome this problem with the use of an AUTOEXEC.BAT file in
the Auto folder. The problem is that I can't remember the details of
how I did it - someone better informed than me told me at the time. I
think I have simply listed the PRGs I want loaded (which does not
include XBOOT) and MagiC reads this file. I have XBOOT as the second
programme in my Auto folder, before MAGXBOOT.
I can select a set in XBOOT which will load MagiC and then it loads
without going into XBOOT again, so it can be done."
Well folks, that's all I've got for this time around. Tune in again
next week, same time, same station, and be ready to listen to what they
are saying when...
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
=~=~=~=
Keeper of the Flame
by Thomas J. Andrews
tj@atarinews.org
I'm back. I'll bet a number of you thought I was gone for good. I suppose I
can't blame you. When last I wrote I had just started using a Windows PC.
Like many before me, I swore that I wasn't giving up my Atari equipment.
Then, I disappeared. You nodded knowingly, then shook your heads. You'd
seen it all before, you thought.
Well, if you did think that way, you were wrong. My absence was
precipitated by a life-and-death surgical situation with my father.
Assisting with his care during recovery and keeping up with my work as
a farmer took its toll, and something had to give. This column, along with
several other things I do in my spare time, had to be put on hold for a
while.
But, that was before. The growing season in my part of the world is over
for this year, and that frees up a significant block of my time. Dad is
still recovering, but is much better than he was a few months ago. I still
have several things I need to catch up, but I now feel I can spare the time
necessary to prepare this column in the way it deserves.
Oh, and for the record, my original Atari 800 is still set up and
functional, as is my Mega STE. In fact, I'm typing this on the Mega STE
now. But enough of that. I have a great deal of work ahead of me to get
back up to speed on the latest 8-bit news, but in the meantime here is the
web site of the month:
Atari Archives
http://www.atariarchives.org
Kevin Savetz is at it again! You may remember Kevin from my first A-ONE
article in which I showcased atarimagazines.com, where work is in progress
to archive the contents of Antic and other Atari-related national magazines
of the past. Atari Archives is dedicated to saving other Atari 8-bit
publications from disappearing altogether.
So far, the archives contain these treasures:
The complete text of Mapping The Atari, by Ian Chadwick. This book was
absolutely essential to anyone serious about programming the Atari 8-bit.
There were tips, tricks, and information in this book you just couldn't
find anywhere else, or if you could, it wasn't nearly as concise and well
laid-out. My own dog-eared copy was never far from my fingertips.
The complete text of Atari Graphics and Arcade Design, by Jeffery Stanton
with Dan Pinal. This book was nearly as essential to the game programmer
as Mapping The Atari. The mysteries of player/missile graphics, vertical
blank interrupts, display lists, and other aspects that made the 8-bit such
a fine game machine are fully explained so even the novice can understand.
Other programmers can benefit, too, because the characteristics that made
the Atari 8-bit a good game machine also made it one of the best in its
class for more serious applications.
Disk newsletters from the Ol' Hackers Atari User Group (OHAUG). This
section is near and dear to my heart, as I had a part in creating the
software for this unique disk-based newsletter. Newsletters from
July/August 1990 to the final issue of October/November/December 2000 are
archived here, ready for download in either ATR or DCM format. Each
newsletter contains a President's Message/Editorial(Alex Pignato held both
positions of President and Newsletter Editor for many years), meeting
minutes from the meetings since the last newsletter, reports on the
contents of exchange newsletters, and articles of general interest. Each
disk had at least one featured BASIC program that could be run directly
from the newsletter program by just pressing the space bar, and usually had
several others as well. For those who want to remember the way things were
at Atari user group meetings, the minutes alone are worth the download.
The Official Cleveland Free-Net Atari SIG Archive. The Cleveland Free-Net
was one of the oldest Atari presences on the Internet, back in the days
before the World Wide Web and graphic browsers, when the Internet was the
domain of universities and the military. The Free-Net was a telnet site,
open to anyone with an Internet connection. Through it you could access the
Usenet newsgroup comp.sys.atari.8-bit, as well as a bulletin board-like
forum of its own. The Atari SIG contained information on both the 8- and
16-bit Atari computers. The Free-Net lasted a long time, but the
combination of Y2K non-compliance and interest in the Web finally drew
enough people away so that it closed September 30, 1999. All of the
information contained in the Atari SIG is archived here, ready for
download by those who want to see what the Internet was originally meant to
be like.
The Atari Program Exchange Archive. APX was unique among home computers.
Programmers would submit programs to Atari and those worthy would be sold
by Atari, with a royalty going to the programmer. Excellent programs came
from the Exchange, many that would have been good enough for commercial
production. APX ended sometime before the Tramiels took over Atari, and
many of the programs drifted off into obscurity. Kevin is attempting to
contact the authors of these programs and put them here in the archive for
download. Several of the old favorites are here already, like Getaway! and
Snark Hunt.
There are also some development manuals and presentations, as well as
several of Carolyn Hoglin's articles on AtariWriter. Coming soon is
Compute's First Book of Atari Graphics, and I'm sure there are other
projects in the works.
There seems to be no end to Kevin's effort to save Atari 8-bit publications
from disappearing forever. Please visit his sites and visit them often.
Devotion like his needs to be recognized and acknowledged. Be sure to let
him know his work is appreciated. He is Keeping a Flame of his own.
--
TJ
Keeper of the Flame
&
Atari Computer Enthusiast of Syracuse
=~=~=~=
->In This Week's Gaming Section - Xbox Debuts! GameCube Next!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Let The Game Wars Begin!
Dark Summit!
And more!
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News - The Latest Gaming News!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
THQ Ships "Dark Summit" for Xbox and PlayStation 2
THQ Inc. announced the release of ``Dark Summit", the first ever
mission-based snowboarding game.
Dark Summit ships today as a launch title for the Xbox videogame system
from Microsoft and is scheduled to release for the PlayStation 2 computer
entertainment system on Nov. 27.
``As a day and date launch title for Xbox and a top-quality release for the
PlayStation 2, 'Dark Summit' is an original THQ title that showcases the
power of both systems," said Alison Locke, Executive Vice President, North
American Publishing, THQ. ``'Dark Summit' features groundbreaking game
design that truly expands the genre and delivers a fresh take on what's
expected from the sport of snowboarding."
``Dark Summit" immerses players in a completely unique experience as the
first action-adventure snowboarding game to feature an in-depth story line
and a series of mission-based objectives. As the game's main character
Naya, a rebellious female snowboarder, players will encounter a variety of
diverse challenges such as escaping an angry ski patrol, collecting items
and performing death-defying, high-flying maneuvers. With more than 45
challenges on massively sized runs, players must earn points to reach the
top of the summit, which has been mysteriously closed by the military. It
will take every ounce of strategy and skill to defeat the crafty Chief
O'Leary, who will stop at nothing to protect Mt. Garrick's secret.
Developed by Radical Entertainment, Ltd., ``Dark Summit" takes place on
Mt. Garrick, a once quiet and peaceful ski resort where snowboarders have
never felt welcome. Chief O'Leary has led the charge against boarders by
closing the summit and is trying desperately to drive them off the mountain
altogether. Gamers will shred and jib their way through this military
conspiracy on several massive runs. As Naya, players will work to earn lift
and equipment points to unlock restricted areas of the mountain in order to
discover the true secret behind ``Dark Summit." The game will also be
available for Nintendo GameCube in the first quarter of 2002.
The Video Game War Grows
With $1 billion on the table, and uncertainty growing about consumer
spending this holiday season, the race to market Microsoft's Xbox, Sony's
PlayStation 2 and Nintendo's GameCube consoles is more than just fun and
video games.
From television and magazine ads to showcasing gimmicks of fans willing to
eat worms for a new video-game console, Microsoft Corp., Nintendo Corp. and
Sony Corp. have embarked on an expensive triple-play of marketing might,
hoping to score high in the $20 billion-a-year gaming industry.
The lion's share of the promotional loot will pour from the pockets of
Microsoft, the rookie in the gaming world, which has earmarked $500 million
to shower the globe with the gospel of its high-powered system, Xbox.
``The $500 million is an unprecedented amount of money," GarnerG2 analyst
P.J. McNealy said of Microsoft's plan.
``Couple that with Nintendo and the money Sony is spending, then take what
all the channel partners are spending, and we are looking at a $1 billion
marketing campaign to sell consoles and software," he said.
Microsoft's primary targets are young, mostly male, "hard-core" gamers:
old enough to buy their own video games, but no so old as to have to wear a
tie to work everyday. The ads will be unconventional and edgy in tone, and
focused more on the games than the box, in hopes of spurring buzz.
A cadre of excited youths, spreading the word of an "awesome" game to
their peers is priceless for game software publishers, box makers, and
retailers alike.
Many got their first taste in recent months, elbowing their way toward
playable standing Xbox kiosks in thousands of retail outlets around the
United States before the anticipated Nov. 15 launch of the console.
Up to 20 Xbox games will be available when the console goes on shelves,
ranging in theme from football action title ``Madden NFL 2002," to
outer-space shoot-em-up ``Halo." Nintendo expects to have five to seven
games for its Nov. 18 GameCube launch and 20 by year end, while Sony says
it will have more than 200 by early next year.
``With video games, one of the most compelling things is the hands on,
especially with young kids," said independent gaming industry analyst
Chris Byrne. ``Hands-on works: you can't get it from TV, you can't get it
from print."
``That's most important with Microsoft right now because they don't have
the brand momentum," he said.
Events like the 48-hour ``Xbox Unleashed" event in Los Angeles last week
are part of Microsoft's youth-marketing strategy, which includes a Taco
Bell giveaway contest and a nationwide truck tour intended to show off the
console and develop prelaunch hype.
At ``Unleashed," game players, immersed in thumping electronic dance
music, sat glued on a small stage, playing the same games over and over in
a effort to rack up points and win an Xbox. One player, according to a
Microsoft spokesman, flew in from Korea with nothing but a passport, came
to the event to play, and then planned to fly home.
No matter the size of the ad budget, success in the gaming arena depends on
having compelling games to play. For its part Sony -- the undisputed leader
in the gaming arena whose ``PS2" model has sold more than 5 million
consoles -- is banking on games to retain its dominance.
``We are using content to communicate and solidify the PlayStation 2's
position in the market," said Sony spokeswoman Molly Smith. ``We have been
fortunate that we don't need to use gimmicks to help generate awareness for
PS2."
Retailers surveyed in October said they expected PlayStation 2, which
launched in November of last year, to be the best-selling video game
console this holiday season.
Sony is therefore casting its net at a wider audience, hoping to reel in a
group that generally ignores the gaming experience: women. Part of the $250
million Sony is spending on promotions will be ad campaigns in popular
women's magazines such as Elle, Better Homes & Gardens and Shape.
Analysts suggest that while there is little chance girls will stampede into
the network of game-mad teen boys, incremental interest could boost Sony's
wide lead. What's more, they suggest the ads increase the exposure of
Sony's consoles as holiday gifts.
``Buy it for dad. Buy it for your boyfriend -- he wants it much more than a
cordless screwdriver," Byrne said.
At $75 million, Nintendo's GameCube budget is dwarfed by Microsoft, but the
company is expected to ship about the same number of boxes -- 1 million --
by year-end. GameCube is expected to benefit from loyalty to brands aimed
at adolescents, such as Pokemon and Mario Brothers.
But excitement surrounding GameCube spawns from fans of all ages, thanks to
some of Nintendo's carnival-like promotions.
Take for example, 19-year-old Corey Olcsvary of Texas, winner of the ``What
would YOU do for a Nintendo GameCube?" contest.
At the contest finals earlier this month, he dressed as a game character --
``Pikmin" -- by shaving his head, painting himself blue and munching on a
bowl of ``Pikmin food" including live worms and crickets.
Olcsvary won the GameCube, a Game Boy Advance, a video game software
package and $5,000.
Then there is runner up Jason Siler, age 26, of Illinois, who proposed to
his girlfriend dressed as Nintendo's ``Mario" character while his
girlfriend was costumed as ``Princess Peach."
Michael Goodman, analyst at Yankee Group, a unit of Reuters, said that
while these antics won't guarantee sales, anything that creates buzz is
worthwhile, especially when battling such formidable competition.
``I'm not so sure (gimmicks) will specifically lead to more boxes being
sold, but if you don't do it, it could lead to less boxes being sold," he
said.
Xbox Launch Starts Long Campaign for Microsoft
Microsoft has been called a monopoly and worse, but seldom an underdog.
But when the world's largest software company enters the hyper-competitive,
fiercely loyal video game market with Thursday's launch of its Xbox game
machine, it will do so from a standing start and as a distant third in a
$20 billion industry led by Sony and Nintendo.
Microsoft is spending some $500 million to hype its powerful new game
machine and could lose twice that in the coming years on Xbox in order to
stake a claim to the future of consumer electronics beyond the personal
computer, analysts said.
The $299 Xbox, which makes its retail debut in New York City on Thursday,
outmuscles rival boxes, with features similar to many laptops that are
three times the price, including a 733 MHz Intel Pentium III chip, 64
megabytes of RAM, an 8 gigabyte hard drive and the ability to play DVDs.
Many industry observers see the Xbox evolving into a larger home
entertainment device, a strategy Sony has signaled with its year-old
PlayStation 2.
``We're about building a cornerstone for our consumer business overall,"
Microsoft's Chief Xbox Officer Robbie Bach said.
But for the Xbox to live up to that promise, it will have to build a
lasting following in the game box industry that Nintendo Co. Ltd. is
credited with reviving in 1985 and Sony Corp. emerged to dominate a decade
later.
The Xbox -- a stark black box with a green plastic gem bearing the
signature logo -- costs as much as Sony's market-dominating PlayStation 2
(PS2) and $100 more than Nintendo's next-generation offering, the GameCube,
which goes on sale in the United States on Sunday.
Given the high stakes for both Microsoft competitors and collaborators, the
Xbox has been closely followed during its two-year development cycle.
Some of the initial demonstration units sent out in the last month had
problems that Microsoft says are now fixed. Microsoft also backed off from
an initial commitment to have between 600,000 to 800,000 units ready to
sell by Thursday.
``There will be units in stores (on day one). ... They may not last all
day," Bach told Reuters.
Sensing an opening, Nintendo said retailers clamored for an increased
shipment of GameCubes for its competing weekend launch.
Microsoft plans to ship at least 100,000 units each week to re-stock stores
and plans to ship between 1 million and 1.5 million Xboxes by yearend, he
said.
``We feel very good about that number," Bach said.
Analysts and game publishers expect Microsoft to sell out an initial
shipment of about 300,000 Xbox consoles on Thursday and say the company has
been prudent in its forecasts.
``Microsoft is being very careful in setting expectations," said P.J.
McNealy, an analyst at GartnerG2. ``They are really trying to avoid
over-hyping this and under-delivering it. That's one lesson Microsoft seems
to have learned from the PS2 launch last year."
Sony launched the PS2 in the United States in November 2000 with less than
half the quantities it had originally promised, and had problems meeting
demand into spring, leaving gamers empty-handed and frustrated.
Microsoft has said repeatedly it intends to avoid that mistake, limiting
pre-orders to keep the Xbox from being over-sold. And while retailers may
be nervous about whether Microsoft can deliver, game players apparently are
not.
``Nobody's canceling orders," said Michael Wallace, an analyst at UBS
Warburg who follows both Microsoft and the video game industry.
Morgan Stanley analyst Mary Meeker said last week Microsoft could lose $1
billion on Xbox by fiscal 2004 before breaking even and the company has
said it will look to make up any losses on the box with high-margin game
software.
``I don't think of that as upside or downside, it's just called running a
business," Microsoft's Bach said.
Other companies have a stake in the ultimate success of the Xbox. Graphics
chip manufacturer NVIDIA Corp., already the leader in that industry, said
last week 15 percent of its revenue in the last quarter came from its Xbox
chip.
Contract manufacturer Flextronics International Ltd. is building the Xbox
for Microsoft, and some analysts have estimated the contract could be worth
over $1 billion a year.
Analysts estimate Flextronics is being paid about $375 for each Xbox it
makes, meaning a $76 loss for Microsoft at the cash register.
``The better Xbox does, the more money Microsoft will lose...because
they're losing money on every unit they sell," said Art Russell, an
analyst at Edward Jones and Co.
But with $36 billion in the bank, Microsoft has staying power, he said.
``I think Microsoft is here to stay in the video game industry and I think
people better get used to it," he said.
Bill Gates Touts Xbox at Launch
Microsoft revved up its publicity machine to unveil the Xbox Thursday,
whetting the public's appetite for the new device amid what may be the
fiercest competition for the home video game market in years.
Within the confines of Toys R Us' flagship store in Times Square early
Thursday, company chairman Bill Gates touted the Xbox as a gameplayer's
dream.
``We were going out and talking to the gamers about what they want," Gates
said, to a roomful of buyers who waited in line - some all night - to be
the first to get their hands on one of the 1,000 consoles shipped to the
store, which doesn't officially open until Saturday.
Jimmy Keethe, a teen-ager from Cliffside, N.J., said the Xbox is what he
wants.
``It's got great graphics. You can actually see the football players
sweat," he said, referring to ``NFL Fever 2002," which is one of 15 games
available for the Xbox.
Gates said as many as 30 games will be available for the holiday season,
but conceded the demand for the consoles may outpace the supply.
``Tonight we think we brought a lot of Xboxes here and tonight is probably
the only night for a long, long time where everyone can get an Xbox," he
said.
Microsoft expects to make and sell 1.5 million consoles by the end of the
year, but Gates said ``we expect to be in pretty short supply" because of
consumer demand.
The $299 console, which is the only one with a built-in hard drive and a
plug for high-speed Internet access, went on sale Thursday morning at
10,000 retailers nationwide.
Xbox will be battling it out this holiday with Nintendo's $199 GameCube,
which is due out in stores on Sunday. The hot entries, their near
simultaneous launch a first for the $20 billion video game industry, enter
a free-for all competition with the reigning leader Sony's Corp.'s year-old
PlayStation2, which also retails for $199.
Nintendo GameCube Set to Enter Console War
At first glance, GameCube looks like a kid's lunch box, complete with
handle and plastic cover of purple and gray. But Nintendo, Goliath of the
hand-held electronic game business, is hoping its new high-powered
4.5-inch-high console unit will put the bite on Sony's PlayStation 2 and
Microsoft's Xbox.
After sampling a few games on GameCube, it's clear that the product is
going to be a worthy contender during this holiday season and beyond. But
along with its nice features, The Cube has some serious limitations.
Not surprisingly, the graphics are great, a huge improvement over Nintendo
64. But is it better than PlayStation 2? Not appreciably. On rare
occasions, the scenery in some PS-2 games shimmers inappropriately. You can
see the same shimmering with some GameCube graphics.
GameCube's big advantage is price: $200 compared to $300 for Xbox and
PlayStation 2. (At $50 each, the software will cost the same as PS-2 and
Xbox titles.) GameCube is also more compact than the other systems,
measuring about six inches by six inches by 4.5 inches.
There are a few notable drawbacks. Although GameCube looks large enough to
handle standard 4.5-inch CDs, it's not. Instead, the games fit on
bite-sized 3-inch-wide DVD disks unique to the system. That means you can't
play CDs and you can't play movies, as you can on PS-2 or Xbox.
So much for versatility.
The handle is simply odd. How many people are going to cart GameCube around
with them? Nintendo also made the seemingly-pointless decision to design
GameCube so a GameBoy Advance unit can be used as one of the controllers.
The GameCube controller has a nifty design and the GameBoy Advance controls
are nothing to brag about. Given what you'd spend for an adapter (which is
not yet available), it's probably worthwhile to simply invest $35 to buy an
extra controller.
But the secret to winning this three-way console war is going to be the
software, not the hardware.
On this battlefield, the raw numbers suggest that GameCube is at a
disadvantage. Nintendo is only promising to have seven titles available at
launch, with only about a dozen in stores by month's end. Microsoft, in
contrast, says at least 15 games will be on the shelves for its Nov. 15
release and another 14 or so should be available by Nov. 30. (To put this
in perspective, the PS-2 has 38 titles being released this month, with more
than twice as many already on the shelves.)
The low number of GameCube games seems surprising when Nintendo has bragged
about the relative ease of designing GameCube software.
On the other hand, the company that gave us Mario, Donkey Kong and Zelda
has a history of creating must-have titles that are married to its gaming
systems, particularly titles that appeal to younger children. If the new
Nintendo title ``Luigi's Mansion" is typical of what players can expect
from GameCube, it might give the other consoles a run for their money.
``Luigi's Mansion" is a delight, a three-dimension Mario Brothers title
with superior graphics and a spry sense of fun. At the beginning of the
game, Luigi has won a mansion in a contest he doesn't remember entering.
When he arrives, he discovers that the place is filled with ghosts. Before
they can attack him, he's saved by an odd Japanese scientist with big
glasses, a single tooth, and a huge tuft of hair. He equips Luigi with the
Poltergust 3000, a vacuum cleaner that sucks up ghosts.
Watching Luigi tiptoe around the mansion, tremble whenever a ghost is near,
and run like he's got a diaper that needs changing is a hoot. Even the
process of collecting the ghosts with the Poltergust is like watching good
slapstick.
As glorious as the graphics are, ``Luigi's Mansion" has its own design
flaws. Collecting the ghosts can be tricky and, unfortunately, the tutorial
isn't very instructive, filled with too much talk and too little
opportunity to practice. Also, there was one point in the game where I had
to push several buttons almost simultaneously, all on the right side of the
controller. The result is some weird contortions that seem out of place
when Nintendo is bragging about the ergonomic ease of the controller.
Other titles being released at the same time as the debut include the jet
ski racing game ``Wave Race: Blue Storm," "Batman Vengeance," ``All-Star
Baseball 2002," ``Disney's Tarzan Untamed," ``NHL Hitz 2002," and ``Dave
Mirra Freestyle BMX2."
The biggest question in the first phase of the console war: will there be
enough machines to go around?
Nintendo says it will have 700,000 GameCube units on store shelves on
Sunday, Nov. 18 when the system debuts, with another 400,000 units promised
by Christmas. Microsoft, which begins selling Xbox on Thursday, Nov. 15,
won't say how many units it has ready, although the company is promising
that 1.2 million to 1.5 million will be available by Dec. 25.
Last year, the PS-2 was the gift everybody wanted and nobody could get. If
Nintendo and Microsoft face similar shortages this season, the big winner
could be the PS-2, as desperate parents search for an acceptable
substitute.
=~=~=~=
A-ONE's Headline News
The Latest in Computer Technology News
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
Online Privacy Expert Shifts Focus to Security
Richard M. Smith, a vocal authority on data privacy, is turning his
attention to studying whether the public is sufficiently secure.
As perhaps the nation's most vocal authority on data privacy, Richard M.
Smith spent the last two years trying to keep Americans' personal
information private from corporate intrusions. But seeing bigger threats,
he is now turning his attention to studying whether the public is
sufficiently secure.
Mr. Smith resigned earlier this month as the chief technology officer for
the nonprofit Privacy Foundation in Denver. In light of the terrorist
attacks on the United States, Mr. Smith said he was compelled to focus on
technology related to "homeland security" issues, like facial scanning and
electronic ID cards.
"Privacy is an important thing, but now people are concerned about their
safety and about security, so those have moved up in priority," he said.
"I guess I'm being a bit opportunistic," he added.
In his first big case in his new role, he worked with the American Civil
Liberties Union to test facial scanning technology that many of the
nation's airports are now considering deploying.
Along with the A.C.L.U., Mr. Smith presented findings last week at Logan
Airport in Boston, showing that the devices were largely ineffective in
identifying terrorists though they might be helpful in making
identifications from a smaller pool of local criminals as they try to flee
by boarding planes.
He said he expected future customers would be similar private
organizations as well as government agencies.
A former software entrepreneur, Mr. Smith is credited with uncovering
dozens of incidents in which high technology companies were trying to
breech consumers' privacy by secretly tracking online movements.
Last year, for example, he brought attention to the growth in the use of
"Web bugs," tiny software programs that allow Web companies to conduct
online surveillance of their customers.
Before joining the Privacy Foundation 14 months ago, he spent 13 years
running Phar Lap Software, a software development tools company in Boston.
Mr. Smith, who is based in Boston, is advertising his new consulting
company on his Web site, ComputerBytesMan.com, where he will publish his
research. "I've always been interested in computer-bites-man stories," he
said.
How Computer Worms Work - and Why They Never Die
Although their names are not necessarily in the latest headlines, security
bulletins or virus alerts, old computer worms such as Magistr, Sircam and,
more recently, Nimda, continue to stay atop the threat lists of many
anti-virus firms.
Anti-virus experts say that while these worms may be outpaced by advancing
technology and security, they continue to plague corporate, government and
home computer systems, infecting little by little and popping back up when
left to their own devices.
"Worms are designed to be out there as long as they can be," Network
Associates' McAfee AVERT senior director Vincent Gullotto told NewsFactor
Network. "These [Magistr and Sircam] just kind of move like worms are
supposed to move -- a little bit here, a little bit there. The ultimate
success is how long they can stay out there."
Experts agreed that successful worms are the ones that stay in
circulation, re-infecting enterprise networks and nickel-and-diming home
users via social engineering -- a mechanism that tricks users into
activating a virus by clicking on a picture, attachment or other file.
The FunLove virus, originally discovered in the fall of 1998, is an
example of an enduring computer worm, according to experts.
"It's still one of our top submissions today," Symantec Security Response
senior director Vincent Weafer told NewsFactor.
Weafer and Gullotto both said that the main reason for the long life of
viruses is a lack of updated anti-virus protection by system
administrators and computer users. The two also agreed that no matter how
good a single security setup is, the Internet makes it dependent on other
users and their security.
"Users don't update," said McAfee AVERT's Gullotto. "Other than that,
these are what we consider to be great successors," he added, referring to
virus writers' tendency to build on previous worms.
Gullotto recalled a recent anti-virus customer dogged by re-infection by
the FunLove and Nimda viruses, saying that the reality of staying
protected often means that older, less significant threats are somewhat
underestimated.
"In security, when something hits big-time, you get the majority of the
mess cleaned up but you don't necessarily have the opportunity to do the
follow-up, and it gets overlooked or missed and you have a situation," he
said.
Weafer said that many enterprise-level networks are built with a tough,
shell-like exterior using firewalls and other security measures, but the
"soft interior" permits worms to wriggle unchecked.
"It's not about detection, it's about containment and eradication," Weafer
said. "Sometimes in an organization, the rate of re-infection is so low,
they won't go through the steps of eradicating it completely.
"It is an underestimated threat," Weafer added. "From our evidence, there
is still a very high degree of transmission [of old viruses]. There's not
a lot of attention, not a lot of bulletins or awareness of existing
threats."
The experts told NewsFactor that worms and other viruses can be left
behind by technology, which changes protocols, platforms and other
features used by the malicious code.
"As technology moves on, that's when the worm is trapped because it can't
work," Weafer said. "It's no longer in the wild when the applications [it
uses] are no longer available or it's relying on a vulnerability that is
safeguarded in a new service product."
However, Gullotto said the death of a computer virus may only occur in one
part of the world or the Internet, adding that old worms often find new
life somewhere else.
"Eventually, they do die in certain regions, but in the migration of
technology, some region, some sector, will be left behind," he said.
Gullotto said updated anti-virus protection is still the best weapon
against computer worms, whether new or old, because the heuristics of the
latest security software use "generic identification" covering a range of
viruses and variants.
Weafer said "network factors" of threats such as Nimda, which attacked PCs
and systems on several different levels, require a new approach.
"It's not a simple threat anymore," he said. "These threats go beyond a
single point of delivery. We need to go beyond point-product and
point-tier solutions. The new reality, like with Nimda, is it's going to
have multiple vectors of delivery and it will require different tools and
policies within the entire organization."
Give Viruses The Heave-ho! Here's How
Merely owning antivirus software is not enough to protect your PC from
infection. The software requires a certain amount of care and feeding
beyond the initial purchase. Fortunately, a few minutes of prevention can
prevent hours of frustration during a real attack.
Installing antivirus software on your PC is the first step to safeguarding
yourself from all the viruses out there. A good firewall can also help, by
alerting you to some of the viruses, worms, and Trojan horses active on
the Internet. Probably the best approach is to use both an antivirus
program and a firewall. Today, I'll help you get the most out of your
antivirus software, then in next week's column I'll discuss consumer-grade
firewalls.
When you purchase antivirus software, either in the store or online, it
usually comes with a set of virus signatures--unique code that
distinguishes one virus from another--that immediately go out of date. New
viruses are created and discovered almost every day. That's why you should
download the most recent signature files when you install your antivirus
program (most products do this automatically).
In order to stay protected, you must update your software whenever a new
virus appears or, better yet, on a regular schedule (say weekly or
biweekly). Antivirus software companies post the latest signatures, or
.dat files, on their sites. Most also let you automatically update your
software whenever you log onto to the Internet.
So updating your antivirus software and running it before an infection
hits should be enough to detect and remove a virus that is not active in
memory, right? Not always, says Steven Sundermeier, product manager for
antivirus software maker Central Command.
Some antivirus updates only identify viruses--they don't get rid of
them--while others both identify and remove them. Why? Well, sometimes the
update can't remove a virus. Most antivirus programs can identify a virus
stored within, for example, an e-mail database, but cannot remove the
virus until it is acted upon by previewing or opening an e-mail.
Another time you cannot remove a virus: when using Windows Me and the
infected file resides within the "_Restore" directory. Because Microsoft's
System Restore utility does not allow files stored in the directory to be
manipulated, you will have to work around this problem. (Microsoft offers
a solution to this problem on its site.)
Still, despite your precautions, say the unthinkable happens: your
computer becomes infected with a virus and you send a lethal virus to
everyone who's ever e-mailed you in your life. What next?
I asked the expert, Sundermeier, whether downloading an updated antivirus
signature file after being infected does any good. He said no, the virus
would most likely block access to the infected files. Also, removing an
active virus from memory can make the Windows system unstable. Some worms,
such as MTX, are even smart enough to block Internet access to antivirus
sites.
Antivirus vendors have started releasing removal tools for specific,
big-time viruses. These tools do more than simply disinfect the machine;
they're designed to undo the damage. Sundermeier predicts companies will
continue to offer these fixes.
Short of a custom-removal tool, however, the way to remove an active
infection is to boot from a clean operating system disk or gain access to
the Windows Recovery Console (Microsoft explains how to do this on its
site) and run a command-line antivirus scanner. Because viruses and worms
entangle themselves in the Windows operating system, you must work outside
the infected operating system to remove them. Another way to remove a
virus is to reformat your hard drive and reinstall the operating system.
I should note that none of these removal techniques should be attempted
without first backing up the data on your system. In theory, regular
backups can mitigate the damage caused by active viruses. In practice,
however, backups are somewhat of a pain.
Say, for example, you perform a complete backup every Sunday, then only do
partial backups (in other words, backup only those files that changed)
Monday through Saturday. Should you lose your data on Thursday, you'll
have to load Sunday's backup, plus the changes made on Monday, Tuesday,
and Wednesday.
On the other hand, losing your data is worse. Actually, I think the worst
scenario is believing you have a backup only to discover the process has
failed. As a rule, the more complete backups you have on hand, the better
off you are.
Opera Releases New Windows Beta
Opera Software moved Tuesday to catch up to Microsoft and Netscape on the
international scene with a test launch of its new browser.
Announced Tuesday at Comdex Fall 2001, the test, or "beta," version of
Opera 6.0 for Microsoft's Windows operating system brings Opera up to
speed with heavyweight competitors Microsoft and Netscape by allowing
people to read Web pages written in non-Roman alphabets, including Chinese
and Japanese.
"What we're seeing is that the international market is getting bigger and
bigger," said Jon S. von Tetzchner, chief executive of the Oslo,
Norway-based company. "To an extent, English was the ruling language on
the Internet for a very long time, but it's less so now. What we
definitely will be seeing are more and more users from China, from all the
Asian countries, and this applies to Eastern Europe as well. We see this
as a possibility to get into those markets."
The new browser version comes as Opera has enjoyed a burst of publicity
courtesy of rival Microsoft, which launched a new version of its MSN Web
portal last month that briefly locked out non-Microsoft browsers. Although
Microsoft's own Internet Explorer easily accessed MSN pages, other
browsers--such as Opera, Mozilla, Amaya and some versions of
Netscape--received error messages and recommended that people "upgrade" to
Internet Explorer.
Microsoft has since moved to fix the error but not before the gaffe threw
a media spotlight on rival browsers.
Industry analysts downplayed the significance of the 6.0 beta release,
noting that the company's bigger ambitions lay in providing browsers to
smaller devices than the PC.
Although Netscape's small browser efforts have stumbled with repeated
delays, and Microsoft's have met with resistance from operating system
competitors, Opera has been moving aggressively to establish itself as the
browser vender of choice for small devices.
This summer, the U.K.-based mobile software unit of Psion selected Opera
as the browser for its handsets. That agreement came shortly after Opera
took the wraps off its deal to supply IBM with small browsers. Before
that, Opera released a browser for Symbian's EPOC operating system for
next-generation cell phones and other mobile Internet access devices.
"With the PC browsers, Opera is more there to establish a name in the
industry. It's not going to be an important revenue source in the future,"
said Jon Mosberg, equity analyst at the Oslo branch of Stockholm,
Sweden-based Enskilba Securities. "The greatest potential is in the mobile
Internet...Symbian doesn't want Microsoft to be the supplier of their
browser because it could dictate the terms of using the software. That
opens up an opportunity for a company that has a browser that runs well on
the new devices."
At the technical heart of Opera's internationalization effort is its
adoption of the Unicode Worldwide Character Set, a widely supported
standard for expressing letters and other characters on computers. Opera's
support for Unicode came late because of the challenge of integrating it
with Windows 95, Tetzchner said.
Opera is still hammering out its support for Arabic. Coming "as soon as
possible" are browser interfaces written in non-English languages.
Also lagging behind Opera's new browser for Windows are its counterparts
for the Linux and Macintosh operating systems. Opera has yet to finalize
its version 5.0 browser for the Mac. But the company promised a 6.0 beta
for Linux "fairly quickly."
Tetzchner said the Opera 6.0 beta was faster, used memory more
efficiently, and had incremental improvements in its support for standards
promulgated by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).
The company has followed Netscape and Microsoft with new options for
displaying windows, including a choice between single and multiple
document interfaces, and a persistent bar for bookmarks and search. With
the 6.0 beta, people can run multiple copies of Opera simultaneously,
preserving different sets of e-mail, bookmarks and other preferences.
E-mail changes include the ability to import e-mail from Microsoft Outlook
accounts and support for TLS (Transport Layer Security) for POP and SMTP
accounts. TLS is a security protocol under development by the Internet
Engineering Task Force.
The browser also comes with a new default user interface.
In a feature reminiscent of information-gathering applications such as
Atomica, Opera 6.0 offers Hotclick, which lets people select a word and
pull down a definition or translation without leaving the page. To provide
encyclopedia and translation content, Opera has formed a partnership with
Terra Lycos. Other partners with Hotclick include search engine Google and
e-commerce Web site Amazon.com.
Although Opera has enjoyed a loyal following among the Web cognoscenti,
and particularly those with animosity toward Microsoft, the Norwegian
browser has lagged far behind in distribution, partly because it persisted
in charging for the browser long after Microsoft and Netscape opted to
give theirs away.
Nearly a year ago, Opera began offering a free version of the browser that
comes with advertising. Ad-free Opera costs $39.
That experiment has proved successful, Tetzchner said.
"Revenues have increased, so it's working," he said. "People see that it's
free, so more people use it. Then a number of those people want to get rid
of the ads, or they just want to support us to make sure we are around."
Paying users of Opera 5.x for Windows get a free upgrade to the 6.0 beta.
Paid users of Opera 4.x get a discount of about half off the $39 fee.
Opera is planning to release the final 6.0 Windows browser by Christmas.
U.S. Defends Microsoft Settlement, Rejects Penalties
The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday rejected several proposed
penalties for Microsoft Corp. in its antitrust case against the software
giant.
The penalties would have forced the Redmond, Washington-based company to
disclose hidden information about its Windows software, possibly sell a
version of Windows without built-in Internet browser, e-mail or instant
messaging software, and distribute competitors' products.
The government instead defended its Microsoft proposed settlement in a
68-page "impact statement" court filing regarding the compromise
settlement it negotiated between Microsoft and nine of the 18 states.
In the filing, the Justice Department pledged that if the judge were to
approve the settlement, the penalties would "eliminate" illegal practices
by Microsoft and prevent such practices in the future, as well as restore
competition in the marketplace.
The government also explained that Microsoft must disclose certain
anti-piracy technology in its Windows XP operating system, and could not
use a security exemption in the settlement as a way to shield software
secrets. It promised strict enforcement of these rules, and criminal
penalties if Microsoft violated the agreement.
Microsoft chairman and chief software architect Bill Gates said in a
statement last week regarding the case that the company is determined to
make the settlement a "success."
"We are committed to becoming a better industry leader, and we will
continue to deliver new innovations to revitalize the economy and improve
people's lives," Gates said.
Nine states remain unconvinced the proposed settlement would spur fair
competition and properly penalize the software maker, and are preparing
evidence for a case against the settlement.
Bob Brammer, a spokesman for Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, told
NewsFactor Network that Iowa intends to proceed with its case, as Miller
is "concerned the language in the settlement agreement reached by the
other parties may undermine the effectiveness of the main provisions of
the settlement."
Citing original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), middleware providers and
the server provisions, Brammer described Miller's position as wanting to
assure "the language does what it purports to do by assuring fair
competition in the technology sector."
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal told news sources Thursday
that he is "leaning strongly" toward joining the case and will know by
sometime next week. California Attorney General Bill Lockyer also told
news sources he intends to join the group.
According to published reports, Microsoft extended an offer Thursday to
the nine remaining states still wavering on the decision with the
settlement, saying that the company would pay all attorney and litigation
fees incurred by the antitrust suit if the states agreed to the proposed
settlement. They have 10 days to make their decision.
States involved in the lawsuit have spent nearly $15 million on legal fees
since the Microsoft case began in 1998.
U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, who must approve the eventual
settlement, set a tentative hearing for February.
So that the public can comment as well, the Justice Department also set up
an e-mail address that will be available for 60 days where consumer and
businesses could send their input on the case: microsoft.atr@usdoj.gov.
HP Says Compaq Merger Will Occur
Hewlett-Packard Co. Chief Executive Carly Fiorina said on Wednesday she is
convinced shareholders will approve the planned $23.5 billion merger with
Compaq Computer Corp., despite opposition from members of the Hewlett and
Packard families.
``We remain convinced it is in the best interests of shareholders. We
remain convinced this merger will occur," Fiorina said in a conference
call. ``Despite the actions by some individuals, I think it's way too
early
to conclude that this merger will not occur."
Last week, members of both the Hewlett and Packard families said they
planned to vote against the merger, which was announced on Sept. 4. That
touched off speculation the deal won't get the needed shareholder approval.
But Fiorina said that the merger process is not yet even half-way through,
noting the company has yet to file its proxy and that it needs regulatory
approval. Institutional investors will look at both, she said.
``Most institutions are looking at both the (proxy) and regulatory progress
over the next several weeks and months to make their decisions," she said.
In addition, Fiorina said that Hewlett-Packard executives have been meeting
with and will continue to meet with the David and Lucile Packard
Foundation, which owns more than 10 percent of Hewlett-Packard.
The foundation remained on the sidelines last week, when Hewlett member
families, who have more than 5 percent of the company, and David Packard,
son of the company's co-founder and who has about a 1 percent share, said
they would vote against the merger.
The foundation probably will not decide how to vote until December or
January, Fiorina said.
``We have been interacting with the Packard foundation in the same way we
are interacting with institutional investors. We have met with them and we
have met with other investors and we will continue to meet with them, just
as we do with other investors," she said.
Fiorina also said that during the third quarter, revenues in the consumer
sector fell 20 percent from a year earlier and were up more than 20 percent
from the previous quarter, in line with seasonal patterns.
Revenues in the enterprise sector, which includes corporations, declined by
21 percent from the year-earlier period and were basically flat from the
previous quarter.
``Companies continue to be cautious about IT spending," Fiorina said.
Walter Hewlett Undecided on Proxy Fight
Walter Hewlett, the son of the co-founder of Hewlett-Packard Co., has not
yet decided whether to solicit votes against the company's proposed
acquisition of Compaq Computer Corp., a spokesman for Hewlett said on
Friday, but a regulatory filing indicated just the opposite.
Hewlett and his family members control more than 5 percent of
Hewlett-Packard, and last week they said they would vote against the
merger. They also hired proxy-solicitation firm McKenzie Partners Inc.,
which typically indicates a battle for shareholder votes is in the works.
On Friday, Hewlett filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission a copy
of a third-party presentation that he and the William R. Hewlett Revocable
Trust received regarding the merger. As part of the filing, Hewlett said he
intended to file a shareholder proxy to solicit votes.
A spokesman, however, said Hewlett in fact had not yet decided whether to
solicit votes.
``He's keeping all his options open for the moment," the spokesman said.
On Wednesday, Hewlett-Packard reported better-than-expected earnings per
share. In addition to boosting its stock price, the news has increased
confidence among some analysts and investors that the Compaq deal will go
through.
The proposed stock-swap transaction, announced in September, is valued at
$23.7 billion.
Senate Approves Internet Tax Ban Extension
On Thursday, the U.S. Senate passed HR 1552, the Internet
Nondiscrimination Act (INDA), extending the ban on new Internet taxes for
another two years. The original ban expired on October 21st.
The U.S. House of Representatives already had passed matching legislation
last month. President Bush, who has expressed support for the bill, will
sign it into law, according to White House sources.
But an amendment to the bill that would have allowed state and local
taxing agencies to begin collecting sales tax on items purchased online
once a minimum of 20 states had agreed on its provisions lost by a
57-to-43 vote.
The renewed extension is significant mostly because it will prevent states
from taxing the fees consumers pay Internet service providers (ISPs) to
obtain Internet access.
Jeremy Sharrard, an online taxation analyst for Forrester Research, told
NewsFactor Network that everyone seems reasonably satisfied with this
provision.
"I don't think anyone wants to tax Internet access," Sharrard told
NewsFactor. "Congress wants to ensure that states don't get desperate in a
down economy and, faced with a revenue shortfall, attempt to levy taxes"
on ISPs.
Although the sales tax provision was not passed, the issue will by no
means disappear, Sharrard said.
Those supporting collection of online sales taxes "must be heartened that
43 senators voted for the provision," Sharrard said. When the states
return in two years, ideally with a simplification of the sales tax
structure and with the technology needed to relieve the burden of
collecting and remitting sales tax, they are likely to face a more
sympathetic Congress.
Sharrard explained that it makes sense that Congress would not want to
revisit that issue for another two years, because that gives ample time
for tax authorities to come up with feasible solutions. A two-year delay
also will give legislators the ability to concentrate on the issue during
a non-election year.
Senators opposed to the sales tax amendment seemed concerned mainly about
guaranteeing that state and local tax rates will achieve a reasonable
degree of uniformity.
Presently, there are more than 7,500 taxing jurisdictions in the United
States, a level of complexity that online retailers have said would be
difficult if not impossible to deal with.
Analyst Sharrard said that over the next two years, state and local
agencies will roll out the next wave of standardization that will enable
revenue collectors to perform taxation duties in a cost-efficient manner.
During that time, administrators will be working with tax collectors and
remittance technology vendors to set up the means to collect and remit
taxes.
According to news sources, the states lost nearly US$26 billion in
uncollected online tax revenue in 2000.
"They've got their work cut out for them, and they're not going to be
bored," said Sharrard. "And frankly, they're baffled that the rest of the
world cares as much as they do."
Selling A New Net Tax System
Wyoming Senator Michael Enzi says if sales on the Internet remain untaxed,
other forms of taxes, such as property or income taxes, may then have to
be increased. Do we really want that?
COMMENTARY-- Anyone with access to a computer and a modem has noticed the
increase in the use of the Web to promote the purchase of books, CDs and
other consumer goods.
An entire industry has emerged online, and consumers are using the Web to
surf for the best deals on an endless number of items. The Internet has
become an everyday part of our lives and, as an avid computer user, I
think we should do everything we possibly can to help e-commerce continue
to grow.
Unfortunately, with changes in consumer buying trends has come the danger
of reduced sales-tax revenues to the states, cities and towns who have
come to rely on them for the provision of needed services, including the
money that is used to pay the salaries of our teachers, police and fire
fighters. For them, the Internet is a sales-tax loophole that is
threatening to reduce our local governments' ability to provide the
services we have come to rely on.
If present trends continue, and sales on the Internet remain untaxed,
revenues will continue to decline. Other forms of taxes, such as property
or income taxes, may then have to be increased to offset these lost
revenues. In addition, those states that do not have a state income tax
may be forced to initiate one to address this growing problem.
In response, I introduced the Internet Tax Moratorium and Equity Act (S.
1567) on Oct. 18 and have been working to move the legislation through
Congress. This new bill will make permanent the existing moratorium on
Internet access taxes, and it will extend the moratorium on multiple and
discriminatory taxes for an additional four years through Dec. 31, 2005.
That extension would allow states and localities the time they need to
develop a streamlined sales- and use-tax system, which would include a
single, blended tax rate for each separate state and make it easier for
remote sellers to implement and understand the new system. My bill would
also encourage states to enter into an Interstate Sales and Use Tax
Compact through which members would adopt this streamlined system.
There are some who do not fully understand my proposal, and misinformation
about the bill has found its way into the media.
My bill would not tax the Internet. It would not impose a tax. The only
direct statutory change would be the prohibition of taxes on access
charges for the use of the Internet.
In addition, the bill would not create a new tax. Retailers throughout the
nation collect sales taxes every day that are remitted to municipalities
and states. It also would not require remote sales to be taxed. The bill
would encourage, but not require, states to set up a simple, fair system
in order to tax remote sales, but only if the state decides to participate
in that system. It is not a mandate for increased taxes.
Another misconception about this legislation is that it would detract from
e-commerce. It would actually promote the use of Internet commerce by
placing a permanent ban on taxes for accessing the Internet. Start-ups
will not be discouraged by the enactment of this bill. In any state, no
business with gross sales of less than $5 million would have to comply
with this law.
Three years ago, Congress passed a moratorium barring states from taxing
Internet access to give it time to work out a solution that would be fair
to state and local governments and businesses. Since the moratorium took
effect, few hearings have been held and no bill has passed a Senate
committee. Working with a diverse bipartisan group of senators, S. 1567
was introduced to give states some encouragement to level out their
declining sales-tax revenue problem, which was created by the use of the
Internet as a tax loophole.
This effort aims to provide federal, state and community leaders with the
flexibility they need to generate the revenue that is necessary to
continue to provide us with the services we depend on--like better schools
and increased law-enforcement protection.
Michael Enzi is a United States Senator from Wyoming.
Survey Finds Few Pay for Once Free Web Sites
Some of America's favorite Web sites have begun charging fees as a result
of the dot-com shake-out, but few people have been willing pay so far,
according to a survey released on Wednesday.
About 17 percent of Internet users surveyed have been asked to pay to
access Web sites they used to see for free, according to a study by the Pew
Internet & American Life Project.
Of those, however, only 12 percent have agreed to pay for access. The rest
decide to stop getting that content or service from an online source, the
Pew study says.
Pew researchers estimated that the growth of the Web has slowed from
700,000 new sites a year before 2001 to about 200,000 new sites.
The survey was a follow-up to one published by Pew in March, which found
that most Americans attributed the dot-com problems to either ``greed" or
``cluelessness."
Pew found that the dot-com failures, which include companies such as The
Standard.com, Biztravel.com and Petstore.com, have now begun to affect the
``Internet experience" of millions of Americans.
A growing number of the people Pew surveyed -- 34 percent -- believe the
dot-coms' financial problems will have a major impact on the overall U.S.
economy.
Twenty-six percent said they either knew someone who has been laid off by
an Internet company or have lost money in their family by investing in a
dot-com.
At the same time, the survey found that Americans have quickly adjusted to
the dot-coms' financial problems and still manage to get the content and
services they like without paying extra for them.
In fact, 48 percent of those surveyed said the disappearance of some Web
sites was a good thing because ``there were too many Web sites that had too
little to offer."
The survey was conducted between Aug. 13 and Sept. 10 -- the day before
hijacked jetliner attacks in New York and Washington, D.C.
Study: Americans Feel Dot-Com Pain - but Still Won't Pay
There are clear indications that while Americans are taking the dot-com
meltdown seriously, their compassion does not translate into a willingness
to pay for formerly free Web sites, according to a new study.
The financial woes of the dot-com world and their effects on online life
are causing U.S. Internet users to make changes in their online usage
patterns, but the vast majority are "making quick adjustments to get the
Web services and content they like without paying extra money," according
to the study released Wednesday by the Pew Internet and American Life
Project.
About 19 million people have been asked to pay to use Web sites that were
once free, the study said. Of that total, half found a free alternative.
Only 12 percent decided to pay, and the rest simply decided to do without.
The survey also revealed that 48 percent of the 2,246 respondents -- 1,351
of whom were Internet users -- said they believed having some Internet
companies go out of business would be a good thing, as there were too many
sites offering too little.
While that is nearly half the surveyed population, it is down from the 57
percent who felt that way when the question was asked in February.
In addition, 34 percent of those surveyed said they believed the financial
problems of the dot-coms would have a major impact on the U.S. economy, up
from 26 percent in February.
The higher level of concern is most likely a result of the spreading
effect of the high-tech woes -- more people have been touched personally.
More Americans -- 12 percent as opposed to seven percent in February --
said they or someone in their family had lost money investing in dot-coms,
and more said they knew someone who had been laid off.
"In the beginning, there was this jealousy of these 22 year-old dot-com
millionaires who were popping up everywhere," Pew analyst Tom Spooner told
NewsFactor Network.
"Every issue of Business Week magazine had another 22-year-old, dot-com
millionaire. Venture capitalists were just throwing money at them as long
as they said 'dot-com.' Now, more and more businesses are closing. When it
becomes more personalized, you don't gloat as much," Spooner said.
Most Americans still blame "greedy investors" for the industry's problems,
the report said.
Free versus paid models have caused considerable hard feelings as Internet
companies try to cope with dwindling advertising revenue and users try to
hold on to their money. Most consumers feel the fee they pay their
Internet service providers is all they should pay. But still, a multitude
of companies have tried to charge customers for content or services that
were once free, with varying degrees of success.
Variety.com, Salon.com and Britannica.com are examples of publishers that
have tried subscription models. Despite the fact that market research firm
Jupiter Media Metrix reported 69 percent of users said they would not pay
for content, 78 percent of publishing executives surveyed said they
planned to go to at least a partial paid subscription model by 2003. Some
publications now charge for "premium" news.
FreeEdgar, which once dispensed U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
information for free, moved to a paid service, and Internet phone
companies have started charging. Yahoo! caused hard feelings among some
customers when it began charging for its auction services.
The study revealed that more than 13 million people reported a favorite
Web site had gone out of business, and close to two-thirds found other
sites that could give them the same information or services. That is a 50
percent increase from the February data, when only 8 percent said they had
lost a favorite Web page.
More than nine times as many dot-coms shut down in the first half of 2001
compared to 2000 -- 330 as opposed to 36 -- but the rate of closures seems
to have leveled off since, the study said.
The number of Web sites continues to grow, but at a much slower pace than
in the late 1990s. The "public" Web increased by abut 700,000 sites each
year between 1997 and 2000, but only by about 200,000 from 2000 to 2001,
according to the Online Computer Library Center. The center said there are
now approximately 8.7 million Web sites worldwide.
Whatever Happened to Dot-Com Stunts?
Does anybody remember the DotComGuy? How about IUMA? Or even the
e-Cavemen?
Last year, the Net was inundated with publicity stunts and name games
aimed at driving Net-weary consumers online.
Have a new Web site to publicize? Sponsor a baby-naming contest, like
IUMA.com did, paying new parents a few thousand bucks to name their new
son or daughter after a dot-com.
Tired of working 9 to 5? Lock yourself in your house for a year, living
solely off the Internet and watch the corporate sponsorships roll in -- or
not -- in the fashion of DotComGuy.
It seemed like there would be no end to the creativity and scope of the
e-commerce publicity stunts. But take a look throughout the dot-com
landscape today and the only stunts you will find are companies managing
to survive online with making a profit.
What happened? Were these stunts victims of the overall economic downturn?
Or were they inherently flawed? Both, say analysts.
"Public enthusiasm for the more gimmicky aspect of the Internet has gone
way down for obvious reasons," IDC analyst Malcolm Maclachlan told the
E-Commerce Times. "A lot of people have lost a lot of money. We're past
the point where just attaching the word Internet to something makes it
cool."
In addition, most of the dot-com stunts were performed by pure plays,
which are now virtually extinct, said Yankee Group analyst Paul Ritter.
"The era of the dot-com stunt is over and it should be over," Ritter told
the E-Commerce Times. "There is a correlation in peoples' minds that
dot-com stunts are associated with dot-com failures. Pure play e-tailers
particularly are a dying breed."
Moreover, dot-com stunts were based on what is now considered the taboo of
e-commerce: brand advertising overkill.
"The stunts were merely a reflection of the attempts to gain brand
exposure, and not about brand building," said Ritter.
Maclachlan believes that the decline of dot-com stunts is also related to
an important lesson for Internet retailers that took some time to become
clear.
"[The Internet] has shown itself to be more gimmick-proof than one-way
mediums like TV or radio," Maclachlan said. "People searching the Net have
greater consumer choice, and something without style or substance
consumers are less likely to bother with and it's less likely to work
now."
But did dot-com publicity stunts work in the first place?
"With 20/20 hindsight, I don't think they worked," Ritter said. "As
someone who covers the online retail industry for a living, I don't know
what the benefits of the DotComGuy were for any particular company. Even
the Pets.com puppet didn't work."
Even if they did serve a purpose a year and a half ago, the stunts would
serve no real purpose now, said Maclachlan.
"Did they work in beginning? Absolutely," Maclachlan said. "Any little
stunt was probably worthwhile. But they can't work today because there's
less people trying to launch companies now, and it's impossible to get
financing."
Of course, that does not mean companies still might not try a stunt or two
in the future.
"In many cases it's not too expensive to try and do these kinds of stunts,
which is why in some cases they were done in the first place," Ritter
said. "They probably will be tried again, but I don't think with any
significant or lasting impact."
As for those who still harbor dreams of becoming the next household
Internet name, Maclachlan had the following advice:
"Calling yourself DotComGuy is probably a good way to get beat up on the
street these days."
=~=~=~=
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