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Atari Online News, Etc. Volume 05 Issue 20
Volume 5, Issue 20 Atari Online News, Etc. May 16, 2003
Published and Copyright (c) 1999 - 2003
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:
Kevin Savetz
Fred Horvat
To subscribe to A-ONE, change e-mail addresses, or unsubscribe,
log on to our website at: www.atarinews.org
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To unsubscribe from A-ONE, send the following: Unsubscribe A-ONE
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To download A-ONE, set your browser bookmarks to one of the
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Visit the Atari Advantage Forum on Delphi!
http://forums.delphiforums.com/atari/
=~=~=~=
A-ONE #0520 05/16/03
~ AtariAge Mag Archive! ~ People Are Talking! ~ New Vaio Notebook!
~ 'Fizzer' Virus Spreads ~ Lure of the Temptress! ~ Anti-Spam Bill!
~ Atari800MacX Updated! ~ SCO To Sue Linux Use?! ~ Console Price Cuts!
~ 'Buffalo Spammer' Bust ~ Manga Puzzle Released! ~ E3 Announcements!
-* iLoo Internet Project A Hoax *-
-* Call for Continued Internet Tax Ban *-
-* Kid-Friendly Web Zone Is Live in September *-
=~=~=~=
->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Well, it's been one of those weeks again. Typical work-related issues that
cause that inevitable level of stress. I guess you just can't get away from
it entirely. Whatever happened to those days of just "doing one's job" and
enjoying it? By the time you read this week's issue, I'll have found some
form of release. I'll have played a round of golf, and know the faces I
imagined on each golf ball that I hit!
Enjoyably, the anti-spam movement continues to build up speed.
Realistically, I realize that getting rid of spam totally is highly
unlikely. Like anything else in this world, as we find ways to stop it,
there will be ways found to get around those barriers. Still, it's a start.
I'm hoping to get some outdoor work going this weekend. It looks like the
weather is supposed to improve, with warmer temperatures. Time to get some
garden work done and get some flowers in. I also lost some shrubbery over
this past harsh winter, so some replacements are in order. And, we're still
working on designs for the kitchen improvements. Busy, busy!
Until next time...
=~=~=~=
Atari800MacX Version 1.4 Released
Version 1.4 of Atari800MacX has been released. It has several bug fixes in
it (the Emulator state save now works with all cartridges). Most of the
enhancements relate to Gamepad controls, and some of the bug fixes are in
this area as well. See http://members.cox.net/atarimac for full details
and download.
Manga Puzzle Released
The Coolest Paradise released a new game for Atari STE/Steem.
It also works on STf and Falcon, but you should avoid to go into 'infos'
menu... A stf and Falcon 100% bug-free version will be done if some people
is interested in it.
http://www.chez.com/stalive/
AtariAge Magazine Archive
AtariAge is pleased to announce the addition of a Magazine Archive section
to the site. High-quality scans of Atari Age Magazine, the Activision
Newsletter, Numb Thumb News, Atarian Magazine and the Activision Fun Club
News (their UK newsletter) are now online, with more magazines arriving in
the future. In addition to making these magazines available for easy
browsing online, they are also available for downloading so you can view
them at your own leisure. These magazines are a fascinating insight into
Atari history, and a must read for any Atari fans!
http://www.atariage.com/magazines/
=~=~=~=
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
compiled by Joe Mirando
joe@atarinews.org
Hidi ho friends and neighbors. My intro to this column is going to be
quite short this week. I'm just about talked-out right now, but I have
one piece of personal news I figured I'd share with you...
I haven't had a cigarette in 13 weeks now. I spent a couple of days
with my wife in the doctor's office and in the hospital emergency room
because she had a couple of acute asthma attacks. She's not asthmatic,
but she does, on occasion, have these attacks.
The week after she recovered (it was the week of Valentine's Day) I
decided that we should both quit smoking. We smoke about the same
amount, and have done so for about the same amount of time. I started
using nicotine patches on Valentine's Day night. SHE did not. She was
on medication and didn't want to use the nicotine patches for fear of a
reaction. She started using the nicotine patch two weeks after I did.
We're both still cigarette free after 13 weeks. She has had a few
setbacks... I haven't.
Even though I'm now finished with the nicotine patches, I still feel
cravings at least daily. I may not have had a cigarette in 13 weeks,
but I've WANTED one every day since I quit.
What amazes me is that I really didn't want to quit (and even now, I
don't say that I've QUIT smoking, only that I've stopped). I always
thought that you had to really want to quit to be successful. Well, I
was wrong. I didn't want to quit and yet I haven't had a cigarette in
more than three months. I'm one of those odd people who actually liked
cigarettes right from the very first one. I can remember back to when I
was very young and visiting my grandparents. They both smoked and, when
they'd light up, all the other kids would make faces and clear out to
another room. But I'd walk right into the cloud of smoke. Yeah, I
know... I'm strange. What can I tell ya?
In any event, I'm cigarette-free. I'll never be one of those PITA
ex-smokers who are always in your face about it, but I WILL say this:
If _I_ can do it, anyone can.
I know that this really doesn't have anything to do with Atari
computers, but I thought there might be a person or two out there who
might be interested.
Well, let's get on with the news, hints, tips, and info from the UseNet.
From the comp.sys.atari.st NewsGroup
====================================
Ben Smith asks about using an Atari with PayPal:
"Is it possible to do PayPal on an Atari ST with a Web Browser like CAB?
Or maybe with newer Atari Web Browsers?"
Martin Tarenskeen tells Ben:
"I have used PayPal using CAB. But I think you'll need MiNTnet and the
CAB.OVL for MiNTnet that supports SSL. On the Atari Platform SSL is only
supported with MiNTnet (and possibly MagicNet, maybe a MagiC user can
confirm this? I don't know a thing about Magic)."
Mark Duckworth adds:
" [I'm] Testing as we speak.
Based on what I can tell, the SSL ovl will need work to work under
MagiCNet.
In order to use mintnet, cab-ssl.ovl and use the paypal website
effectively, I would recommend a TT or Falcon with 16 megs of ram and
easymint. An ST would probably do fine too, as long as it had more
RAM. MiNT is memory hungry, and rightfully so... it does more."
Jason Harmon asks about bypassing the AUTO folder:
"I have an Atari 1040STfm, with a MegaFile 60. I recently installed
MiNT and XaAES. Unfortunately, the system reboots after it tries to
load XaAES.
Does anyone know how to bypass the Auto folder so I can remove it from
the folder?"
Michael Pointier tells Jason:
"An alternate solution that work on all systems is to get a "boot
floppy" with a hd driver on it (ex: AHDI.PRG). Put the floppy in the
drive, and boot while pressing the ALTERNATE key. It will force the st
to forget about hard drive, and you will get access to the gem desktop,
run the driver from the floppy, add an icon for C: (top right menu "add
icons"), and modify what you want on the hard drive."
Jason replies:
"Strange... The ALTERNATE key made no difference, but I was able to hit
CTRL-C during the boot process after the HD drivers loaded but before
MiNT loaded, and get into the desktop.
Is the ALT key thing something that was added after TOS 1.0?"
Grzegorz Pawlik tells Jason:
"As far as I know it depends on the hard disk driver, not on the TOS
version. I use HUSHI on my 520ST with TOS 1.0 (1985) and when I hold
Alt key it boots from the floppy. This method also works with HDDriver.
Don't know about AHDI, though.
When you press (and hold it, for quite a long time...) the ALT key
during bootup, the hard disk driver should not load at all, so you
would not have access to your hard disk (unless you start the driver
manually later on).
When you press (*not* hold!!) "A" key during bootup, the hard disk
driver should load, but the system should boot from A device, that is,
floppy disk. This would give you the access to your hard drive, but
without starting all those AUTO programs from the drive C. In the same
way you may choose different partitions to boot from (D, E... etc, if
you have them) so that you may keep different systems on your hard
drive - MagiC on C, TOS on D, MiNT on E - and then you could *always*
boot in TOS or MagiC, in case there were something wrong with MiNT.
BTW from what I remember from some MiNT 1.12 doc files it is not
recommended to use MiNT with TOS 1.0...? I might be wrong, though,
maybe someone will correct it. If you have TOS 1.0, why not install
MagiC?"
Edward Baiz adds:
"I usually just boot from a floppy and get to the desktop. Then I
run the hard drive driver program from the floppy, install drive
'C" the boot partition and then adjust the auto folder from there."
Maurits van de Kamp asks about drivers for his video card:
"I have a nova/vme card in my TT and I am wondering if there's a site
where I can download the latest (and probably last) [;)] version of the
drivers. I'm having some trouble with the driver on the disk I got with
it.
In case I can't find any other drivers, here's my problem, maybe knows
a solution..:) Papyrus can't figure out the correct font size for vector
fonts on the screen. I can tell Papyrus to use "automatic" settings
(fonts will appear 1 millimeter large), or to get it from the graphics
driver (same result), or use a fixed setting (fonts will be slightly
too large, which will still mess up the format when printing).
According to Rom Logicware, getting a newer Nova driver will solve this
problem. So - does anybody have the last version, or does anybody know
where to find it, or does anybody have another solution to this
problem?"
'Harry' tells Maurits:
"Jo Vandeweghe's site might help:
http://www.ping.be/~pin10575/ATARI-E.HTM "
Edward Baiz asks for info and/or experience with GIGAnews:
"I soon will be having a new email address as well as everything
else since AT&T in my areas was bought out by ComCast. ComCast
says they will be using GIGAnews for newsgroups. Has anyone here
ever used it or know anything about it?"
Mark Duckworth tells Edward:
"My ISP uses giganews. Fast.. never down.. amazing service
That's my $.02."
Bill Freeman adds his experience:
"Giganews is an excellent newsgroup provider."
Edward now fills us in on his first impressions of Diamond Edge 2.5:
"I just received my copy of Diamond Edge v2.5 from Anodyne. Runs
great on my Hades and look like a real winner in the Atari world.
Thank God I now have a program that can optimize my hard drive
under Magic and is also compatible with long file names. HD Sentry
does not work under Magic or will long file names, so I will use
that possibly with my STe which uses mainly TOS.
I was wrong when I said DE v2.5 had long file name support.
According to Roger Burrows of Anodyne, that will be in the next
version. Right now, DE v2.5 will change the long file names to
shorter version. Other than that, it works great."
Well folks, that's it for this week. I know it's short, but there
wasn't a huge amount of stuff on the UseNet. I'll be back with more
next week. 'Till then keep your shoulder to the wheel, your nose to the
grindstone, your ear to the ground, and your eye on the horizon. Now
just try to get some work done in THAT position! <grin>
'Till then, keep listening to what they are saying when...
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
=~=~=~=
->In This Week's Gaming Section - A Handheld PlayStation Device!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" E3 News! New Lara Croft Coming!
Console Price Cuts! Matrix!
And much more!
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News - The Latest Gaming News!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Sony to Launch Handheld PlayStation Game Device
Sony Corp on Tuesday announced it would launch a new handheld PlayStation
gaming device to be available by the end of next year.
The announcement, which took industry watchers by surprise, puts Nintendo
Co. Ltd. and its Game Boy handheld platform directly in the sights of Sony,
just as in 1995 when Sony first ventured into the game console business.
Sony executives also announced a number of new exclusive games for the
PlayStation 2 and cemented an online sports game partnership with leading
independent game publisher Electronic Arts Inc as it aims to keep its lead
over both Microsoft Corp's Xbox and Nintendo's lagging GameCube.
Sony's upcoming PSP device, scheduled for release in the fourth quarter of
2004, will feature a color screen, computing power equal to the original
best-selling PlayStation and a new high-capacity optical disc created
especially for it, the company told reporters and analysts at a news
conference.
"To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the PlayStation's launch, we're
bringing out a special new baby for the family. We will be launching a new
handheld entertainment platform," said Ken Kutaragi, president and chief
executive of Sony Computer Entertainment and the creator the PlayStation.
Sony said the PSP would also feature a 4.5-inch LCD screen, Memory Stick
expansion slots.
Nintendo's GameCube console has struggled badly since its late-2001 launch,
missing sales targets in the last fiscal year by nearly 50 percent. It is
in third place in the console market behind Sony's market-leading
PlayStation 2 and the Xbox.
Sony's surprise announcement came on the second day of the Electronic
Entertainment Expo, or E3, the major trade show for the video game
industry.
Sony also unveiled an exclusive deal with No. 1 publisher Electronic Arts
Inc. for online sports games.
EA, which dominates the sports market with games like "Madden NFL," has
balked at the financial terms of Microsoft's Xbox Live online service and
also the direct control it would give Microsoft over some of EA's
most-loyal customers.
To grow its competing online game audience, Sony said it would effectively
give away the necessary online adapter with new sales of the PS2 for the
same $199 price.
Sony Computer Entertainment of America President Kaz Hirai said Sony would
also introduce some redesigns to the PS2 hardware, allowing it to play back
home-made DVDs among other things.
He also said Sony would release a hard disk drive for the PS2 in the first
quarter of 2004 in North America to coincide with the release of the
online-only game "Final Fantasy XI."
One of the most striking features of Sony's presentation was the EyeToy, a
new $39 USB device that will be released in October and enables players to
control PS2 games with hand and body motions, project their own images on
the screen and conduct video chat sessions online.
In another coup, Sony said Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. has agreed to
make the next game in the "Grand Theft Auto" series exclusive to PS2. The
previous two "GTA" titles were both PS2 exclusives and have together sold
more than 17 million units worldwide.
Video Game Industry Prepares for LA Extravaganza
Cram 65,000 people into a convention center, add the sounds of aliens being
shot and race cars being crashed at rock-and-roll volumes, then sprinkle in
a few women dressed in costumes just an inch or two this side of indecency.
What you get is E3, the Electronic Entertainment Expo, the video game
industry's annual convention that starts this week in Los Angeles and
represents the favored forum for deal-making and promotion in a business
expected to generate $30 billion in sales in 2003.
"I think it's going to be a good shot in the arm for the business," Jeff
Lapin, the chief executive of games publisher Take-Two Interactive Software
Inc., told Reuters.
The show floor opens Wednesday, but the festivities kick off Monday night
when Microsoft Corp. holds a press conference at which it is expected to
announce upgrades to its Xbox Live online gaming service.
The next day, Sony Corp. and Nintendo Co. Ltd. will have back-to-back
events to showcase the latest games for their consoles, the PlayStation 2
and GameCube. The afternoon will feature new games from Konami Corp. and
the latest on Nokia's N-Gage phone/game device.
The crush will start in earnest on Wednesday, as the show floor opens and
attendees rush in to get hands-on time with the latest games, some of which
are on the verge of release and some of which will not see the light of
retail shelves for months.
Special pavilions and rooms dedicated to the British, Korean, Australian,
Canadian and Hong Kong games industries have been set up so companies there
can try to take a piece of a global market dominated by the United States
and Japan.
Analysts agree that E3 is a catalyst for game stocks and the time to buy is
now.
"If there is a trading rule on how to play the videogame stocks surrounding
E3, recent history says that buying them during the show is the most
consistent way to make money," RBC Capital Markets analyst Stewart Halpern
said in a note.
Halpern's analysis showed that in 2000 through 2002, the only constant in
terms of price moves is that the stocks go up an average of 5.4 percent
during the show, while no pattern holds true in the days before and after
the event.
One of those game publishers, Electronic Arts Inc., is expected to shine
during the show.
"They have so many popular licenses ... they kind of overshadow everybody
else," Dan Hsu, the editor of games magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly,
told Reuters.
"Nintendo is probably the one that has the most to lose right now," Hsu
said, referring to the company's recent sales struggles for the GameCube
console and a lack of buzz about its games lineup before the show.
Among the games drawing the biggest buzz before the show are the PC
shooters "Doom III" and "Half-Life 2," Sony's racing game "Gran Turismo 4"
and Microsoft's action title "Halo 2."
E3 is also big business for the city of Los Angeles, generating at least
$12 million in revenue. On Friday shops throughout downtown Los Angeles had
signs in their windows welcoming the convention.
Video Game Expo to Focus on Proven Hits
More of the same, only better - that's the paradoxical hype emerging this
week as the video game industry's three consoles embark on a third season
of competition.
The focus at this year's E3 - Electronic Entertainment Expo - is recruiting
new players with updated versions of proven hits for Sony's PlayStation2,
Microsoft's Xbox and Nintendo's GameCube.
"If you look at the best-seller lists, look at what sells, look at the
competitive environment we're in, look at the cost of development, look at
the risk-reward profile, companies are not taking a huge number of
chances," said Douglas Lowenstein, president of the Interactive Digital
Software Association, the industry trade group that hosts E3.
The trend now is to improve established genres - fighting games, sports
games, driving simulations, he said.
Consoles typically have about five years of shelf life before the next
generation of consoles overtakes them, said Richard Ow, an industry analyst
for the NPD Group. "Is there still expansion left for these particular
machines? Absolutely," he said.
Among the new-and-improved, same-as-they-ever-were titles hitting the
market in the coming year is a remake of the 1998 espionage battle game
"Metal Gear Solid" in the intense graphic style of 2001's "Metal Gear
Solid 2: Sons of Liberty." The new game, subtitled "The Twin Snakes," will
be available on GameCube.
At the show, which runs Wednesday to Friday at the Los Angeles Convention
Center, Xbox is presenting the first-person shooter, "Halo 2," a sequel to
the console's best-selling game, updated with online capabilities so
players can work as teams.
"Grand Turismo 4," the latest in Sony's exalted car-race series, promises
"perfected racing physics," a wider variety of vehicles and an online
option.
The game will initially be released for PlayStation2, as will Eidos' latest
Lara Croft adventure. "Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness" promises darker
storytelling, with the curvy heroine a murder suspect.
Among PC sequels offering a multiplayer Internet option will be "Uru: Ages
Beyond Myst," which follows up on the pioneering fantasy world puzzle that
was "Myst."
Retreads and all, the video game industry keeps growing, reaching $11.7
billion in sales in 2002. The bulk were consoles, console games and
accessories. PC games accounted for about $1.4 billion of that amount.
Among consoles, PlayStation2 remains the industry leader by far, the Xbox
has developed a distant but steady second-place following and GameCube
trails with a niche following among younger children.
Microsoft and Sony were each expected to unveil updates to their online
multiplayer gaming offerings this week.
While the Internet market remains slim, it will increase in importance now
that the consoles are online, said Steve Koenig, an NPD Group analyst. "If
you're releasing a PC game this year that does not support multiplayer
online gaming, then you're well behind the curve."
Lowenstein, however, said that Internet gaming remains "a wannabe," having
appealed only to a small fraction of current gamers so far.
Fifty-seven percent of the 1,300 new games and related products on show
this week at the E3 gathering are console games and attachments, 27 percent
are for PCs, 9 percent for handheld gaming systems, 5 percent for use on
wireless phones and about 2 percent for Internet gaming, according to an
industry group survey.
Back in the deja vu department, Nintendo hopes to expand GameCube's base by
highlighting its fusion capabilities with the company's fiercely popular
GameBoy Advance portable system.
"Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles," the latest in more than a dozen
versions of the fighting, sorcery and puzzle-solving role-playing favorite,
will allow players to battle on television through the GameCube system by
connecting their handheld GameBoys as controllers, which then feed them
secret strategy information the other players can't see.
"Connectivity is a really great way to have a third way of playing that is
unique to us only," said Perrin Kaplan, vice president of marketing for
Nintendo of America.
She said several other connectivity games will be announced at E3, along
with new Nintendo titles from the "Pokemon," "Starfox" and "Mario Kart"
franchises.
As for Sony, it planned to show sequels for PlayStation2 to its buddy
comedy adventures "Jak & Daxter" and "Rachet & Clank" and was also debuting
the fighting adventure "Rise to Honor," which features the voice, image and
fight moves of Jet Li.
The Jet Li title, as one might imagine, is designed for sequeldom.
'Matrix' Fans Get Bonus Movie as Atari Game Debuts
Game publisher Atari Inc. has a message for fans of the "Matrix" movies:
there is a secret sequel out there.
It's locked away inside the biggest-budget video game ever.
Atari on Thursday released "Enter the Matrix," the video game companion to
"The Matrix Reloaded" movie opening on the same day.
The $50 game features a full two hours of new "Matrix" story, including an
hour of footage shot on the film's set with some of the film's cast. The
Wachowski brothers, who wrote and directed the trilogy of "Matrix" films,
also wrote the dialogue and story for the video game.
"They treated this like the third movie," said David Perry, the president
of Shiny Entertainment, the Atari unit that developed the game for all
console platforms and the PC, in an interview at the video game industry's
Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles.
Atari Chief Executive Bruno Bonnell told Reuters at E3 that the game cost
more than $30 million, making it the most expensive game ever and one
backed by the largest launch.
Atari, which recently changed its name from Infogrames, is betting big on
the "Matrix," shipping 4 million units to retail stores around the world.
The game was not released to media until Thursday because of the secret
film footage, so reviews remain scare. Gaming magazines and Web sites that
previewed the unfinished version have shown only restrained enthusiasm for
the game, which features heavy action and combat.
"I'm sure we're going to have mixed reviews," Bonnell said.
Since the April 18 announcement that the game was finished and ready to
ship to retail, Atari's stock has been on a run, gaining nearly 175 percent.
But Bonnell said that even if the game fails to meet expectations, it was
only forecast to make up 15 percent to 17 percent of Atari's fiscal-year
revenue.
"Matrix is not saving anybody," he said. "If worse comes to worst it's not
going to put the company under."
Work has already begun on the next game, set for the 2004 holiday season,
and Atari is also working on games based on the "Terminator" and "Mission:
Impossible" movie franchises.
"Our clear intention is to set the standard (for) Hollywood-based games,"
Bonnell said.
Microsoft Launching New Titles for Xbox
Microsoft Corp. plans to release 200 new sports, action-adventure and other
video games this year for its Xbox video-game console and Xbox Live online
gaming service.
Also on Monday, Microsoft brushed aside the news that the industry's top
video game maker - Electronic Arts - is developing online games for the
Xbox's chief rival, Sony's PlayStation 2 - while continuing to ignore
Microsoft's online platform.
The Redmond, Wash.-based software giant announced the new games at E3 -
Electronic Entertainment Expo - in Los Angeles.
The company also plans to release new software to turn the Xbox system
into a broader entertainment device, capable of showing digital pictures,
storing and playing digital music and even doubling as a karaoke machine,
Microsoft's new offerings include games to bring in new players as well as
satisfy its current base of Xbox users, said Robbie Bach, senior vice
president of Microsoft's Home and Entertainment Division and chief Xbox
officer.
The lineup also includes about 30 new games for Xbox Live, Bach said. The
company expects to have a total of 100 titles for Xbox Live by mid-May
2004. The service, launched in November, has about 500,000 subscribers
around the world, Bach said.
In addition, Microsoft unveiled its XSN Sports lineup, in which Xbox Live
players can create their own leagues, teams and tournaments. It also
announced new features, such as allowing gamers to receive invitations to
join games on wireless phones and digital devices.
But Microsoft's new offerings will not include online versions of the
blockbuster sports games made by Electronic Arts. The Redwood City,
Calif.-based developer of the popular Madden NFL and Tiger Woods PGA Tour
games plans to debut its online versions only for Sony game machines.
Electronic Arts executives told the Wall Street Journal they decided to
exclude Microsoft because the company was demanding too much control over
Electronic Arts' games and wasn't willing to pay for their use.
EA is Microsoft's top game publisher, Bach said.
"We'd love to have EA on Xbox Live and continue to work with them," he
said. "It's an ongoing conversation, we have a very good relationship with
them."
The Music Mixer, a $39.99 Xbox addition that turns the console into a
karaoke machine for example, is an expansion of the Xbox into general
entertainment, not just video games, said Bach.
It also reflects Microsoft's strategy of integrating its Xbox into its
family of software for the personal computer, said Rob Enderle, an analyst
with Forrester Research.
Bach said Microsoft has no plans to cut prices on the $199 Xbox, which
previously was reduced from $299.
Eidos Announces Imminent Return of Lara Croft
British-based computer games firm Eidos announced the imminent return of
its most famous creation and biggest money-spinner - tomb-raiding Lara
Croft.
The next instalment in the adventures of the skimpily-dressed
pistol-packing heroine, "Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness", will be
released on June 20, Eidos said.
It will hit the streets five days before the second installment in the
Lara Croft film franchise, "The Cradle of Life", again starring Angelina
Jolie as the intrepid adventurer, is released by Paramount in the United
States.
The game has suffered from a series of delays, with Eidos announcing last
October that it needed further development and would not be released in
time for the lucrative Christmas market.
At the time Eidos said the new game would see Lara "interact" with
characters rather than just shooting them.
Eidos, formerly a specialist video technology firm, has been one of the
biggest success stories of the computer gaming industry since it released
its first games in 1995.
The bulk of its spectacular growth has been based on titles starring Lara
Croft. More than 28 million copies of the five existing Tomb Raider games
have been sold worldwide since the first was released in 1996.
Sammy Introduces 'Seven Samurai' Video Game
In Akira Kurosawa's "The Seven Samurai," one of the most widely acclaimed
films of all time, itinerant swordsmen defend an impoverished village from
marauding bandits in feudal Japan.
In the futuristic video game sequel being developed with the blessing of
Kurosawa's son, there is also a masterless samurai and six warrior
companions - but the parallels seem to screech to a halt there.
The plot revolves around a tribe of mechanical beasts that threaten the
future of humanity, a darkening city at the center of the world - not to
mention a vanished Holy Child.
Hisao Kurosawa, 57, told Reuters that his biggest concern was ensuring that
the game would capture as much as possible of the spirit of the 1954 film
directed by his late father.
Japanese entertainment company Sammy Corp. on Wednesday announced plans for
"Seven Samurai 20XX," which is scheduled to be released this fall
exclusively on the Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 2 game console.
Sammy, which recently broke off merger plans with games publisher Sega
Corp., showed off the game at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3, the
biggest trade show for the $30 billion video game industry.
The game's 100-plus characters in the game were designed by French comics
artist Moebius, and Academy Award-winning composer Ryuichi Sakamoto
composed the game's opening and closing theme music tracks.
"The idea is for people to have some feeling afterward," Hiroshi Matsumoto,
a general manager for research and development at game designer Dimps
Corp., told Reuters.
"Seven Samurai" was remade by Hollywood as "The Magnificent Seven."
Game Console Price Cuts Seen in Summer or Later
Major retailers have been waiting and hoping for video game console makers
to cut prices this month - just as they did last year, during and right
after the industry's biggest trade show.
But now some industry sources and analysts do not expect the next round in
the Xbox-PlayStation price war until late summer or even year-end.
That would disappoint U.S. retailers who had expected big price markdowns
to be announced this month. Speculation had been strong that next week's
E3, the games industry's annual trade show, would bring across-the-board
price cuts.
The Electronic Entertainment Expo starts next week in Los Angeles and
represents the favored forum for deal-making and promotion in a business
expected to generate $30 billion in sales in 2003.
Last year's E3 saw a $100 cut to $199 on Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 2,
followed days later by the same cut to $199 on Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox, and
then a $50 move to $149 for Nintendo Co. Ltd.'s GameCube.
The cuts spurred a strong boost in retail game software and hardware sales
across the board, leading to expectations that another cut was coming.
But one U.S. retail source familiar with the industry pricing situation
said this week that the expected dates for price cuts came and went,
leaving the next likely window as July or August.
Two European industry sources with regular dealings inside the industry's
price and promotion machine pegged the likely new prices at $149 for the
PS2 and Xbox and $99 for the GameCube, and one said at least one retailer,
GameStop Corp., had begun making preparations for a cut.
Cuts were seen coming in Europe as well.
"There's a very good chance that prices could come down sometime around
the fourth-quarter and this will be pretty bullish for the retailers," said
Todd Kuhrt, an analyst at Midwest Research.
Representatives of the major U.S. game retailers - Best Buy Co. Inc.,
Circuit City Stores Inc., Wal-Mart Stores Inc., GameStop Corp. and
Electronics Boutique Holdings Corp. - had no immediate comment.
A second U.S. toy retail source also well informed on pricing issues
indicated "I am told this is going to happen in the fourth quarter."
Retailers generally need to be in the loop on pricing ahead of the public
so that they can begin planning their promotional efforts and building
their inventories.
Microsoft has been mum on the pricing subject, while Nintendo has said
publicly it would not move unless its hand was forced by a competitor.
Sony Computer Entertainment of America President Kaz Hirai, in an interview
with Reuters earlier this week, said Sony was "very comfortable" with their
$199 PS2 price and did not expect a price cut this month.
On Thursday, the chief executive of games publisher Activision Inc., Bobby
Kotick, told investors and analysts he expected a mid-year price cut.
While game publishers generally want a price cut, they are more concerned
with Sony, in particular, meeting its shipment forecasts. "Whether Sony
gets it at $199, $179 or $149, we're indifferent," THQ Chief Executive
Brian Farrell told Reuters recently. "All we need is that 10.5 million
units."
Microsoft Cuts Xbox Game Console Price
Microsoft Corp. on Wednesday cut the price of the Xbox video game console
to $179.99 in the United States, matching the price cut announced a day
earlier by Sony Corp. for the dominant PlayStation 2.
A Microsoft spokeswoman said the near 10 percent price cut from $199 took
effect immediately. Some retailers were already showing the new price on
their Web sites.
Sony said it cut the PS2 price from $199 on Tuesday to clear out inventory
ahead of the June launch of a redesigned version, which includes an adapter
for networking. That package is expected to sell for $199.
Both price cuts took industry watchers by surprise, coming as they did at
the start of the Electronic Entertainment Expo, the video game industry's
annual trade show.
Sony Computer Entertainment of America President Kaz Hirai and Microsoft
Chief Xbox Officer Robbie Bach both told Reuters within the last week they
saw no need for a price cut.
"We're very comfortable with the way things are selling," Bach said on
Monday.
On Wednesday, Hirai told Reuters he thought Microsoft's move had been
premature and said Sony still intended to charge $199 for its new package
coming in June.
"I think that ... they may have jumped the gun here," he said.
Satoru Iwata, the president of GameCube manufacturer Nintendo Co. Ltd.,
played down the possibility of a price cut for its $149 console, which
currently comes with a free game.
"I really don't think there is an urgent necessity to cut the price," Iwata
said.
Retailers had been clamoring for a price cut, according to games publishing
executives, as the move usually brings a sharp rise in sales. However, most
were expecting that any price cut on the consoles would be $50 rather than
$20.
Many had also assumed that the next round of discounting by the game
manufacturers would not happen until the fall in order to provide a lift to
sales during the crucial year-end holiday season.
Win a Chance to Get Beaten Up - in a Video Game
The good news: video game fans have a chance to star in an upcoming game
release.
The bad news: your digital likeness will be beaten with lead pipes and
body-slammed into concrete pool decks.
British video game publisher Eidos on Friday said it has struck a deal with
games news company IGN Entertainment Inc. to sponsor a contest in which the
winner will appear as a character in the upcoming game 'Backyard Wrestling:
Don't Try This at Home.'
The game is set for release this summer on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox game
consoles, and the contest, which requires only a name and an e-mail
address, is open to anyone age 18 and up.
Eidos said the contest runner-up will receive a lineup of 'Backyard
Wrestling' DVDs, in which competitors abuse each other with anything they
can find. The Web site for Backyard Wrestling Inc. shows a number of
competitors lying on the ground, beaten and bloody.
Separately, Eidos said it had signed a deal with Island Records for an
official in-game soundtrack featuring some of the top hard-core rock music
acts, including Sum 41, Slayer, and the Insane Clown Posse.
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE Gaming Online - Online Users Growl & Purr!
"""""""""""""""""""
Lure of the Temptress
Lure of the Temptress was Revolution's very first adventure game and work
began on it in 1989, even before Revolution's inception as an actual games
development company. From the start our aim was to consider the
contemporary adventures of the day and then bring something new to the
genre. From this came the Virtual Theatre engine. VT allowed in-game
characters to wander around the gameworld indepently of each other, living
their own lives and doing their own thing. Another feature allowed the
player to give direct orders to Helper characters - in this case Ratpouch
- who would then go off to perform the task. These technology concepts
were certainly unique, though Revolution were not sure how to develop them
further in subsequent games. Nonetheless, the result was a quirky and
entertaining adventure game that kicked off Revolution's fondness for
characterisation and in-game humour.
Lure of the Temptress was originally released for ST, Amiga and PC.
PC Lure now available for FREE download!
Download English lure.zip 1.3MB
Download French lure_fr.zip 3.3MB
Download German lure_de.zip 3.5MB
*French and German versions have the manual included because the copy
protection system is still present in the executable.
Simply unzip to a directory and run the lure.exe
Although Lure of the Temptress is over 10 years old, compatibility is
pretty good and you should find it runs ok. If it doesn't, we don't know
why.
Important When the game first begins, move the cursor to the menu at the
top of the screen and RESTART the game. This bypasses the copy protection
system.
Have fun!
=~=~=~=
A-ONE's Headline News
The Latest in Computer Technology News
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
Lawmaker to Present Anti-Spam Bill This Week
A powerful U.S. lawmaker plans to introduce an anti-spam bill this week
that is expected to move quickly through Congress but may fall short of
what consumer advocates say is needed to stop the plague of unwanted
e-mail.
E-mail marketers who lie about their identities or use other deceptive
tactics could face fines and up to two years in prison under a bill drafted
by Louisiana Republican Rep. Billy Tauzin, the powerful chairman of the
U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee.
But the bill does not try to curb "legitimate" e-mail solicitations at a
time when many Internet providers and some government officials say the
sheer volume of unwanted spam, rather than its content, is what's causing
problems.
Tauzin's effort, which joins at least three other anti-spam bills in
Congress, is likely to advance quickly as it has been developed with the
House Judiciary Committee. The two committees have clashed previously over
how to curb the unwanted e-mail that now accounts for up to 75 percent of
all online messages.
"When we introduce the bill, when we go to hearings, when we have markups,
it'll all be in lock-step with the Judiciary Committee," Tauzin spokesman
Ken Johnson said.
A Judiciary spokesman confirmed that the two committees have been drafting
the bill together.
Roughly two-thirds of the unwanted commercial e-mail that clogs users'
inboxes contains deceptive information such as false return addresses,
misleading subject lines or pitches for miracle cures, work-at-home
schemes, or other questionable products, according to a recent analysis by
the Federal Trade Commission.
According to a draft obtained by Reuters, Tauzin's bill seeks to cut down
on such deceptive spam by requiring e-mail marketers to disclose their
online and physical addresses and honor consumer requests to be taken off
their mailing lists. Pornographic e-mails would be labeled as such, and
marketers would not be allowed to "harvest" e-mail addresses from sources
that say they will not resell customer information.
Those who violate these guidelines could face fines of up to $1.5 million
and jail time of up to 2 years. Internet providers, state attorneys general
and federal law-enforcement agencies such as the FTC and the Justice
Department could go after suspected spammers, but the bill does not allow
individual lawsuits or class-action suits.
The bill would also override existing anti-spam state laws, some of which
allow individuals to sue.
Tauzin's bill largely echoes the approach favored by online marketers, who
fear that an overly broad law could ban e-mail from banks, airlines and
other reputable businesses.
Legal expert David Sorkin said the bill could legitimize much of what
people now view as spam, leading to an increase in unwanted, if not
deceptive, e-mail.
"I think it's misguided and counterproductive," said Sorkin, an associate
professor at the John Marshall Law School in Chicago. "I think it will lead
to more spam rather than less."
Authorities Arrest 135 in Nationwide Cybercrime Sweep
Attorney General John Ashcroft said Friday 135 people have been charged and
more than $17 million seized in a crackdown on investment swindles,
identity theft and other forms of Internet fraud and abuse.
U.S. law-enforcement officers arrested 50 suspects this week in an effort
to combat the fast-growing online crime that now accounts for more than
half of all fraud complaints, Ashcroft said.
Those arrested stand accused of a variety of crimes, from setting up fake
banking Web sites to collect the account numbers of unsuspecting customers
to surreptitiously taping and selling unreleased movies, Ashcroft said.
Many of the cases involved advertising goods or services that did not
exist. Defendants allegedly sold computers, video- game consoles, Beanie
Babies and other items through e-mail or online auction sites but never
delivered them, while others allegedly sold counterfeit software and
watches.
One California resident was charged with operating a bogus investment
scheme that took in $60 million from some 15,000 victims worldwide, while a
San Diego couple was charged with taking in $600,000 through a matchmaking
service that promised to pair lonely men with Russian or Ukrainian women.
According to charges filed by the Justice Department, some defendants
tapped into the customer lists of a California amusement park and the tax
rolls of a Pennsylvania city in a bid to take out credit cards in other
people's names.
Since Jan. 1, the Justice Department and other federal agencies have
uncovered more than 89,000 victims bilked out of some $176 million,
Ashcroft said.
The Internet's borderless nature presents new opportunities to scam artists
whose reach would normally be limited and requires law enforcement agencies
to work together to catch them, Ashcroft said.
"These cyberswindles and dot-cons present new challenges to law
enforcement," he said.
FBI (news - web sites) Director Robert Muller said the federal
crime-fighting agency has set up 60 specialized teams around the country to
combat online fraud.
Internet fraud complaints have risen steadily over the past several years
and now account for more than half of all fraud complaints received by the
Federal Trade Commission, FTC Chairman Timothy Muris said.
The effort also involved agents from the Postal Inspection Service, the
Secret Service, the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as well
as state and local police.
Officials Escalate Spam Crackdown
In a sweeping crackdown on Internet fraud, state and federal authorities
Thursday announced that they have brought 45 cases against Internet scam
artists and deceptive spammers.
The campaign marks the fourth in a series of regional sweeps over the past
13 months that teamed an armada of agencies filing more than 150 cases.
Authorities also said they have launched an effort to torpedo one of
spammers' most critical tools - "open relays." These are unprotected e-mail
servers through which marketers route their messages to conceal their
identity and evade junk e-mail filters.
Investigators from 17 agencies identified 1,000 potential open relays in
16 countries and sent letters asking authorities there to shut them down.
In a warning to scammers, Jane Boyle, U.S. attorney for the Northern
District of Texas, said at a news conference, "We have the expertise,
funding and motivation to go after you. You're not smart enough, and you
cannot hide from us."
The latest crackdown involved the Federal Trade Commission, the Securities
and Exchange Commission (news - web sites) and the states of Louisiana,
Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas, and other authorities.
* Alyon Technologies allegedly used a modem dialing service to disconnect
consumers from their own Internet service provider and link them to the
scammers' network. By capturing their phone number, the company billed
them $4.99 a minute for videotext, or Web video and information services,
that they typically didn't receive or authorize.
* A spam e-mail offer touted work-at-home envelope stuffing. The pitch
from Easy Money promised consumers they would earn $1 for each envelope
they stuffed, and as much as $1,500 a week. Actually, for a $50 fee, they
got instructions to market a deceptive credit-repair manual, the FTC says.
* College Funding Center allegedly told college-bound students and their
parents that it would obtain all their college funding for $895.
Instead, the Web-based operation supplied them scholarship information
they could have gotten free.
* Another Web work-at-home scheme, Instant Internet Empires, promised
buyers they could make $115,000 a year with their product. But for $47.77,
they simply got the right to reproduce the company's advertising Web site
and try to resell it to others, the FTC says.
* Click for Mail claimed consumers who coughed up $49.95 were guaranteed a
"100% unsecured" Visa or MasterCard credit card with a credit limit up to
$5,000.
Actually, consumers got access to a Web page with hyperlinks to sites of
credit card issuers - a list freely available to Web surfers, the FTC says.
US Seeks to Expand Spam Crackdown to 59 Countries
US authorities called on organizations in 59 countries to close loopholes
in cyberspace that allow people to hide their identities in sending "spam,"
or unsolicited e-mail.
The Federal Trade Commission and other agencies said they were asking for
the closing of so-called "open relays" that allow people "to avoid
detection by spam filters and law enforcers," according to an FTC
statement.
Open relays allow third parties to route their e-mail through servers of
other organizations, disguising the real origin of the e-mail.
US regulators identified 1,000 potential open relays, 90 percent of which
were in 16 countries: the United States, China, South Korea, Japan, Italy,
Poland, Brazil, Germany, Taiwan, Mexico, Britain, Chile, France, Argentina,
India, Spain and Canada.
An FTC spokeswoman said the open relays may exist on severs operated by
governments, schools, businesses or any organization with a server, or
central computer.
The spokeswoman said many of the open relays are on older servers with
weaker security settings and may not be intentionally left open.
The agencies drafted a letter which was translated into 11 languages and
signed by 14 US and international agencies, urging the organizations to
close their open relays to help reduce spam.
The announcement was made at the same time the authorities announced 45
criminal and civil law enforcement actions against Internet "scammers and
deceptive spammers."
"Today's Internet is not a lawless environment," said Howard Beales,
director of consumer protection for the FTC.
The charges relate to auction fraud, illegal sale of controlled substances,
get-rich-quick scams, illegal advance-fee credit card offers, and identity
theft.
Agencies involved in the "NetForce" crackdown include the US Postal
Inspection Service, Securities and Exchange Commission and dozens of state
agencies.
The effort is also coordinated with regulators in Australia, Canada, Japan
and Chile, the FTC said.
13 States Sue Company Over Pop-Up Windows
Wisconsin and 12 other states are suing an Internet firm that allegedly
billed people who tried to close pop-up windows for pornographic Web sites,
the state's attorney general said Thursday.
The suits, filed in conjunction with the Federal Trade Commission, alleges
New Jersey-based Alyon Technologies violated advertising and
telecommunications laws.
Wisconsin's lawsuit claims Alyon connected Internet users to the company's
toll phone number when they tried to close Alyon's pop-up windows
advertising porn sites.
The toll number charges $5 a minute, Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager
said, resulting in bills ranging from $14 to more than $1,000.
"The way this organization has allegedly been doing business is illegal,
irresponsible and an outrageous misuse of Internet technology," she said.
Other states that have sued are California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois,
Kentucky, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, North Carolina, Nebraska, Texas and
West Virginia.
Alyon officials said Thursday that they alerted the FTC to procedures the
states are questioning and have been working with state lawmakers to make
sure its practices comply with federal and state laws.
"Given our willingness and effort to work to resolve the consumer issues,
we are stunned by the FTC's decision to initiate this unwarranted action,"
Alyon president Stephane Touboul said in a statement.
Alleged eBay Scammer Pleads No Contest
A man who sold high-end computers, laptops and other equipment on eBay
Inc.'s online auction site pleaded no contest to allegations of fraud
totaling $453,000.
Chris Chong Kim, 28, of Los Angeles entered the plea Friday to one count of
grand theft and agreed to a waiver that will allow the court to consider
restitution for victims.
He is accused of defrauding 26 customers of sums ranging from nearly $2,000
to $6,000. The criminal complaint alleged victims, eBay and Bank of America
lost a total of $453,000.
Kim's eBay business, Calvin's Auctions, allegedly stopped shipping
equipment in April 2002 but its sales continued. The Southern California
High Tech Task Force investigated after complaints were lodged with the
FBI's Internet Fraud Complaint Center. Calvin's Auctions was shut down in
July 2002, according to Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Fairtlough.
Kim has agreed to pay $100,000 in restitution at his June 6 sentencing. He
also faces three years in state prison, but Fairtlough said he will be sent
to a restitution center to serve his time so he can earn money to pay his
victims.
NY Attorney General Says 'Buffalo Spammer' Arrested
The man known as the "Buffalo Spammer," who has allegedly sent 825 million
unwanted e-mails, has been arrested and arraigned, New York Attorney
General Eliot Spitzer said on Wednesday.
Howard Carmack, a 36-year-old resident of Buffalo, New York, entered not
guilty pleas before a Buffalo City Court judge and bail was set at $20,000,
the Attorney General's office said in a statement.
"We believe Carmack is one of the largest (spammers) and believe there are
a significant number of them," Spitzer said in a conference call. "Spammers
who forge documentation and steal identities of others to create their
e-mail traffic will be prosecuted."
Spam, or unwanted e-mail hawking everything from herbal sexual stimulants
to mortgages, has become a growing issue as it now comprises as much as
75 percent of online messages.
About two-thirds of the spam that jams up in-boxes contains deceptive
information such as false return addresses or pitches for miracle cures and
work-at-home schemes, according to a recent analysis by the U.S. Federal
Trade Commission.
The Attorney General's office said in a statement its Internet bureau
receives more complaints about spam than about any other Internet-related
issue.
"Spam itself is not - of itself - a crime," Spitzer said. "What makes this
criminal conduct is the intersection of spamming with forgery and identity
theft."
Carmack was charged with: stealing the identity of two residents to open
Internet access accounts with EarthLink Inc. ; falsifying the business
records of EarthLink; forging the headers of e-mail sent from the EarthLink
accounts; and possessing a software program designed to create the forged
e-mails, the Attorney General's office said in a statement.
Spitzer said his office worked with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and
EarthLink, the nation's No. 3 Internet service provider. Last week
EarthLink won a $16 million settlement and injunctive relief against
Carmack in U.S. district court in Atlanta after a year-long investigation.
"He cost EarthLink more than $1 million," Spitzer charged. "And he opened
in excess of 343 e-mail accounts using stolen identities."
The prosecution is the first by Spitzer under New York's identity theft
statute, which was enacted in November.
Carmack's public defender was not immediately available for comment. The
next court date is May 19.
Spitzer said more arrests in this case are not expected at the moment, but
the investigation continues as Carmack's computer has been seized. He said
investigations into other spammers are underway but declined to comment
further.
The arrest comes as Louisiana Republican Rep. Billy Tauzin plans to
introduce an anti-spam bill this week that is expected to move quickly
through Congress.
Nineteen States Sue Software Firm; Allege Web Scam
California and 18 other states on Thursday brought a consumer protection
lawsuit against Alyon Technologies Inc. for allegedly running a scam that
automatically connected peoples' computers to porn sites then charged steep
fees to their phone bills.
California Attorney General Bill Lockyer in a statement said Alyon, a New
Jersey-based software company, installed pop-up ads that automatically
dialed expensive adult Web sites without consent.
He said the suit was brought after his office received dozens of complaints
from consumers who had received steep bills from porn sites they had never
knowingly visited. The sites Alyon links to require no credit cards but
charge $4.99 per minute to a consumer's phone bill, according to the
complaint.
The complaint also charges that Alyon engages in unfair business practices
when attempting to collect payment from consumers.
The suit is asking Alyon to provide better instructions on how consumers
can remove the automatic dialer software from their computers.
SCO Threatens To Sue All Commercial Linux Users
SCO on Wednesday threatened to sue commercial Linux users, charging that
Linux is an "unauthorized derivative" of Unix.
The company also said it plans to suspend Linux sales, and focus on Unix
and its Web services technology, SCOx, introduced in April.
"With this announcement, we are letting people know that Linux is an
unauthorized derivative of our Unix system V source code. We need to let
people know that legal liability will rest with the Linux users," said
Chris Sontag, senior vice president and general manager of SCOsource, the
company's intellectual property licensing and protection program.
SCO said it will continue to support existing SCO Linux and Caldera
OpenLinux customers and hold them harmless from SCO intellectual property
issues regarding SCO Linux and Caldera OpenLinux products.
SCO sued IBM in March, charging that IBM violated SCO's intellectual
property by including Unix source code in Linux. The widely criticized
lawsuit seeks more than $1 billion in damages. IBM denied the claims.
While SCO didn't explicitly say it plans to sue Linux users, it dropped
some broad hints.
In a letter it sent to 1,500 of the world's largest corporations, SCO said,
"We believe that Linux infringes on our UNIX intellectual property and
other rights. We intend to aggressively protect and enforce these rights.
Consistent with this effort, on March 7, we initiated legal action against
IBM for alleged unfair competition and breach of contract with respect to
our UNIX rights."
The letter adds, "Similar to analogous efforts underway in the music
industry, we are prepared to take all actions necessary to stop the ongoing
violation of our intellectual property or other rights."
Bruce Perens, an open source consultant, scoffed at SCO's threat. He said
Linux users have nothing to fear, and should continue using the operating
system
"These last couple of press releases have followed a pattern. They have
been written to FUD Linux," Perens said. He noted that earlier this month,
SCO blamed unnamed open source supporters for a denial-of-service attack on
the company's Web server, citing as evidence the fact that the attacks
occurred soon after developments in the IBM lawsuit. "It just sounds like a
lot of air to me," Perens said.
He noted that SCO's own distribution of Linux might hurt its chances in a
lawsuit, since SCO released that code into open source. Any Unix code
contained in SCO's Linux would also be part of the open source license,
Perens said.
If identical code appears in both Linux and Unix, it's more likely to have
made its way from Linux to Unix than vice-versa, if only because the source
code for Linux is public while the source code for Unix is proprietary,
Perens said. "We've had the best engineers working on Linux for three years
now. I can't believe that SCO knew things about Itanium that
Hewlett-Packard, that originated the Itanium architecture, didn't know,"
Perens said.
SCO has presented no evidence to support its claims, because it doesn't
have any, Perens said.
Some observers have speculated that SCO is angling for a big settlement
from IBM, perhaps even to be bought out by IBM. But Perens said that
outcome is unlikely. "IBM has had a chance already, so why didn't they buy
the company? One reason is that IBM is not afraid that they'll lose, so
why buy SCO when you can grind them into the Utah dirt. Also, IBM does not
want the message out that they can be blackmailed."
Perens predicted SCO will lose in court.
SCO's Sontag said that even if Unix code is in SCO's own Linux - which he
did not say is the case - it would not invalidate SCO's claim. Some of Unix
intellectual property may have found its way into SCO's own Linux, but if
it was there it would have been placed there by "third parties who violated
their contract and licenses," and "inadvertently distributed for a period
of time" by SCO.
He added, "The issue is that SCO's intellectual property is in Linux, and
that's where we have to stay focused."
SCO has kept its evidence in the case confidential until now, but will be
willing to share the
information under nonclosure agreements, Sontag said.
"We have to be careful in terms of how we lay the evidence out. This is a
legal proceeding," he said.
'Fizzer' Computer Virus Spreading Faster
A new and complex computer virus called "Fizzer" spread rapidly across the
Internet on Monday, infecting computers across the world via e-mail and the
file-swapping service Kazaa, computer security experts said.
Businesses in Asia were the first to report the attack, followed by reports
of tens of thousands of infections in Europe, and experts were expecting
more cases in North America.
"It first appeared last Thursday and started out rather slowly," said
Vincent Gullotto, who heads up an anti-virus response Team at Network
Associates Inc. in Beaverton, Oregon.
Fizzer was a complex virus that combined previously known tactics from
other malicious viruses, Gullotto said.
There was no threat that Fizzer would cause widespread damage similar to
the disruption caused by the "SQL Slammer" in January, which bogged down
computer networks across the globe, Gullotto said.
Instead, Fizzer appears as an e-mail with an attention-grabbing subject
line that is activated once a user opens an attached file.
From there, it infects the shared filed folder for Kazaa, the popular
program that lets users swap songs and files anonymously over the Internet.
That allows Fizzer to spread to other computers, finds information for
other contacts in Microsoft Corp.'s Outlook e-mail program and mail itself
to more people.
British-based virus detection firm MessageLabs recorded 17,765 cases in 24
hours to 11:30 a.m. EDT. "We've upgraded it to high-risk just for the fact
that we've seen so many in the last day," said Mark Toshack, a virus
analyst at MessageLabs.
The worm also has the capability to disable computer users' anti-virus and
firewall software, but is otherwise not a threat to users' personal files.
The biggest headache was the extra traffic it generated, bogging down
corporate networks.
"It sends an e-mail message with varying format to all the addresses found
in the Windows Address Book and Microsoft Outlook," Japanese security firm
Trend Micro said.
The worm arrives as a file attachment with a .EXE, .PIF, .COM, or .SCR
extension.
Other security software makers issued similar warnings through their Web
sites, including U.S. firm Symantec Corp. and Finland's F-Secure.
Secrets of Internet Sales Tax
In recent months, a few large e-tailers, including Target.com and
Walmart.com, started charging sales tax on purchases made through their
sites. Although this event took place largely without fanfare, it marked a
watershed moment in the history of online commerce.
If more e-businesses hop on the bandwagon in coming months, the trickle may
become a trend. The timing certainly seems right: With many state
governments facing record budget deficits, pressure to levy sales tax
online is likely to increase.
The big question is whether or not e-tailers are ready for the legal
labyrinth that awaits them. Just thinking about the Internet sales tax
issue can be enough to bring on a migraine headache.
"It's a hugely complicated patchwork of different state, local and county
taxes, and then there's the issue of use and excise taxes. I can't imagine
changing overnight," Forrester research director Kate Delhagen told the
E-Commerce Times. "There's no rhyme or reason, and it's only gotten more
complicated."
How can e-businesses make sense of this mess? And are there any viable
solutions to what Delhagen termed "a political hot potato"?
Paul Ritter, program manager for Internet business strategies at the
Yankee Group, described the taxation of e-commerce sales as a quagmire that
has been the source of debate and lobbying efforts for years. As such, the
issue probably will not be settled anytime soon.
"There are many competing interests, with states, federal government
agencies, retailers and pure-play e-tailers each having a different view,"
Ritter told the E-Commerce Times. "It is unlikely that substantive changes
will occur in the near term that won't be the subject of appeal or consumer
backlash."
Brian O'Shaughnessy, director of corporate communications at VeriSign, told
the E-Commerce Times that it is an onerous task to make sure tax
authorities obtain their appropriate dues from online businesses without
risking that such fees will negatively impact the health of those
businesses.
O'Shaughnessy, whose company processes approximately 25 percent of all
transaction payments online, also noted that e-commerce sales are one of
the few growing areas of the economy.
The U.S. federal government historically has defined the nexus of a
company as the place where it maintains a physical presence. For example,
if a company's headquarters were located in California, its nexus would be
in California, and it would be required to collect sales tax there.
However, the nexus issue does not stop with headquarters. If the same
company had stores or branch offices in other states, each of those states
would be considered a nexus as well, with the same tax responsibilities
applying to the company. If the company had a nationwide presence (as do
national chains like Wal-Mart and Target), it would be responsible for
collecting taxes in all states.
In a nutshell, Dick Anderson, supervisor of special projects in the sales
and use tax department of the California State Board of Equalization, told
the E-Commerce Times that a company's nexus determines its responsibility
for charging sales tax in a given state.
Anderson added that the U.S. Supreme Court has issued several rulings
pertaining to interstate and foreign commerce. In effect, these rulings
have stated that companies cannot be forced to collect sales tax unless
they have what is considered a sufficient nexus in a particular state.
According to O'Shaughnessy, however, determining what qualifies as a nexus
can be an elusive exercise at a time when Web and other technologies are
blurring borders between states - and even between countries.
He described a scenario in which an Illinois resident, using a California
credit card based out of a New Jersey bank, purchases a tangible piece of
personal property from a Florida company as he crosses that state's border
on his Wi-Fi phone and then specifies that the item be shipped to his aunt
in Massachusetts. Who should collect sales tax revenue in this scenario?
The answer is clear as mud.
Issues like county and city sales taxes, let alone foreign duties, can
further complicate an already convoluted scenario, O'Shaughnessy added.
"The algorithm to figure it out is so immense as to be an impossible task,"
he said, noting that a nationwide agreement is essential to solving this
dilemma.
Many others seem to have reached a similar conclusion. Forrester's
Delhagen noted that in the last couple of years, a coalition of nearly 40
state governors has been lobbying to simplify the Internet sales tax
morass. Given all the variations between what percentage a state (or county
or city) charges for sales tax and which items are taxable (for example,
clothes are not taxed in Massachusetts, while Oregon has no sales tax
whatsoever), the task is akin to "herding cats."
Delhagen explained that in order to simplify the tax code, states must
agree to a few common numbers and then decide which categories of items
will be taxed. Although an overnight solution is unlikely, she said she
expects to see progress on this issue in the next decade.
"Anything with the word 'tax' in it causes blood pressures to rise because
the assumption is that taxes will be raised," Delhagen said, "when in fact
some consumers may actually benefit" from reform.
Snow, Evans Call for Continued Internet Tax Ban
U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow and Commerce Secretary Don Evans urged
Congress on Thursday to extend a ban on Internet-specific taxes that
expires this November.
In a letter to Wisconsin Rep. James Sensenbrenner, chairman of the House of
Representatives Judiciary Committee, the two senior Bush administration
officials said that new taxes could slow adoption of high-speed Internet
access.
"Government must not slow the roll-out or usage of Internet services by
establishing administrative barriers or imposing new access taxes," Snow
and Evans wrote.
A Judiciary subcommittee held a hearing on the issue in April, but has not
yet voted on the bill.
The moratorium, first passed in 1998, prohibits "multiple and
discriminatory" taxes on Internet access fees and online traffic. Congress
extended the ban in 2001 but it expires this year.
The ban does not address online sales taxes, which are currently prohibited
under a 1992 Supreme Court decision that forbids states from taxing
catalog, telephone and other remote sales.
Cash-strapped states, "brick and mortar" retailers and other advocates of
online sales taxes have sought to tie the two issues together, hoping to
link the politically popular moratorium with the more controversial right
to impose sales taxes on the Web.
Online retailers have resisted sales taxes, though some retailers such as
Target Corp. that have both online and physical stores have voluntarily
begun to collect taxes from Web sales.
Kid-Friendly Web Zone Will Be Online in September
Telecommunications company NeuStar Inc. said on Tuesday it plans in
September to launch a "child-friendly" Internet zone free of violence,
pornography and other adult material.
Privately held NeuStar said the ".kids.us" Internet domain will be open to
U.S. residents and businesses on Sept. 4, while registered trademark
holders will be able to reserve their marks during a special
preregistration period from June 17 to Aug. 15.
Last fall Congress directed NeuStar to set up the domain after previous
attempts to shield children from inappropriate material online failed to
survive court challenges.
Web sites within the ".kids.us" domain will be screened to ensure that
they do not carry foul language, pornography, graphic violence and other
material inappropriate for children 13 and younger. Nor will these sites
include certain interactive features, such as chat rooms and instant
messaging, or links to Web sites outside the domain.
Parents looking to ensure that their children do not stumble on
inappropriate material when surfing the Internet will be able to set up
their browsers to view only Web sites within the ".kids.us" domain, said
Melinda Clem, NeuStar's director of business development.
Those wishing to set up a ".kids.us" Web page must first submit it to a
panel that will ensure that it complies with the guidelines, Clem said.
She said NeuStar will use automatic software and human monitors to ensure
that ".kids.us" Web sites stay age-appropriate.
NeuStar will charge domain-name sellers a wholesale rate of $65 per year.
Customers will pay somewhat more than that to reserve a ".kids.us" address,
Clem said, along with a $250 annual charge to cover the costs of the
content review.
Domain-name sellers typically charge between $10 and $35 per year to
reserve addresses in established domains with no content restrictions, such
as ".com" and ".info."
Sony Unwraps New Vaio Notebook
Sony has taken the wraps off its summer line-up of personal computers for
the Japan market and with it unveiled the first Vaio model in its new TR
range.
The new machine, which will be available first in June in Japan, is not
likely to disappoint Sony fans. Its widescreen display gives it a
distinctive look and a long list of features and good networking support
rounds off the machine, for which Sony says it is yet to decide on overseas
launch plans.
The PCG-TR1 is based around Intel's recently launched Pentium M processor
running at 900 MHz. The machine can accommodate between 256MB and 1GB of
DDR266 (Double Data Rate 266) memory and it has a 30GB hard drive. There
is also a built-in CD-RW/DVD-ROM optical drive, which supports CD-R writing
at 8X and CD-RW writing at 4X speed.
The display is a 10.6-inch widescreen TFT LCD with WXGA resolution (1,280
pixels by 768 pixels). Just above the display there is a small video
camera. It can be used to snap pictures or works with Sony's bundled
videoconferencing software although it has a relatively low resolution of
370,000 pixels, which means it can manage around VGA resolution (640 pixels
by 480 pixels) quality.
To aid picture capture Sony has put a capture button to the right of the
main display. It is one of four buttons placed next to the display; the
others are volume up/down and a zoom button.
Three wireless networking standards are supported: IEEE802.11b,
IEEE802.11a, and Bluetooth 1.1, in addition to the Fast Ethernet and
ILink/IEEE1394 wired networking standards. Other connectors include two USB
2.0 ports, a PC Card slot, Memory Stick Pro slot, and a connector enabling
the notebook to be used with an external monitor.
It weighs just over 3 pounds and measures 10.6 inches by 1.4 inches by 7.4
inches. Battery life for the standard pack is between 4.5 hours and 7 hours
with the large battery pack providing enough power for between 7 hours and
10 hours, according to Sony.
Sony will put the PCG-TR1 on sale in Japan on June 7 for a price around
$1,970.
Microsoft Says 'iLoo' Internet Project a Hoax
Microsoft Corp. said a company news release that it was developing a
portable toilet with Internet access, called an "iLoo," was a hoax
perpetrated by its British division.
The April 30 release, issued by the company's MSN Internet division in the
United Kingdom, said Microsoft was developing a portable toilet with a
wireless keyboard and an extending height-adjustable plasma screen in front
of the seat. The iLoo was to debut at festivals this summer in Britain.
"This iLoo release came out of the UK office and was not a Microsoft
sanctioned communication and we apologize for any confusion or offense it
may have caused," Microsoft spokeswoman Bridgitt Arnold said late Monday.
The fake release generated coverage by The Wall Street Journal, The
Associated Press and Reuters.
The Associated Press received confirmation of the project from both
Microsoft Corp.'s Waggener Edstrom public relations firm and London-based
Red Consultancy, which handles such work for the software giant in England.
In an e-mail sent last week to The Associated Press, Red Consultancy's Ben
Philipson wrote "MSN is really working on building a prototype for the
Summer festivals, perhaps Glastonbury ... This is very much a 'toe in the
water' experiment to gauge interest so we'll have to see how it goes,
although judging from response so far it's really captured people's
imagination!"
Malina Bragg, who helps with MSN's account for Waggener Edstrom, also
verified last week that the project was true.
=~=~=~=
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