Copy Link
Add to Bookmark
Report
Atari Online News, Etc. Volume 07 Issue 06
Volume 7, Issue 6 Atari Online News, Etc. February 4, 2005
Published and Copyright (c) 1999 - 2005
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:
Greg George
To subscribe to A-ONE, change e-mail addresses, or unsubscribe,
log on to our website at: www.atarinews.org
and click on "Subscriptions".
OR subscribe to A-ONE by sending a message to: dpj@atarinews.org
and your address will be added to the distribution list.
To unsubscribe from A-ONE, send the following: Unsubscribe A-ONE
Please make sure that you include the same address that you used to
subscribe from.
To download A-ONE, set your browser bookmarks to one of the
following sites:
http://people.delphiforums.com/dpj/a-one.htm
http://www.icwhen.com/aone/
http://a1mag.atari.org
Now available:
http://www.atarinews.org
Visit the Atari Advantage Forum on Delphi!
http://forums.delphiforums.com/atari/
=~=~=~=
A-ONE #0706 02/04/05
~ Some eBay Sellers Gone ~ People Are Talking! ~ New Spam Strategy!
~ Ex-AOL'er Spam Guilty! ~ Running From Dial-Up! ~ Godfather Returns!
~ Xbox2 Unveiling Delay! ~ Busted Links to Paxfire ~ PSP2 In March!
~ New MS Search Engine! ~ Rise In Worst Spyware! ~ Dog Days of Winter
-* Microsoft Renames Reduced XP *-
-* Atari Times 2005 Compendium Is Here *-
-* EU Thinks Microsoft Is Dragging Its Feet! *-
=~=~=~=
->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Well, thanks to Puxatawney Phil, we're in for six more weeks of winter. If
only we'd be lucky and could rely on that little bit of folklore! But, this
is New England, and we know there's nothing that we can count on except for
the fact that you can't count on stuff like this! I usually enjoy all four
seasons, but I like to see those seasons spread out fairly equally. Having
this much snow and cold at once just doesn't fare well with me. It doesn't
do much for my demeanor. I've been in a really foul mood all week, and
probably even longer. Lots of different things just haven't been working
out the way I'd like. You know, it's occasionally all of the little things
that can drive you crazy. Work. The weather. The car. The drippy faucet.
The mailman. No morning newspaper on time. The stupid stuff. So, I
haven't felt much like putting in much time putting together remnants of our
Atari past lately. I know, I've been working on these tidbits for awhile,
but I just haven't been able to remain focused with the little time that
I've had available. We'll get there, and it will be worth the wait!
Until last time...
=~=~=~=
Atari Times 2005 Compendium, Now Available!
THE ATARI TIMES ANNOUNCES THE AVAILABILITY OF THE 2005 COMPENDIUM
January 31, 2005
For immediate release:
WINTER HAVEN, FL - The editor of The Atari Times (www.ataritimes.com)
has announced the completion and availability of the annual paper-based
book titled the 2005 Compendium. Copies are now available for sale at
www.cafepress.com/ataritimes.
The book is 102 pages of news, features, reviews, and previews for all
Atari home systems that have appeared on the website over the 2004 year.
These include articles for the Jaguar, Lynx, 7800, 5200, 2600, home
computers, and even the arcade systems. In addition, the 2005 Compendium
includes 45 pages of previously unreleased material and a beautiful
full-color cover.
Gregory D. George, editor and writer for The Atari Times commented, "The
theme for this year is, 'Where it all Started.' Certainly, Atari is the
reason we are all enjoying video games today. This is a book that
celebrates the introduction of Atari and video games to the world."
"This was a fun book to put together, even more so than previous books,
because there is a huge amount of new content. Some of the best new
material includes a chat with famed Jaguar playtester Lance Lewis (who
reveals the secrets inside of Tramiel controlled Atari), TAT's Top 10
Consoles of All-Time, Atari at the Ballpark (covering Atari baseball
games), a reminiscing of Atari titled 'Antique Electric Dreams,' an
exclusive review and play test of the Atari 7800 Cuttle Cart 2 (which is
thankfully back in production), pages and pages of new 2600, 7800, Lynx,
Jaguar, 8-bit, Atari ST, and arcade game reviews, and much more."
"The quality of 2005 Compendium is better than ever because it is
printed through CafePress.com instead of at my local print shop. I'm
very pleased with the high quality job CafePress.com offers," said Mr.
George. "We also have some great sponsors of the book this year and I'd
like to thank Songbird Productions, Good Deal Games, Orphan Video Games,
Video Game Connection, and Packrat Video Games for making it possible."
>From January 31, 2005 to February 7, the price of the 2005 Compendium
is $13.95. After February 7, 2005, the price will be $14.95. Shipping
charges also apply.
More information about The Atari Times Compendiums can be found at
http://www.ataritimes.com/store/books.html. To purchase any Atari Times
book, go to http://www.cafepress.com/ataritimes
The Atari Times is a web-based publication devoted to all Atari game
systems. Updates to the site are on a weekly basis. Visit
http://www.ataritimes.com/ for Atari related news, previews, reviews,
and feature articles.
=~=~=~=
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
compiled by Joe Mirando
joe@atarinews.org
Hidi ho friends and neighbors. Another week has come and gone and we find
ourselves back here again. Well, welcome back! I just know that this
will disappoint everyone out there, but I really don't have any strong
opinions about anything this week.
I guess all the fight's gone out of me for the time being. I'm beat. I
mean, I'm just down-to-the-bone tired. I know that you know what I'm
talking about. We all feel that brain drain on occasion. It could be
just because I'm getting older, but it seems that more and more of us
are pushed to the limit more and more often. I'm not talking about
out-in-the-field, plowing-the-back-forty kind of exhaustion (although I
know a person or two who might encounter that particular kind of
situation). I'm talking about being pulled in several different
directions at once.... about having to make mutually exclusive decisions
about multiple subjects that constantly jockey for priority. Yeah, we all
experience that kind of thing these days.
Several years ago I saw a bumper sticker that seems to pop into my mind's
eye whenever things start pulling at me from all directions. The bumper
sticker said, "All You Can Do Is All You Can Do". That, my friends, is
how I know that I'm not the only one.
Well, let's get to the news, hints, tips and info from the UseNet.
From the comp.sys.atari.st NewsGroup
====================================
'SCREAM' asks about RAMDisk programs for the ST. This has nothing to do
with the post, but the very first program I ever bought for my trusty
1040 was that RAMDisk from Antic... Kuma A-RAM? Jeez, that was so long
ago that I can't even remember it's name. Anyway, it was a great
program, and worth every penny I paid for it.
"Does anybody know any program to create a ram disk on Atari?
I'm using Mdisk, but it's limited to 720Kb. I would like to use 1 or 2
Mb...."
Mikael Folkesson tells Scream:
"If you're using Magic there is a dynamic Ramdisk xfs by Thomas Binder
that only uses as much memory as you put on the disk.
After a quick google I found
http://homepages.tu-darmstadt.de/~gryf/software/rdxfs_r2.lzh
I believe there was a mint version as well."
David Bolt adds:
"You can use RDE. It can create a ramdisk of that size[0], that survives
a reset and the disc can be saved to disc complete with all the
contents. You'll probably find the full archive on one of the FTP sites,
i.e. chapelie.rma.ac.be. If you can manage without the documentation, I
have an archive of just the program and .RSC file. It's a whole 12k long
and presently located at: <URL:http://www.davjam.org/files/rde.zip>
[0] I used a 2Mb ramdisk for a while when using a 4Mb STE as my sole net
machine. It was used to hold STing, CABs cache and a few other things
that I can no longer recall. AFAICR, I created it, filled it with the
bare necessities, saved it to floppy, emptied the ramdisk, copied the
saved image back into the ramdisk, packed the image using PackIce and
then copied the packed image back into an auto-folder on a floppy."
Bill Glaholt adds his thoughts:
"The Intersect Ramdisk (that if I remember, came with Interlink the old
terminal proggie) was a desktop .ACC that allowed one to use as much RAM
as you could extract from the system. Even better, it was instantly
configurable. Try a google on it."
Greg Goodwin adds:
"There are a variety of programs that can do this. I still have a
freely distributable one that can go up to 999KB. I think it was
called XRAMA000, where "A" was the drive letter and "000" was the
number of KB. Let this group know if you cannot find it.
The Codehead Utilities could go much higher."
Rodolphe Czuba posts this:
"CT63!
This is the name of the CT60 third production !
This CT63 will be a LOW COST version of the CT60 and I asked to the factory
to give me a price without all components that can me removed on the board
(not implemented).
The CT63 will be so :
- Price between 220 to 250 EUR with the 060 (full) : depending on the
number of boards that may be produced !
- no 060 socket : the 060 will be soldered (after tested) on the board
(will get more space under the keyboard).
- heatsink will be stuck on the 060 and a fan will be fixed (plugged)
on the heatsink (size of heatsink = 45*45 cms).
- the CPU & SDRAM clocked at 50 MHz instead of the 66MHz (OSC soldered
(nosocket) = can be unsoldered to try to boost).
- no boost of the motherboard (components not present = could be added by
the user if he can find and solder them !).
- no temperature captor (it is a gadget because get more than 10 deg C of
unprecision !).
This time I have 14 orders and I'd like to get 40 orders.
Let's go atarians! It is your last chance to join the Falcon 060 world !
To confirm, please, send me an email if you want to buy between 220 et
250 EUR.
After we will see...
PS : $/EUR ratio is decreasing these days...good for some people...
Please spread this message on all atari user sites!"
Well folks, that's it for this week. I know it's short, but the NewsGroup
hasn't been all that active recently. Tune in again next week, same
time, same station, and be ready to listen to what they are saying
when...
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
=~=~=~=
->In This Week's Gaming Section - Xbox 2 Delays Unveiling to May?
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" The Godfather To Be Video Game!
PSP2 To Be Here In March!
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News - The Latest Gaming News!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Sony to Release PlayStation Portable
Sony Corp. said Thursday it will release the PlayStation Portable in North
America on March 24 and have 1 million units ready for sale in the first
week.
The PSP machine, a challenger to Nintendo (news - web sites) Co.'s
long-standing grip on the handheld video gaming market, will be sold as a
"value pack" for $250 in the United States and for $300 Canadian dollars.
It will include numerous accessories and - for the first million sold - a
copy of the "Spider-Man 2" movie on the new Universal Media Disc format
that Sony designed for the PSP.
Sony said it has already shipped 800,000 PSPs in Japan, where it went on
sale on Dec. 12 for about $190.
By comparison, Nintendo's newest product, the Nintendo DS sells for $150.
It was among the must-have Christmas gadgets, with more than 2.8 million
sold worldwide since its release in late November.
The PSP is designed, however, with more multimedia features. It can play
digital music, movies and display photos on its 4.3-inch color screen,
using Sony's proprietary 1.8-gigabyte UMD discs or a Memory Stick.
With the PSP, the Tokyo-based electronics giant is targeting a wider
consumer base and not just young gamers.
"It has gaming at its core, but it's not a gaming device. It's an
entertainment device," Kaz Hirai, the president of Sony Computer
Entertainment America Inc. said in an interview.
In addition to working with its own Sony Pictures film division, Sony is
in discussions with other movie studios to support the new UMD format for
future releases of movies, Hirai said.
Sony said 24 game titles will be available around the time of the launch
with prices starting at $40 each.
According to market research firm DFC Intelligence, the DS and PSP are
expected to drive the global portable games market from $3.9 billion in
2003 to $11.1 billion in 2007. The overall global video game industry saw
sales of about $23 billion in 2003.
Hard-core gamers will propel the initial sales of the PSP, analysts say.
Its unique combination of gaming and multimedia features in a 7-inch by
3-inch device that also has Wi-Fi wireless connectivity, could spur a new
market for Sony, however.
"When it comes to entertainment, Sony has advantages over other players in
the market," said P.J. McNealy, analyst at American Technology Research.
"But success drives imitation, and if this thing is a wildly successful
platform, you'll see knockoffs by the holidays in 2006."
Xbox 2 May Be Unveiled In Summer
Details of the next generation of Microsoft's Xbox games console -
codenamed Xenon - will most likely be unveiled in May, according to
reports.
It was widely expected that gamers would get a sneak preview of Xbox's
successor at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in March.
But a Microsoft spokeswoman confirmed that it would not be at GDC.
Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo are all expected to release their more
powerful machines in the next 18 months.
The next Xbox console is expected to go on sale at the end of the year, but
very few details about it have been released.
It is thought that the machine may be unveiled at the Electronic
Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles, which takes place in May, according
to a Reuters news agency report.
E3 concentrates on showing off the latest in gaming to publishers,
marketers and retailers. The GDC is aimed more at game developers.
Microsoft chief, Bill Gates, used the GDC event to unveil the original Xbox
five years ago.
Since its launch, Microsoft has sold 19.9 million units worldwide.
At the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this year, there was very little
mention of the next generation gaming machine.
In his keynote speech, Mr Gates only referred to it as playing an essential
part of his vision of the digital lifestyle.
But the battle between the rival consoles to win gamers' hearts and thumbs
will be extremely hard-fought.
Sony has traditionally dominated the console market with its PlayStation 2.
But earlier this year, Microsoft said it had reached a European milestone,
selling five million consoles since its European launch in March 2002.
Hit games like Halo 2, which was released in November, helped to buoy the
sales figures.
Gamers are looking forward to the next generation of machines because they
will have much more processing and graphical power.
They are also likely to pack in more features and technologies that make
them more central as entertainment and communications hubs.
Although details of PlayStation 3, Xenon, and Nintendo's so-called
Revolution, are yet to be finalised, developers are already working on
titles.
Rory Armes, studio general manager for games giant Electronic Arts (EA) in
Europe, recently told the BBC News website in an interview that EA was
beginning to get a sense of the capabilities of the new machines.
Microsoft had delivered development kits to EA, but he said the company was
still waiting on Sony and Nintendo's kits.
But, he added, the PlayStation 3 was rumoured to have "a little more under
the hood [than Xbox 2]".
EA Making 'Godfather' Game Using Brando's Voice
Marlon Brando is dead but his voice will live on, as Electronic Arts Inc.
said it plans a video game version of the classic film "The Godfather"
using the brooding actor's voice and likeness.
EA said on Wednesday that Brando did a recording session with game
developers before he died last year, which the company will use for his
character, Don Vito Corleone.
Actors James Caan - who played Brando's son and heir apparent Sonny
Corleone - and Robert Duvall - who played Brando's adopted son and advisor
Tom Hagen - will also lend their voices and likenesses to the game, EA
said.
The game, scheduled for release this fall on most major platforms, puts the
player in the role of an aspiring mobster who seeks to rise to the head of
a crime family in late 1940s and early 1950s New York.
The new issue of Vanity Fair reported that Brando almost declined the
legendary "Godfather" role because he felt it glorified the Mafia.
=~=~=~=
A-ONE's Headline News
The Latest in Computer Technology News
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
EU Believes Microsoft Drags Feet on Windows Order
The European Commission believes that Microsoft Corp is dragging its feet
instead of living up to a court order that it take steps to create a level
playing field in computer software.
On Monday officials at the Commission, the European Union's antitrust
executive, held further talks with the software giant about the requirement
that it offer a version of Windows without audiovisual software, as well as
providing information about protocols so that rival makers of servers can
compete.
"There are ongoing contacts between the Commission and Microsoft concerning
various aspects of the implementation of the remedies," said Jonathan Todd,
a Commission spokesman, told a news conference on Monday.
An EU court ruled last month that Microsoft must follow European Commission
sanctions imposed because of the company's violation of antitrust law.
Those sanctions had a deadline of the middle of last year. Microsoft said
after the decision it would comply by the end of this week.
So far that has not happened. On Friday the Commission pointedly reminded
Microsoft that it could face fines, which may amount to as much as $5
million daily.
Todd declined to spell out the problems. The Commission has heard
complaints from a competitor in servers which says Microsoft would use the
remedies - which are supposed to help - to shut it out instead.
Microsoft must also offer a version of its Windows operating system without
proprietary audiovisual software built in, so computer makers can sell
computers which may include alternative products such as RealNetworks
RealPlayer.
But the Commission found that Microsoft was violating a provision of the
remedy which requires it not to make the product inferior or undesirable.
Microsoft had said it would offer that product and call it "Windows XP
Reduced Media Edition," which the Commission told Microsoft was derogatory.
A Microsoft spokesman said: "We have informed the Commission we will move
to a different name."
The Commission also had problems with messages which show up on the screen
when a computer is first turned on after purchase that would have
"warnings" that the machine might not work with all Windows media.
Microsoft is also supposed to make enough information available on
protocols - software rules of the road - so that the products of rival
makers of some types of servers work as well with Windows desktop machines
as Microsoft's own servers.
Microsoft said it will do so but charge a fee for each license used by
machine. That makes the solution a non-starter for Samba software, which
runs on the Linux operating system.
Samba is distributed in large part free and there is no way to keep track
of the number of copies, therefore no way to charge - or even keep track
of - the number of licenses.
"This will be discriminatory," said Carlo Piana of Tamos Piana & Partners
in Milan, who represents the Free Software Foundation-Europe. "Any
condition which imposes a per-copy license would be unacceptable to Samba."
He said, however, that a lump sum payment might work and could be paid for
by contributions.
Piana said he was encouraged by the Commission response to the foundation's
complaints. A Commission spokesman said he had "no comment at that level of
detail."
The Commission found in March that Microsoft had abused its virtual
monopoly in the Windows operating system and fined it 497 million euros
($648 million), which the company has already paid. It also ordered the
remedies in an effort to create a more level playing field among
competitors.
Microsoft to Rename XP Reduced Media Edition
Microsoft Corp. said it will come up with a new name for the unbundled
version of Windows XP in time for the software's retail delivery by the end
of February, following criticism from the European Commission.
The name "Windows XP Reduced Media Edition," which the EC said would
prejudice consumers against the software, was only provisional, pending the
Commission's approval, Microsoft said on Monday. "Microsoft is absolutely
committed to complying fully with the Commission's decision," said a
Microsoft spokesman. "Microsoft is currently discussing alternative names."
Under last year's Commission decision, upheld in December by the Court of
First Instance, Microsoft is required to provide European users with an
alternative version of Windows that doesn't include Windows Media Player.
Microsoft has already provided PC manufacturers with the software, but the
name is only significant for the retail version of the software, which will
appear on store shelves along with the standard edition. Microsoft has said
it will deliver the unbundled Windows to retailers by the end of February.
European Commission competition spokesman Jonathan Todd confirmed that the
Commission has requested Microsoft to change the name. To enforce its legal
remedies, the Commission has the power to levy fines of up to 5 percent of
Microsoft's daily gross income, though Todd said this was a "theoretical"
possibility.
Besides the unbundled Windows, Microsoft is also required to license
Windows server protocols to competitors. Both remedies are intended to
address competitive imbalances created by Microsoft's effective monopoly
on desktop operating systems, the Commission said. But even given the
relatively quick institution of the penalties, some competitors say they
are unlikely to make much difference.
"Microsoft has already essentially eliminated competition from other media
players," said lawyer Thomas Vinje, who represented the Computer and
Communications Industry Association against Microsoft in December's CFI
hearings. "Apart from Microsoft's efforts to neuter the remedies ... there
is doubt about ['their] effectiveness, because they come much too late."
Vinje and other observers said OEMs are unlikely to want to sell PCs using
the unbundled operating system. Despite reported comments by Dell Inc. that
it is considering using the unbundled version, a source close to the
company said it has no serious interest in unbundling Windows Media Player.
On the server protocols side, Microsoft's licensing terms effectively block
participation from open-source projects such as Linux and Samba, according
to the Free Software Foundation.
Vinje said such moves are only to be expected. "Microsoft will do, and
indeed is already doing, everything it can to render the decision
ineffective," he said.
However, the Commission's decision has already created a legal precedent
for further antitrust actions, even though it is under appeal, Vinje said.
It could create a legal environment that could foster competition, he said.
"Other ICT companies can expect to see further enforcement of EU law
against Microsoft that restores competition to key markets like the desktop
operating system market, and that preserves competition in other markets,"
he said.
A key example is the market for mobile device software, where Microsoft is
still far from dominant, Vinje said.
Some eBay Sellers Are Going, Going, Gone
Trisha Dixon used to swear by eBay. Now, she swears at it.
For six years, she sold enough scrapbooks, children's clothes and health
products to pay bills and squirrel away cash. Last month, she all but ended
her association because of higher fees.
"They can charge whatever they want. They're a monopoly," says Dixon, 25,
of Anaconda, Mont. She estimates her monthly eBay bill will jump 50%, to
$1,500.
Prices aren't the only thing eBay raised when it announced changes to some
online-auction services last month. It raised the ire of thousands of its
small-business sellers, many of whom are threatening to ditch eBay when the
price increases go into effect Feb. 18.
"We feel betrayed and abused," says Rhonda Gorman, 46, who sells clothing
and household goods out of her cramped apartment in Costa Mesa, Calif.
"We're getting stomped and need to go elsewhere."
The budding backlash, punctuated by eBay-bashing Web sites and online
message groups, underscores a rough patch for the usually Teflon Silicon
Valley giant. Last month, eBay missed quarterly earnings estimates for the
first time in at least two years, sending its stock tumbling more than 20%
over two days.
The defection of some small-business users among 135.5 million registered
users won't register a blip on eBay's finances. But the level of resistance
this time, after several price changes the past five years, appears to be
more deeply rooted at a time when eBay is aggressively reaching out to
small businesses with more generous credit lines and financing options.
About 430,000 individuals and small businesses make part or all of their
income from listings on eBay - nearly three times the number in late 2002.
The charges themselves are small for casual sellers, but add up for small
businesses that sell hundreds of items a month. "I want eBay to realize
it's the little guys that got them to where they are," says Suzie Eads, 37,
who has sold more than 10,000 books and collectibles on eBay since 1998.
The price increases would increase her monthly eBay bill 40% to $700. She
plans to sell fewer items on eBay, and more on rivals Overstock.com and
Amazon.com.
Each time eBay has tinkered with prices, customers threatened to bolt. But
few have followed through because they had limited options. That is
changing. Smaller auction sites Bidville, ePier.com and iOffer.com, among
others, report an increase in new users. Wagglepop.com says 2,700 sellers,
most of them eBay defectors, have lined up to join when it starts later
this month. "We struck a nerve at the right time," says CEO Ray Romeo, a
former eBay user.
Amazon offers digital real estate for small merchants to hawk new and used
goods. And businesses increasingly are advertising on search engines such
as Google and Yahoo.
Overstock will drop listing fees in half for a month when eBay's new prices
start. Its auction listings have soared 79%, to 42,600, since eBay made its
announcement last month. EBay listings are up slightly to 13 million over
the same period, according to www.dealscart.com, which monitors auction
traffic.
"The beautiful thing about the Internet is sellers have a lot of choices,"
says Michael Dearing, an eBay vice president and general merchandise
manager.
Executives at eBay say the fee increases apply to optional features, such
as photos of listings and a buy-it-now option, and are intended to
stimulate more auction activity - not revenue. "It's about managing the
marketplace, not the top line," Dearing says, adding that eBay's take from
items sold on the site has hovered near 7% since 2002.
Indeed, eBay's fee increases won't bring in much - about $60 million, or a
little over 1% of the company's expected $4.3 billion in 2005 sales - says
analyst Mark Mahaney of American Technology Research.
Until recently, the fee-based tinkering has contributed to eBay's explosive
growth. Registered users soared 42% to 135 million last year. The value of
goods sold on the site improved 44% to $34.2 billion. Meanwhile, an
internal survey of sellers by eBay found that four-fifths of them consider
the company a "trustworthy business partner."
What is more, the changes apply only to eBay Stores, small businesses that
buy and sell more frequently than casual users. They accounted for just 7%
of eBay's 1.4 billion listings last year. "Many sellers who think they will
be affected aren't," Dearing says. EBay is explaining its new rules via its
Web site, e-mail and phone calls, he says. It's the first price increase
for eBay Stores owners since 2001.
Still, the wrenching outcry - disgruntled sellers have resorted to calling
it FeeBay and GreedBay - could reflect deeper issues, says Ina Steiner,
editor of AuctionBytes.com.
EBay customers are "fed up with shrinking profits, more complicated
policies, the occasional fraud and inadequate customer support," Steiner
says. "To hear how well eBay is doing financially, and to see ongoing
problems on the service, is discouraging."
Many claim eBay's "nickel-and-dime charges" are driving away sellers of
inexpensive items. "It's not worth selling anything under $10, if you
factor in the costs of listing fees, shipping, packaging and gas to go to
the post office," Dixon says. She is donating Tupperware and other items
to charity as a tax write-off rather than lose money on eBay.
Marilyn Baker, 42, a seller of lingerie in Streator, Ill., is particularly
irked by eBay's decision to charge 35 cents instead of a quarter for a
photo with each listing. "It's hard to sell clothing unless you have
photos, but I can't afford this," she says. Baker is resurrecting a Web
site and for the first time opening a physical store this spring. She's
also moving 1,300 items to iOffer.com and Wagglepop.com.
Despite the criticisms, eBay's Dearing insists the company "has been, and
always will be, the place for people to build small businesses." "The small
seller built this company," he says.
Yet as business novices learn the entrepreneurial ropes on eBay, many are
weaning themselves off of it and creating Web sites and storefronts, which
they advertise on search engines and through eBay listings.
Bobby Beeman, 42, used to sell antique toys out of a Dallas store before
he discovered eBay in the late 1990s. Now, like other eBay sellers, he is
considering reopening a physical store. "EBay used to save me money,"
Beeman says. "But with all these extra charges, I'm not sure anymore."
Broken Links Lined With Gold for Paxfire
In the early days of the Internet, when you mistyped a Web address or
entered an address that did not exist, your browser was redirected to a Web
site with a stark, black-and-white message: "Error Page Not Found."
Now, if you're using Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser, you're likely
to be redirected to a Microsoft page with a search box for its MSN Search
service. Soon, you could be directed instead to a page containing a search
box - but one provided by your Internet service provider using technology
from a Reston company called Paxfire Inc.
"Traffic is the coin of the realm" on the Web, said Mark Lewyn, president
and founder of Paxfire. "He who captures the most traffic collects the most
money." So those daily mistakes, known as "trash traffic," are a potential
gold mine, he said, when they are redirected to an error-and-search page
that has links to advertisers. Lewyn said the key to Paxfire is that it
operates through an Internet service provider. "We're turning the address
bar of every subscriber to an ISP into a search bar," Lewyn said. "But
we're not distributing software to anyone's desktop."
The concept of capitalizing on trash traffic has been around for a while.
In September 2003, VeriSign Inc., the Mountain View, Calif., company that
operates the ".com" and ".net" Internet registries, launched a program
called Site Finder that automatically redirected mistyped Web addresses to
a VeriSign Web page with a search box and advertiser links. Site Finder
sparked a furor among Web users who didn't like being forced to look at ads
and technology enthusiasts who said VeriSign was abusing its role as a
gatekeeper of Web addresses. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names
and Numbers the regulatory body for the Internet, forced VeriSign to shut
down the service after a few weeks.
Few had noticed that Paxfire, in partnership with NeuStar Inc., a District
company that runs the ".biz" and ".us" registries, conducted a trial of a
similar redirect program five months before VeriSign's. It was also removed
under pressure from ICANN and the Department of Commerce, which oversees
the .us registry.
"Registries are treated like public utilities," Lewyn said. "Even though
they're public companies, there are regulatory strictures about what they
are and aren't allowed to do. We realize as a small company that we cannot
fight regulatory bodies."
So Lewyn and his co-founders, Alan Sullivan and Sezen Uysal, hit upon the
idea of creating a technology that would work through Internet service
providers. "Everyone will say the right place to do this is at the ISP
level," Lewyn said, because ISPs are private companies that run private
networks in an unregulated environment.
Lewyn said each ISP that uses Paxfire has its own "landing page" to which
users who make typing erros are redirected. ISPs can customize the page
with their branding and with paid and unpaid links. When a user clicks on
a sponsored link, Paxfire and the ISP split the resulting revenue. Users
can also opt out of the program, which they couldn't do with the Internet
registries.
Lewyn said Paxfire has signed up a number of ISPs, although he declined to
say how many. PatriotNet, an ISP based in the George Mason University
Enterprise Center in Fairfax, is among its customers. Cynthia H. de
Lorenzi, PatriotNet's chief executive, said allowing typing errors to be
redirected to Microsoft's search page is "leaving a lot of money on the
table."
Microsoft Formally Launches Search Engine
Microsoft Corp. is formally launching its new Internet search engine,
several months after it debuted in test form.
Beginning Tuesday, Microsoft's own search engine will permanently replace
the Yahoo search technology that has been used on Microsoft's MSN Web site.
But Yahoo's technology will be still be used for the "sponsored" listings
that companies pay for, and that appear separately alongside the main
search results.
Previously, Microsoft's search system was mainly available on a separate,
test site.
After admitting that it initially missed the boat by not producing its own
search technology, Redmond-based Microsoft has worked feverishly to produce
a proprietary search engine to compete with Google Inc. and others.
Yusuf Mehdi, a corporate vice president with Microsoft's MSN online
division, said the company has taken suggestions from people who used the
test version to improve some functions, such as a feature that answers
questions using the company's Encarta encyclopedia.
But he conceded that Microsoft still had work to do on a "search near me"
function that attempts to find things, such as a plumber or a Chinese
restaurant, that are geographically close to the user. Mehdi said Microsoft
still needs to complete deals with online yellow pages providers to make it
more likely that the user will actually find the closest restaurant or
plumber.
Microsoft also is eliminating some text advertisements and other material
from its MSN Web site, claiming that the new site will load up to 50
percent faster and have a cleaner look that is easier to navigate. But the
Web site will still have some ads and contain plenty of links to news,
gossip and other Microsoft businesses.
Rival Google has won customers in part by offering a minimalist search site
devoid of ads.
Rise In Worst Spyware Shows Phishers At Work
The worst kinds of spyware reached all-time highs in the last quarter of
2004, said a national ISP and an anti-spyware vendor as they released their
quarterly SpyAudit report Wednesday.
The numbers offer hard evidence to back up suspicions that phishing
scammers are turning to deadlier, stealthier spyware to hijack identities
and empty bank accounts.
Spyware - the umbrella term given to software that installs and runs
without the user's knowledge - collects data such as surfing habits, or,
more maliciously, records keystrokes in the hope of snagging account
passwords or other confidential information.
According to Atlanta-based EarthLink and Boulder, Colo.-based Webroot, the
instances of system monitors - better known as key loggers and screen
grabbers - and Trojan horses soared in the fourth quarter. System monitors
logged a 230 percent increase and Trojans jumped by 110 percent over the
previous quarter. Both marked record highs for the year in the fourth
quarter.
"The huge increase in systems monitors and Trojans on consumer PCs is
extremely disconcerting," said David Moll, the chief executive of Webroot,
which sells its Spy Sweeper to both consumers and enterprises.
On average, about 1 in 6 PCs scanned by the EarthLink and Webroot
anti-spyware software contains a system monitor. The rate of "infection"
by Trojans is about the same.
"It's scary that in the rapidly growing problem of spyware, the worst and
most malicious forms are the fastest growing," he said. "You'd expect that
the nuisance kind of spyware would be first to spike, but the fact is,
spyware is so pervasive that the nuisance category is saturated."
Security analysts have been saying that technically-astute phishers are
quitting the practice of setting up bogus Web sites to dupe users into
divulging credit card and bank account information, and instead are using
spyware to invisibly watch what users enter to access accounts online.
These numbers seem to bear that out.
"This absolutely shows that phishers are turning to spyware," he said. "A
lot of the increase is associated with phishing." Calling the numbers
"scary stuff," Moll said the rapid rise in the prevalence of key loggers
was "harrowing."
"People looking to get personal information out of consumers are shifting
to stealthier tactics," agreed Tom Collins, the product manager for
EarthLink's core software group.
Moll noted that the practice of "drive-by downloading," in which hackers
exploit vulnerabilities in the browser - usually Microsoft's Internet
Explorer - to infect unwitting surfers, "continues to be a great danger.
It's actually the preferred method of spyware writers now."
The trends don't portend well for 2005. Not only did the presence of system
monitors climb throughout 2004, but in December, the numbers almost tripled
over November's.
"We said in 2003 that spyware was the largest undiagnosed problem on the
Internet, and that at some point we would see a spike in the more dangerous
types of spyware," said Jerry Grasso, the director of corporate
communications for EarthLink. "Even in the first half of the 2004, we were
mostly seeing adware and cookies, not the knock-out punch of key loggers.
"These numbers show a rise in the knock-out punch. This is now affecting
Grandma."
Moll of Webroot agreed that it's going to get worse. "I've always marveled
at the resourcefulness and inventiveness of these people [the spyware
writers]. These guys are good. They're crafty."
EarthLink and Webroot collaborate to produce the quarterly SpyAudit report,
which is based on data collected as users access free anti-spyware software
offered by the ISP and posted on Webroot's Web site.
Spammers' New Strategy
An advanced spamming technique could push the volume of unwanted e-mail to
new heights in coming months, straining the integrity of the online
communication system, according to several top experts who monitor the
activity of spam gangs around the world.
Illegal bulk-mailers have been able to deploy massive blasts of spam by
routing it through the computers of their Internet service providers,
rather than sending it directly from individual machines, the experts said.
The result is that "blacklists" of known spamming computers - which other
network operators rely upon to block mail from those machines - are no
longer effective. To block spam coming directly from an ISP's computers,
all mail from that ISP would be have to be blocked, which would cripple
electronic communication.
"From what we've seen, the volumes of this type of spam are going up
dramatically," said Steve Linford, who heads the Spamhaus Project, the
world's leading anti-spam organization. "We're really looking at a bleak
thing" if ISPs don't quickly employ countermeasures, he said.
Linford added that based on monitoring of spammers' online discussion
forums, the new trick is rapidly being adopted by the world's most prolific
spammers.
Carl Hutzler, director of anti-spam operations at America Online, said he
began seeing increases in spam traffic coming directly from other ISP mail
servers in the fall of 2003. Now, he said, 95 percent of all spam aimed at
AOL's 29 million worldwide members is coming directly from ISP computers.
Hutzler said he has been warning industry counterparts about the problem
and has made AOL's technical solutions available online. Most critically,
Linford and Hutzler said, ISPs must be more aggressive in monitoring and
limiting how much mail is being sent from individual machines on their
networks, since that is where the spam originates.
"We're trying to get the word out," Hutzler said, "but we're not sure that
people have taken us that seriously."
The new method of attack reflects the evolving sophistication and
efficiency of top spamming groups, a community of people who support each
other by trading intelligence, products and services.
Spammers long ago stopped using their own machines to send spam. Instead,
they rely on malicious code placed on consumers' machines via viruses or
spyware that turn them into unwitting "zombies" remotely controlled by
spammers.
That and other tactics have allowed spammers to circumvent many technical
measures taken by network operators to thwart them, and they have all but
ignored federal and state laws that prohibit their activities.
Mark Sunner, chief technology officer of MessageLabs Inc., an anti-spam
software company, said that the use of multiple zombies on the networks of
large Internet service providers allows spammers to spread out the amount
of mail sent by any one computer, helping them to fly under the radar of
ISP limits.
Some ISPs have been able to make dents in the amount of spam reaching the
inboxes of computer users, but spam traffic over the Internet continues to
rise and to exact steep costs on network operators, businesses and
consumers.
In a study released yesterday, market research firm Rockbridge Associates
Inc. and the Center for Excellence in Service at the University of Maryland
Robert H. Smith School of Business estimated that deleting spam alone costs
nearly $22 billion a year in lost productivity. The study, based on a
survey of 1,000 adults, said the 78 percent who said they receive spam
spend an average of three minutes deleting it each day they check their
e-mail.
What alarms Linford and others about the latest spam offensive is that it
strikes at the heart of the blacklist system, a baseline of defense for
virtually all network operators. E-mail filters help to segregate good
e-mail from bad, but blacklists that identify the Internet addresses of
spamming machines keep large amounts of spam off networks and force
spammers to find new launchpads.
Linford said that in addition to imposing more aggressive limits on mail
sent from individual machines, ISPs should do more to authenticate the mail
they pass on through their own computers.
He said many U.S. ISPs have not improved their anti-spam enforcement.
For example, he said, the spammers' latest trick is contained in software
called Send-Safe.
According to Internet registration records, the site is registered to a
Florida company and is hosted on the Web by UUNet Technologies, a division
of MCI Inc.
Linford said his group has repeatedly asked MCI to remove the Send-Safe
site, arguing that the software is a prime spamming tool, developed by a
notorious spammer.
Timothy Vogel, who heads MCI's legal team for technology issues, said that
UUNet does not host the site but instead leases the Internet address to a
company that in turn hosts Send-Safe's Web site.
More important, he said, MCI does not want to censor Internet content. If
MCI had evidence that the Send-Safe company was spamming, that would
violate MCI policy.
But merely advertising its product is a form of speech that should not be
censored, Vogel said.
Ex-AOL Worker Pleads Guilty in Spam Case
A 24-year-old former American Online software engineer pleaded guilty
Friday to stealing 92 million screen names and e-mail addresses and selling
them to spammers, setting off an avalanche of up to seven billion
unsolicited e-mails.
The soft-spoken Jason Smathers of Harpers Ferry, W. Va., entered the plea
to conspiracy charges in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, where he was
likely to face from 18 months to two years in prison at a May 20
sentencing.
Smathers also faces mandatory restitution of between $200,000 and $400,000,
the amount the government estimates AOL spent as a result of the e-mails.
In December, Judge Alvin Hellerstein had rejected a similar plea by
Smathers, saying he was not convinced he had actually committed a crime.
But the judge said prosecutors now had sufficiently explained why he had.
Smathers told the judge that he accepted $28,000 from someone who wanted
to pitch an offshore gambling site to AOL customers, knowing that the list
of screen names might make its way to others who would send e-mail
solicitations.
"Do you wish to accept responsibility for what you did?" the judge asked
Smathers.
"Yes sir, I do," he answered.
Federal prosecutor David Siegal said Smathers had engaged in the interstate
transportation of stolen property and had violated a new federal "can-spam"
law meant to diminish unsolicited e-mail messages about everything from
Viagra to mortgages.
In December, the judge said he had dropped his own AOL membership because
he received too much spam.
The company has since launched a major assault on spam, significantly
reducing unsolicited e-mails. America Online Inc. is a wholly owned
subsidiary of Time Warner Inc.
Smathers was fired by AOL last June. Authorities said he used another
employee's access code to steal the list of AOL customers in 2003 from its
headquarters in Dulles, Va.
Smathers allegedly sold the list to Sean Dunaway, of Las Vegas, who used
it to send unwanted gambling advertisements to subscribers of AOL, the
world's largest Internet provider. Charges are pending against Dunaway.
The stolen list of 92 million AOL addresses included multiple addresses
used by each of AOL's estimated 30 million customers. It is believed to be
still circulating among spammers.
Running From Dial-Up Access
The nation's two top dial-up Internet providers are jumping into different
lifeboats as the broadband Internet wave threatens to sink their leaky
business models. It remains unclear whether either lifeboat will float.
EarthLink Inc., the scrappy No. 2 player in Internet dial-up access, is
trying to remake itself as an uber-broadband provider, buying wholesale
high-speed connectivity from all kinds of network operators and reselling
it under its own name.
America Online Inc., the leader in dial-up access, largely abandoned that
broadband strategy last year and is counting on advertising to keep it
afloat as dial-up customers defect to rivals selling faster or cheaper
Internet connections. AOL is partnering with high-speed network operators,
hoping to snag a sliver of their subscription revenue, while trying to
remake itself in the image of ad-centric Yahoo.
"AOL is abdicating access and really wants to compete with Yahoo," said
Sky Dayton, founder of EarthLink, who announced last week he is leaving as
chairman to start a new wireless venture. "We think access is what we do."
Dayton will become chief executive of a new company representing
EarthLink's strongest thrust yet into broadband - a $440 million joint
venture with South Korea's largest cell phone operator, SK Telecom, that
plans to sell advanced mobile phone and data services in the United States
this summer. Each partner will put up $220 million in cash and other assets
over three years, with a goal of signing up 3 million customers by 2009.
In an interview this week, Dayton said SK-EarthLink will exploit the
blurring lines between the wired and wireless Internet, offering services,
for example, that integrate cell phone service with WiFi networks that beam
wireless data over short distances. It also will offer "cool" multimedia
services not yet available in the United States, he said, using
cutting-edge handsets and behind-the-scenes technology pioneered overseas
by the South Korean operator.
"In South Korea they are watching television on their cell phones, they are
doing video conferencing, they are finding their friends with
location-based services," Dayton said. "If you ask people in Santa Monica
how they use their cell phones, they say 'I make calls' or 'I have pictures
of my dog.' "
EarthLink hopes its move into the cell phone market will help it fashion a
new type of communications provider. Already, EarthLink is buying broadband
connections from traditional phone and cable companies, and then reselling
DSL and cable Internet access as EarthLink services.
AOL started down that path, too, selling DSL service under its own name by
using connections purchased from the regional phone giants. But the
Dulles-based division of Time Warner Inc. discontinued that strategy last
year. In November it gave all AOL DSL customers in the BellSouth territory
until January to find a new broadband provider or sign up directly with
BellSouth. This year it likely will make similar moves with DSL customers
elsewhere, said spokeswoman Anne Bentley.
Instead, AOL is pursuing a strategy similar to Yahoo's. To reach new
audiences and sell more ads, AOL is planning a revamped Web site at AOL.com
this summer. For the first time, it will offer a lot of content to
nonmembers.
It is also partnering with network operators to offer AOL services as the
default page their Internet customers see when they sign on.
In wireless, AOL has teamed up with cellular carriers to make AOL services
available on their phones, for which it shares some subscription revenue.
For broadband, it announced a deal this week with its sister, Time Warner
Cable, involving sharing of AOL's advertising dollars and the cable firm's
DSL subscription revenue.
Yahoo had a similar DSL pact with SBC Communications, and it announced
another last month with Verizon Communications.
The SK-EarthLink venture is different in that it will be buying and
reselling access, not just doing a joint marketing deal. As such,
SK-EarthLink represents a new breed of mobile phone companies you likely
will see more of this year. They're called "virtual" operators because
they don't maintain the underlying connectivity but do handle all
marketing, billing, customer support and - most importantly - the content
and services that customers use.
Virtual operators tend to target niche audiences, people eager to buy fancy
pocket devices so they can do on the run what they already do on the wired
Internet. One early virtual operator is Virgin Mobile USA, the joint
venture between Sprint and the Virgin Group that targets young people.
Disney has announced plans for a virtual mobile ESPN network aimed at
sports fans.
"This is the year the virtual mobile operator is going to explode into the
marketplace," predicted Jeff Kagan, a telecommunications analyst in
Marietta, Ga.
What's driving companies to jump in, Kagan said, is that U.S. carriers are
finishing major upgrades to their networks, allowing wireless data
transmission at high speeds and making mobile Internet access - and
wireless video services - much more feasible than in the past.
Yet Kagan and other analysts wonder how SK-EarthLink can compete with
Sprint, Verizon and other carriers it will have to buy access from, when
those same carriers are rolling out their own TV, music and Web-surfing
services.
But Dayton said the carriers are hungry for more customers, even at
wholesale rates. He added that the dial-up Internet era showed there is a
huge difference between "the pipe" and what you do on top of it: "That
leaves a tremendous amount of latitude for differentiation."
U.S. carriers, for example, have been slow to offer WiFi services for fear
of cannibalizing their cell phone business. Dayton said SK-EarthLink
doesn't see WiFi as a threat and will move aggressively on fronts carriers
have chosen to ignore. Customers, for instance, might use SK-EarthLink
mobile phones inside their houses (where cell signals are notoriously
weak) to tap home WiFi networks for voice calling over the Internet. "Now
you can make phone calls without using up your minutes," he said.
It remains to be seen whether the mobile Internet will turn out to be the
lifeboat that rescues EarthLink from steady defection of its dial-up
subscribers.
=~=~=~=
Atari Online News, Etc. is a weekly publication covering the entire
Atari community. Reprint permission is granted, unless otherwise noted
at the beginning of any article, to Atari user groups and not for
profit publications only under the following terms: articles must
remain unedited and include the issue number and author at the top of
each article reprinted. Other reprints granted upon approval of
request. Send requests to: dpj@atarinews.org
No issue of Atari Online News, Etc. may be included on any commercial
media, nor uploaded or transmitted to any commercial online service or
internet site, in whole or in part, by any agent or means, without
the expressed consent or permission from the Publisher or Editor of
Atari Online News, Etc.
Opinions presented herein are those of the individual authors and do
not necessarily reflect those of the staff, or of the publishers. All
material herein is believed to be accurate at the time of publishing.
