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Atari Online News, Etc. Volume 07 Issue 27
Volume 7, Issue 27 Atari Online News, Etc. July 1, 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:
Kevin Savetz
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=~=~=~=
A-ONE #0727 07/01/05
~ Grokster Loses Ruling! ~ People Are Talking! ~ 'Timeshare Spammer'
~ U.S. Keeps Web Traffic ~ IBM Beats Microsoft! ~ New Falcon H2O!
~ Yahoo Updates E-Mail! ~ Google Crack Posted! ~ Do Not Mail Kids!
~ Fake Security Alerts! ~ Revisiting the Amiga! ~ Fantastic 4 Ships!
-* 2005 Video Game Summit News! *-
-* Worm Circulates With Conspiracies! *-
-* Little Agreement On Spyware Guidelines! *-
=~=~=~=
->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Nothing takes the edge off more than some time off to relax. Yep, finally,
I'm on vacation. It's been a long time coming - over six months since I've
had any significant time off. I started it off with some golf. Not great
golf, but certainly good enough to have a great time! Maybe I'll spend a
day or two sitting out by the pool with a few cold drinks, just to get more
in the mood. Then, maybe get some yard work done, and then some more
relaxing. I could get used to this routine!
This is a long holiday weekend for us in the States. Please, celebrate
responsibly!
Until next time...
=~=~=~=
New Falcon Game: H2O
Finally a new Falcon game to enjoy, the super demo-crew EKO has released
their long awaited H2O game. It's a bit similar to Lemmings in the way
puzzles are solved.
http://eko.planet-d.net/
=~=~=~=
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
compiled by Joe Mirando
joe@atarinews.org
Hidi ho friends and neighbors. The Forth of July is coming up, and if
you're living in the United States, you'll see it everywhere you go.
I'm going to mention this later on too, but I want to say right up
front that you need to drive not only responsibly, but also defensively
during the festivities. That includes dealing with the holiday
fireworks that the kids' Uncle Schmoe brings along to the cookout. A
holiday is no fun if it includes a visit to the Emergency Room or
worse.
The other thing I wanted to mention this week is a newspaper article I
read this week about the return of McCarthyism. It was a particularly
dark time in American politics, and if not for a few people who dared
to buck the system-within-the-system, it might have gone a lot farther.
Today, I'm afraid that the system-within-the-system and those who
manipulate it have gotten not only more sophisticated but also more
cut-throat. The Cult of the Ends Justify the Means is alive and well
and living in the beltway right now, and it reminds me more and more of
an episode of The X-Files run amok. The arts of bait-and-switch and
disinformation have taken the place of statesmanship.
I know that there are plenty of people out there who will strongly
disagree with me on almost every point, and that's fine with me.
There's nothing wrong with a spirited discussion or even a downright
knock-down drag-out argument. There IS something wrong, however, with
telling people that speaking their minds is, in and of itself,
detrimental.
So on The Forth, do something patriotic... Speak your mind!
Okay, let's get to the news, hints, tips and info from the UseNet.
From the comp.sys.atari.st NewsGroup
====================================
While it's not strictly Atari-related, Ronald Hall picks up on a comment
that Dave Wade made about routers and firewalls:
"...Why don't you think any of the cable routers firewalls
are "decent"? (accepting as a given that there is no such thing as being
totally secure)."
Dave tells Ronald:
"I guess it depends what you are after. They don't seem to add much over
and above the security you get from NAT. If you are talking Windows
boxes and catching out-bound traffic from a PC then they don't know
which app has made the connection. What is trying to connect to port
25. Is it Outlook Express/Eudora/Firebird which is probably OK, or some
Trojan, in which case its probably not OK.
In order to figure this out you need to run the firewall on the end
device. However even if you run a fire wall on your PC things don't get
much better because many of the firewalls prompt when they are not
sure. I estimate that >99% of PC users don't know which applications
should connect on which port...
I also think that protective apps such as firewalls, anti-virus, and spy
guards is that the induce a false sense of security. Users click without
thinking what they are doing, because they expect to be safe, rather
than thinking "is this something I should be doing". Safe Computing is
a combination of applications + culture. Most folks don't think..."
Coda jumps in and adds:
"Yeah I agree with the PC that if you have serious security issues then
you need to spend a LOT of dough on something like a separate box
running Checkpoint, or you could do what I did and have a separate
linux box running IPChains or maybe that freeware firewall, I forget
the name now. For most of us, a cheap generic router running the (and
not brilliant either) connexant firmware will do an adequate job.
In this case the user here in question wants to connect their TT/Falcon
(whoever heard of spyware or virii that make outbound network
connections?) - so then in this case the firewall is superfluous."
Ronald tells Coda and Dave:
"Hmm, have to agree with most of what you say - considering you're
talking about Windoze machines.
I use a Dlink hardware router here, firmware updated, with a Mandriva
Linux setup. I run Shorewall as the firewall as well. Again, given that
nothing is totally secure, still...I feel *fairly* secure with this
setup."
Dan Iacovelli posts this about the upcoming Atari Flashback 2.0:
"If anybody here is near Chicago on July 16th, you can test the retail
version of the Atari Flashback 2.0 (first time anywhere) at the 8-Bit
Classics booth at VGS. Here is the press release:
Atari Video Club/Jaguar Community United is proud to announce that
with help from Corey Koltz of 8-bit Classics
(http://www.8bitclassics.com) and Curt Vendel of the Atari Museum
http://www.atarimuseum.com/) that The Atari Flashback 2.0 game console
will take it's first midwestern appearance at The 2005 Video Game
Summit in July before it's initial release in August. This will be it's
first public showing in full retail form. The Atari Flashback 2.0 made
it's first southwestern appearance at the Oklahoma Video Game Expo on
June 18t(before that it was shown at the Electronic Entertainment
Expo back in May). The Atari Flashback 2.0 features 40 built in 2600
games all using actual 2600 technology (some games are classics but
there are a few new homebrew games included). Plus the controllers are
interchangeable with classic Atari controllers. Stop by the 8-bit
classics table at VGS'05 to check out The Atari Flashback 2.0 and
flashback to the 70's when you got your first 2600.
The 2005 Video Game Summit will be on July 16th,2005 from 9am to 6pm
Fairfield inn and Suites (Heron point building), 645 West North Ave,
Lombard, IL 60148.
Join the Video Game Summit mailing list for updates on the event
(VideoGameSummit-Subscribe@yahoogroups.com) Visit the VGS website:
http://avc.atari-users.net/Events/FestVGS.html
For more information about Video Game Summit contact Daniel Iacovelli
at AtariVideoClub@yahoo.com."
GO GET 'EM, DAN!
Coda asks:
"Where can I get me one of those in the UK?"
Derryck Croker tells Coda:
"This was on demo at the Cheshunt Computer Club meeting last week!"
Stephen Moss adds:
"Amazon are selling them IIRC £30 ($50.00 - $55.00 USD) a pop."
Bill Glaholt posts this about a new Citadel-type BBS:
"Greetings, everyone!
I am very pleased to announce that STinGadel, the Atari ST multi-user
Citadel-type bbs program, is now in 'Beta' mode. I've put up my bbs,
Cold Winter Knights, using the software as the official beta site.
I would like to welcome anyone and everyone to log in and give it a test
run. Please remember that it *is* on an Atari 1040STe, and as such, it
may be a bit slow, relative to today's supra-high-speed machines.
STinGadel's features:
"Room"-based citadel-type bbs system: Each room is a message topic.
One can 'goto' each room with new messages, or just 'jump' to a
specific room. One can read messages with "F" (read all forward),
"R" (Read all reverse), "L" (Latest # of messages), and "N" (New
since you last read the room).
* Up to 24 simultaneous connections allowed; each connection is
continuously 'polled'.
* VT100-enabled "IRC"-like chat mode.
* Up to 128 rooms
* Sysop-configurable: message memory cache (for speedy message
reading/access), message base size, userbase size, menus.
* Note: There is *no* console mode. All connections *must* be from
and through STinG for the moment. I *may* add a console mode, but
the stock ST's screen drawing subsystem is *SO* slow, and thus
everyone else would slow down.
Requirements:
* Atari ST machine (only originals have been tested; I would like
TT or Falcon testers, if anyone is even remotely interested)
* 4 MB memory. (for speed purposes, almost everything is contained
in memory, requiring a great deal of free space)
* 10 MB hard drive space -- probably not a problem
* STinG connection. Theoretically, a continuous modem connection
*would* work, but who would want that, really -- I'd *HIGHLY*
recommend an ethernet (I use EtherNEC personally) connection.
* A static IP, if you want people to be able to log in. :)
Log into Cold Winter Knights BBS with a VT100/ANSI/XTERM connection
by telnetting to bbs.coldwinterknights.net
Also, I'm going to continuously update the web site
(http://www.coldwinterknights.net) with big sightings, fix-lists,
etc, suggestions to be implemented, etc.
One final note, if I may: Remember that it *is* in Beta. I fully
expect it to crash during the beta testing period. If you attempt
to telnet in and find it hanging, or cannot connect, and so on, that
means it's down until I can figure out what went wrong. Thanks for
reading, and happy Atari-ing!!"
Coda asks Bill:
"Can you change the port that it listens on?"
Bill replies:
"Not yet, but that's a great idea - and pretty easy addition. I will
get to it as soon as possible!
For the record, the Beta board is down at the moment; someone connected
via a terminal that asked for some strange telnet information that I
need to deal with. I'll be working on it when i get home from work and
get it back to going again."
Coda replies:
"The reason why I would need it to listen on a different port is that I
already run telnet on port 23, but actually I cant think of a reason
why I cant move the telnet service instead."
Bill tells Coda:
"I know it wasn't you -- it actually was someone on a MOO that
I talk to all the time. Fortunately, he was able to tell me just what
he did..
And, through the research of that, I completely revamped the telnet
preprocessing negotiation/handshake routine. It is now far *FAR* more
durable and bullet-evasive than before. (it's in beta, after all, so
I can't say 'bullet-proof' *JUST* yet.. heh)
Anyway, it's back up now.
Again, thanks for the suggestion, Coda - it's on my short (but ever
growing) list of additional features."
Dennis Bishop asks about repairing an ICD host adaptor:
"I have a ICD host card that worked up until the major roof leaking and
flooding my machines. I was using it on my TT, which itself is ok, but
the card died. Does anyone know if anyplace can repair the card? I
tried ICD and got no answer back from them at all."
Uwe Seimet asks Dennis:
"There is no way to use the TT's SCSI port instead? This is faster and
more powerful than ACSI with the ICD adapter anyway."
Dennis replies:
"I've used both ports, the host card had an old BIG ( size not storage)
ibm drive on it and it worked fine with the host. Plus as my bootup was
set up with ICH ult's I don't have the catching now nor the extra
folders beyond the 64 limit without the host. I wanted to fire up that
drive and see if I could recover the files I put on it and transfer
them to the 2ga one inside the machine."
'Phantom' tells Dennis:
"I have a suggestion:
If you can find someone near to you that has a similar card, Maybe
they would let you borrow it long enough to transfer your files over.
As far as fixing the board, Just about anything can be fixed but
it depends on the amount of damage. ICs for these boards can
be hard to find if ICD made there own special versions.
A ICD (THE LINK) or (THE LINK II) would be good replacements.
If you can find them. I use a LINK II with my 1040STE and have
never had a problem with any SCSI hard drive that I've used with it.
Those Links are in good small plastic cases.
Originally they came with ICD's hard drive utilities. And its not bad
software to use on 1040STe/MegaSTe/etc. Not knocking HD Driver,
Its good also. Use it on one of my Falcons.
BTW, if you decide not to keep that damaged board. In stead of
throwing it out. Give/sell or trade it to me. I tinker on all kinds of
Atari hardware when I have the time. Don't know if I could fix it
without looking at it. But might could use a chip or something off
of it, if they are not all fried."
Well folks, that's it for this week. Please, please, please be careful
both on the road and in the back yard during the holiday. Use your head
and don't drink and drive. Remember: The life you save may be MINE!
<grin>
'Till next week, keep your nose to the grindstone, your back to the
wheel, and your ear to the ground. And don't forget to listen to what
they are saying when...
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
=~=~=~=
->In This Week's Gaming Section - The Fantastic 4 Ships!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Evil Dead Regeneration!
2005 Video Games Summit!
And more!
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News - The Latest Gaming News!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Fantastic 4 Ships
Marvel's first family of Super Heroes is taking the video game world by
storm with the release of Activision, Inc.'s Fantastic 4, which is
currently available in retail stores nationwide. Based on Twentieth Century
Fox's highly anticipated "Fantastic 4" feature film, the team-based action
adventure game lets players take on the role of Marvel Super Heroes, Reed
Richards/Mr. Fantastic, Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman, Johnny Storm/The
Human Torch and Ben Grimm/The Thing and master each character's powers -
stretching, invisibility, shooting fire and leveling superhuman attacks -
to overcome the evil Doctor Doom.
"Fantastic 4 lets gamers relive the action and excitement of one of the
summer's most anticipated films, from the plot to the locations to the
actors," said Kathy Vrabeck, president, Activision Publishing. "Players
also experience more than the film in a completely original storyline that
expands the Super Heroes' universe through exclusive game missions and
environments."
Co-written by Zak Penn, who co-wrote the story for "X2" and is co-writing
the screenplay for the upcoming "X3," Fantastic 4 lets players defeat
enemies and overcome obstacles in team-based combat and two-player co-op
mode. Gamers control all four team members and can dynamically switch
between characters to wreak havoc in a variety of destructible environments
inspired by popular comic book locales. Players take on the following
roles:
* Mr. Fantastic -- Fans use brainpower to hack computers, override security
systems and outsmart their enemies as they deliver stretch attacks from a
distance, squeeze into tight spaces and go where no one else can.
* The Invisible Woman -- Players become invisible and perform stealth moves
with ninja like speed or immobilize enemies using force fields created
through telekinetic powers.
* The Human Torch -- Gamers create walls of fire, level super nova
fireballs or shoot flames from their fingertips to ward off enemies.
* The Thing -- Fans use brute force to pick up heavy objects, tear them
apart and savagely obliterate foes.
The movie's five leading actors reprise their roles for the game. Jessica
Alba ("Dark Angel," "Sin City") portrays Sue Storm; Emmy award winner
Michael Chiklis ("The Shield") is The Thing; Chris Evans ("The Perfect
Score," "Cellular") plays Johnny Storm; Ioan Gruffudd ("King Arthur") is
Reed Richards; and Julian McMahon ("Charmed," "Nip/Tuck") is Victor Von
Doom/Dr. Doom.
Fantastic 4 for the PlayStation2 computer entertainment system, Xbox video
game system from Microsoft, and the Nintendo GameCube was developed by
Seven Studios, the PC version was developed by Beenox and Fantastic 4 for
the Game Boy Advance was developed by Torus Games. The console SKUs and PC
game have been rated "T" (Teen - with mild language and violence) by the
ESRB, and the Game Boy Advance version has been rated "E-10+" (Everyone 10
and older - with animated violence).
New Playstation 2: Evil Dead Regeneration
The game explores a "what if..." continuation from Evil Dead 2, one of the
most unhinged films from famed director Sam Raimi. Voiced by Bruce
Campbell, players will control Ash, the reluctant hero of the series, as
they're thrown into a masquerade of evil events, equipped with the latest
in prosthetic fashion. Developed by THQ studio Cranky Pants Games, Evil
Dead Regeneration is scheduled to release this summer.
Evil Dead Regeneration follows Ash, the lone survivor of a camp discovering
the Necronomicon - the wholly evil book of the dead. Thought to have
murdered his companions, Ash is arrested, convicted of the crime, and
sentenced to Sunny Meadows, an institute for the criminally insane, but not
for long. Ash's peaceful stay is about to end - thanks to the perverted
experiments of his very own psychiatrist, Dr. Reinhard. Hell-bent on using
science to harness the Necronomicon's powers, the mad doctor unleashes the
book's all-powerful Evil on the world - releasing a new slew of Deadites,
monsters and spirits, twisting reality into a hellish strudel and leaving
mankind with that not-so-fresh apocalyptic feeling.
MTV and Midway Games to Launch 3 New Video Games
MTV Networks said on Monday it struck a marketing deal with Midway Games
Inc. to jointly launch three video games and sell in-game advertising for
those titles.
The music television cable network and Midway will also collaborate on
soundtrack development for the three games.
Under the deal, Viacom Inc.'s MTV will participate in a royalty-sharing
structure.
The first title to be released under the new marketing deal, "L.A. Rush,"
debuts in October. Other games will be released in 2006 and 2007, a Midway
spokesman said.
Viacom CEO Sumner Redstone owns a majority of voting shares in both MTV and
Chicago-based Midway.
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE Gaming Online - Online Users Growl & Purr!
"""""""""""""""""""
The 2005 Video Game Summit
Contact: Dan Iacovelli
E-mail: AtariVideoClub@yahoo.com
For Immediate Release:
6/26/2005
The Atari Video Club/Jaguar Community United announced their plans for
their next Video game and Computer trade show in 2005 entitled the 2005
Video Game Summit.
The date of the show will be July 16th, 2005 from 9am to 6pm at the same
location we had the last two shows Fairfield inn and Suites (Heron point
building), 645 West North Ave, Lombard, IL 60148.
Based on the number of tables sold from the first two shows It was decided
to only use one big room and the hallway for this years show. But don't let
that discourage you because this years show will have something the last
two shows didn't; Free Internet access and we are pleased to have Pizza and
pop served at this year's show. Pizza's are 16" and serve four people and
they are $8.50 per person Pop is being served by consumption at $1.50.
Besides that we plan to have many tournaments as well as raffles at the
show. Admission is Free to the public and tables are $15.00 each. Mail
and Online payments are are no longer being accepted but you can still
pay for tables (limited # of tables are available (first come first
serve)) and pizza reservations at the show.
The Video game summit is proud to have the first public showing in the
midwest of the Atari Flashback 2.0 Game console in it's retail form at the
show. (The Atari Flashback 2.0 features 40 built in 2600 games all using
actual 2600 technology(some games are classics but there are a few new
homebrew games included). Plus the controllers are interchangeable with
classic Atari controllers. Stop by the 8-bit classics table at the show to
check out The Atari Flashback 2.0. Thanks to Corey Koltz of 8-bit classics
(http://www.8bitclassics.com) and Curt Vendel of the Atari Museum
(http://www.atarimuseum.com/) for setting this up for the show. Be sure
to visit The Video Game Summit shop for all show related items at
http://www.cafepress.com/vgs.
The 2005 Video Game Summit is sponsored by the following: 8bitclassic.com,
AtariAge.com,Digital Press, EBgames.com (Broadview,IL), Goatstore.com, Good
Deal Games, Mobygames.com, TomMage.com, Video Game Collector magazine,
Video Game Connection and Ye olde' Infomcomme shoppe.
Join the Video Game Summit mailing list for updates on the event
(VideoGameSummit-Subscribe@yahoogroups.com) Visit the VGS website:
http://avc.atari-users.net/Events/FestVGS.html For more information about
Video Game Summit contact Daniel Iacovelli at AtariVideoClub@yahoo.com
=~=~=~=
A-ONE's Headline News
The Latest in Computer Technology News
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
Little Agreement on Spyware Guidelines
Many anti-spyware programs scour computer hard drives for those
data-tracking files called cookies that we often get from Web visits.
Microsoft Corp.'s tool does not. And there are disputes aplenty about
whether certain widely used advertising programs circulating on the
Internet are clean of spyware.
No surprise, then, that there's little agreement on what should be
considered spyware, and what adware is exactly. Or on whether adware, which
delivers ads, is a form of spyware or a breed apart.
Consumers are confounded. Is their computer-cleaning overzealous or not
thorough enough? Are they removing useful programs with the dreck?
No less vexed are makers of anti-spyware software. They're beset by legal
headaches, constantly challenged for what their products define and target
as malware.
"It certainly distracts us from the job at hand," said David Moll, chief
executive of Webroot Software Inc.
Help may be on the way. Led by the tech-advocacy group Center for Democracy
and Technology, the anti-spyware industry is crafting definitions and plans
to eventually set up dispute-resolution procedures. A draft is expected by
late summer.
"A definition is the foundation," said Ari Schwartz, the center's associate
director. "If a consumer's going to make a decision in the marketplace
about what they have and what software they are going to use, it's helpful
to have a basis to do that on."
Similar efforts, however, have failed before.
Part of the challenge stems from how the term "spyware" evolved.
"It started out as being called spyware because a lot of it was spying on
people and sending personal information," said Dave Methvin, chief
technology officer with tech diagnostic site PC Pitstop. "It's a catchy,
quick word that is always easy for people to understand and say."
But the term stuck even as some of these programs, in response to consumer
complaints, began sending back less data and became less sneaky.
In some people's minds, spyware came to include programs that change Web
browser settings without asking or trick users into racking up huge phone
bills by making the equivalent of "900" calls to foreign porn sites.
"'Spyware' has sort of become the euphemism for any software I don't want,"
said Wayne Porter, co-founder of SpywareGuide.com.
The result is chaos.
Microsoft, for instance, chose not to scan cookies because many sites need
them to remember passwords and otherwise customize a surfer's experience.
Cory Treffiletti of the online ad agency Carat Interactive says cookies
help sites identify repeat visitors so the same ads aren't shown over and
over.
But other spyware hunters flag cookies on the grounds that they help
advertisers track behavior. EarthLink Inc.'s Scott Mecredy says
anti-spyware programs have gotten sophisticated enough to distinguish good
cookies from bad.
Then there's the question of whether "spyware" includes adware.
Claria Corp., formerly known as Gator Corp., has sued several anti-spyware
companies and Web sites for calling its advertising software "spyware." PC
Pitstop rewrote some of its materials as part of a settlement.
Even "adware" isn't good enough for some.
Joseph Telafici, director of operations for McAfee Inc.'s security research
unit, says the company now gets one or two complaints a week, compared with
two or three per quarter last year from companies whose programs it has
dubbed spyware or adware.
McAfee is in the process of assigning a full-time lawyer.
Symantec Corp. sought to preempt a lawsuit by filing one itself, asking a
federal court to declare that it had the right to call Hotbot.com Inc.'s
toolbar adware. Hotbot did not respond to requests for comment.
Symantec still faces a lawsuit by Trekeight LLC, whose product Symantec
brands adware.
Though it has yet to sue, 180solutions Inc. takes issue with "adware,"
preferring "searchware" or "sponsorware." "Adware" has become too linked
with bad actors, and the industry needs more differentiation, said its
chief executive, Keith Smith. Most anti-spyware vendors, however, still put
180solutions in that category.
Aluria Software LLC says one company, WhenU.com Inc., has changed its
practices enough that it is now spyware- and adware-safe.
But America Online Inc., though it uses Aluria's technology, prefers a
different test: What its users think.
AOL found that users overwhelmingly choose to rid their computers of
WhenU's SaveNow application when anti-spyware scans uncover it, so AOL
continues to list as adware.
Adding to the confusion is the fact that many legitimate programs -
including Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system and Web browser - send
out data without making the user fully aware, one of the common attributes
of spyware.
And many programs that spy do have legitimate functions - people may run a
keystroke recorder to monitor spouses whom they suspect of cheating. Or
they may willingly accept adware in exchange for a free game or
screensaver.
Anti-spyware software companies say they leave removal decisions to
customers, though many users simply follow their recommendations, failing
to distinguish the mild from the malicious.
"If an anti-spyware company recommends that the software (gets) blocked,
consumers will typically block it," said Keith Smith, chief executive of
180solutions. "It doesn't matter how good an experience they have with
it."
Alex St. John, chief executive of WildTangent Inc., says anti-spyware
companies have an incentive to overlist programs: It makes their products
appear effective. Better definitions, he said, would help clear his
company's game-delivery product.
"We want to do anything under our power to be clearly defined as a
legitimate, upright consumer company," he said. "We would love to have
something to adhere to."
Guidelines could give anti-spyware vendors a better defense.
For consumers, said Tori Case of Computer Associates International Inc.,
"if we start using the correct terminology, we can demystify it a bit and
help people understand what the real risks are."
New Worm Kedebe-F Circulates with Conspiracy Theories
Worm-laden e-mails are proliferating, enticing users to download malicious
programs by promising links to news about Michael Jackson's demise or
conspiracies about Pope John Paul II's death.
Antivirus software firm Sophos issued a warning about Kedebe-F, a new worm
that spreads using several different subject lines and messages, many
related to current news topics.
If a user clicks on the link and downloads the attached file, the worm
might even disable security software before sending itself to e-mail
addresses found on the infected computer. The worm also can delete files
from the computer and install itself in the Windows registry.
In messages containing supposed news items, the links promise exclusive
material not covered in the mainstream press. One message about the recent
death of Pope John Paul II purports to contain a document stolen from a
secret government body and describes how the Pope actually was killed as
part of a larger plot.
Another message, ironically, announces the capture of the MyDoom worm
author, and claims that he was arrested by Microsoft.
Most worm writers at this point are depending on what have become classic
lures, such as promises of adult-themed material or requests for security
updates that allegedly come from a user's financial institution.
The sender of Kedebe-F seems to be somewhat unique, though, by trying to
include as many of these enticements as possible. Instead of drawing on
one or two tactics, the messages with the worm attached use news pegs,
adult material and user-centered information like warnings about Internet
accounts.
This type of scattershot approach might become more common if the tactic
is successful for worm and virus senders. "If a strategy works, it will be
repeated until it doesn't work anymore," said Graham Cluley, Sophos senior
technology consultant.
As with other types of worms, users are cautioned to be suspicious of
e-mail messages promising exclusive news or network messages supposedly
from an Internet service provider.
"People should know by now not to open these things, but sometimes it's
difficult for them because the messages come from an account that looks
legitimate," said Cluley.
Another challenge is that many users swap interesting news tidbits through
e-mail, Cluley added, which increases the likelihood that they will open
the infected messages.
Grokster Decision Worries Tech Industry
The technology world - from multibillion-dollar computer companies to
garage tinkerers - faces new and potentially costly uncertainties with the
Supreme Court's ruling that inventors can be held liable if third parties
use their products to infringe on copyrights.
Though Monday's ruling specifically addressed the activities of file-sharing
companies Grokster Ltd. and StreamCast Networks Inc., it could invite
lawsuits against others whose products or services are deemed as encouraging
infringement. That leaves a broad gray area yet to be defined, critics said.
"It's fair to say that with the decision the legal clarity has decreased
and the risk of litigation has increased," said Michael Petricone,
technology policy vice president at the Consumer Electronics Association
trade group. "From a competitive standpoint, that is just not a good
thing."
Examples of technology that can be used to swap songs and movies are
everywhere, though it's not clear how many of those companies can be said
to have "induced" piracy to the extent of Grokster and StreamCast.
Apple Computer Inc. once advertised the joys of ripping, burning and mixing
CDs on a Macintosh computer. In the PC world, Intel Corp. microprocessors,
Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system and countless other inventions
- such as the DVD burner - all make copyright infringement easy.
Might a broadband provider's claim of "faster downloads" be perceived as
an inducement to steal copyrighted material? Will innovative startups have
to hire legal teams to review every aspect of a business before it even
incorporates?
Still, the decision could have been far worse from the innovator's
perspective.
The court did not alter its landmark 1984 ruling that protected Sony Corp.
from liability even though some of its VCRs were used to infringe on
copyrights. That "safe harbor" continues to protect innovators whose
products have non-infringing purposes, though Monday's decision added a new
test: the developer's intent.
The Supreme Court's written opinion went to lengths to outline actions
Grokster and StreamCast took to build their businesses by offering
copyright materials rather than public domain materials. Both gave away
their software in an effort to boost advertising revenues.
"Users seeking Top 40 songs ... are certain to be far more numerous than
those seeking a free Decameron, and Grokster and StreamCast translated that
demand into dollars," the court's opinion reads.
The decision seems to maintain the balance between innovation and copyright
protection, said Pamela Samuelson, a law professor at the University of
California. "By preserving a safe harbor for technologies with substantial
lawful uses, it adopted a far more moderate rule than (copyright holders)
had recommended," she said. "An order for further proceedings on theory
that Grokster actively induced copyright infringement did not come as a big
surprise."
In fact, most major technology companies declined comment, either saying
they were studying the decision or did not see how it applied to their
businesses.
Jennifer Greeson, an Intel spokeswoman, said the world's largest chip maker
was pleased that the court did not alter the Sony ruling. She declined to
discuss the case further as the company was still reviewing the decision.
Among tech companies that welcomed the ruling were those that rely on the
so-called peer-to-peer (P2P) networking technology that underlies
StreamCast and Grokster's products but have sought to work with the
recording industry.
"It's a fantastic boost for us," said Wayne Rosso, chief executive for the
Virginia Beach, Va.-based Mashboxx, which is among a new crop of P2P-based
services slated to launch this year to offer music download sales and, in
some cases, swapping of tracks that are not under copyright restrictions.
"I think you'll see the investment community suddenly rush in to support
the licensed P2P model," suggested Rosso, who once headed the company
behind the Grokster file-swapping software.
Gregory Kerber, chairman and chief executive of Saratoga Springs,
N.Y.-based Wurld Media, was also optimistic about the impact the
file-sharing decision will have for its P2P-based music service, Peer
Impact.
"The ruling removes a roadblock that has hampered the widespread
development of legitimate online music models," said Kerber.
But Cindy Cohn, legal director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which
represented StreamCast, said the ruling will do more to hamper innovation
given the uncertainty it has created.
"We went to the Supreme Court hoping to get a clarity about a bright line
rule that innovators can live with and copyright infringers could live
with," she said. "And instead we got sent back a murky, multifactored test
that's going to result in more litigation for years to come."
IBM Wins $850M Settlement From Microsoft
IBM Corp. will get $775 million in cash and $75 million worth of software
from Microsoft Corp. to settle claims still lingering from the federal
government's antitrust case against Microsoft in the 1990s, the companies
announced Friday.
The payout is one of the largest that Microsoft has made to settle an
antitrust-related case. And it brings the software giant closer to putting
behind it claims involving technologies long since eclipsed.
IBM was pressing for restitution for the "discriminatory treatment" that
U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson cited when he ruled in 2000
that Microsoft had broken antitrust law.
In the 1990s, IBM irked Microsoft by selling PCs loaded with its own
operating system, OS/2, as an alternative to Windows, and with its
SmartSuite productivity software, cutting into the market for Microsoft
Office programs. IBM also backed Java, a programming language that doesn't
need Windows to run.
Jackson noted that Microsoft retaliated by charging IBM more than other PC
makers for copies of Windows.
There were other tactics, too. Months before Windows 95 came out, Microsoft
let other PC companies pre-install the operating system on new computers
that could go on sale right after the launch. But IBM got its license only
15 minutes before the event.
As a result, many customers eager to use the latest software opted for
machines made by IBM's rivals. Since Windows 95 arrived in August, IBM
missed out on back-to-school sales and lost "substantial revenue," Jackson
wrote.
IBM didn't sue Microsoft over the findings, but kept the right to do so
under a 2003 agreement between the companies. Similar talks led to a $150
million settlement with Gateway Inc. in April.
Separately, Microsoft has spent more than $3 billion in recent years
settling lawsuits by rivals, including a $1.6 billion deal with Sun
Microsystems Inc. in 2004 and a $750 million truce with America Online,
part of Time Warner Inc., in 2003.
Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft still faces other legal challenges,
including a lawsuit by RealNetworks Inc. and an appeal of a $600 million
antitrust ruling against it by European regulators. Though software maker
Novell Inc. reached a $536 million settlement with Microsoft in November,
Novell got a judge's approval last month to proceed with a separate
antitrust suit over the WordPerfect word-processing program.
Even so, Microsoft's general counsel, Brad Smith, said he believes
antitrust issues are close to being resolved. IBM had been the biggest
rival with a pending claim.
"This takes us another very significant step forward," he said. "We're
entering what I think is the final stage of this process."
The $775 million payment will pad IBM's second-quarter earnings, which are
due to be released in two weeks. The Armonk, N.Y.-based company is coming
off a first-quarter report that included a $1.4 billion profit but fell
short of Wall Street's expectations.
Microsoft set aside $550 million for antitrust claims in April, during the
company's fiscal third quarter. At least part of the IBM payment could
result in a charge in the company's fourth quarter; results are due to be
released July 21.
IBM shares rose 35 cents to $74.55 in afternoon trading on the New York
Stock Exchange. Microsoft shares fell 9 cents to $24.75 on the Nasdaq Stock
Market.
When Jackson ruled against Microsoft in 2000, he ordered the company
broken into two as punishment. But a year later, the Clinton-era Justice
Department having given way to the Bush administration, the government
decided not to seek the breakup. The case was settled in 2002.
Even with Friday's deal, IBM reserved the right to press claims that its
server business was harmed by Microsoft's behavior. But such claims appear
unlikely to surface soon, because IBM agreed not to seek damages for
actions that occurred before mid-2002. That means the findings in Jackson's
ruling would no longer apply.
But while much of that case is anachronistic now - OS/2 faded by the late
1990s, and IBM doesn't even make PCs anymore, having sold the business to
China's Lenovo Group Ltd. - there's still conflict between Microsoft and
IBM.
Perhaps Microsoft's toughest competitive challenge today comes from the
open-source Linux operating system, which has made steady gains especially
in overseas markets. Some of Linux's biggest backing has come from IBM.
Yahoo Updates E-mail Service
Yahoo is preparing to unveil the next generation of its free Web e-mail
service with a radically new look and feel that mimics that of desktop
e-mail programs such as Microsoft's Outlook.
The new Yahoo Mail service loads messages and executes commands far more
quickly and elegantly than most Web-based e-mail services, including
Microsoft's popular Hotmail service.
The Sunnyvale Internet company will make the new service available to
select users in the coming weeks, but it would not say when it might be
available to all users.
The new version is the first significant product to come out of Yahoo's
acquisition last summer of Oddpost, a small San Francisco company that
offered Web-based e-mail.
The Oddpost team relocated to Yahoo's main campus and has been building the
new version of Yahoo Mail ever since.
The revamped e-mail - Yahoo calls it the "most significant overhaul" ever
of Yahoo Mail - is a stark departure from traditional Web-based e-mail
services. Users can easily scroll through all the messages in their
inboxes, drag and drop messages to folders, delete messages with a single
keystroke and use many of the standard keyboard shortcuts common to desktop
e-mail programs.
The underpinning of the new e-mail interface is a technology known as
Dynamic HTML, which quickly refreshes a user's browser window even before
the browser is done communicating with Yahoo's servers. The technology
eliminates the delays that come from waiting for Web pages to reload.
Unlike Oddpost, which was available only to users of the Internet Explorer
browser on Windows machines, the new Yahoo Mail will also be accessible to
Firefox browser users on both the Apple Macintosh and Windows platforms.
While lauded by users and product reviewers, Oddpost struggled with
numerous problems, including sluggishness.
Ethan Diamond, one of the founders of Oddpost who is now at Yahoo, said
those problems were fixed with the move to Yahoo.
"That was part of the sweet thing about coming here to Yahoo," Diamond
said. "There's a huge team of people here making sure that this can scale."
Because the new Yahoo Mail is so different from what people are accustomed
to, the company will move people to the new version gradually. Beta-testers
will be able to toggle between the two versions.
"We don't want to interrupt the experience or change it for people who
don't want to change," said Yahoo spokeswoman Karen Mahon.
The company will also need to maintain a traditional version of Yahoo Mail
for Web browsers or other devices that do not work with the new version.
Oddpost account-holders and heavy Yahoo Mail users will be among the first
to try the new technology.
The revamped Yahoo Mail will draw comparisons to Google's Gmail, a free
Web-based e-mail service that the Mountain View company launched last year.
Still in beta-test mode, Gmail won plaudits for its user interface, which
responds quickly to user commands.
Parents Can Sign Up Kids to Not Get E-Mail
Starting Friday, parents can sign up for what Michigan officials say is the
nation's first registry aimed at keeping spammers from sending children
inappropriate e-mail. The new law bans sending messages to children related
to such things as pornography, illegal or prescription drugs, alcohol,
tobacco, gambling, firearms or fireworks. Parents and schools will be able
to register children's e-mail addresses.
"From my perspective as a parent, I'm horrified by what comes in" to her
three children's e-mail accounts, Gov. Jennifer Granholm said during a news
conference Thursday. "This will put an end, we hope, to inappropriate
e-mail getting to our children."
Signing up for the registry is free, and parents soon will be able to add
their children's instant message IDs, mobile phone numbers, fax numbers and
pager numbers.
E-mail senders must comply with the new law by Aug. 1. Violators face up
to three years in jail or fines up to $30,000 if convicted of breaking the
law, and could face civil penalties of up to $5,000 per message sent.
Some Internet safety experts have said anti-spam laws have been difficult
to enforce and others worry the lists will give hackers a way to get access
to a large database of children.
Public Service Commission Chairman Peter Lark said safeguards, including
encryption of e-mail addresses and other information, will keep the
Michigan registry secure.
Utah is getting ready to set up a similar registry for children there.
On the Net: http://www.michigan.gov/protectmichild
Hacker Posts Crack for Google Software
The Norwegian who became a hacker hero for developing software to unlock
copy-protection codes on DVD movies said he needed only one day to crack
Google Inc.'s new video viewer.
Jon Lech Johansen, also known as DVD Jon, posted software on his "So Sue
Me" Web site that he says modifies the viewer so that it plays videos
hosted on any server. The company's Google Video Viewer, in turn, was
modified from the free VLC media player to restrict it to playing video
hosted on Google's own servers.
Johansen's modification wasn't difficult as Google already had posted its
code on its Web site. And the change won't let users break any video
encryption; it only lets them view non-Google content.
"This modification of Google's open source video viewer does not compromise
the integrity and security of content available from Google Video in any
way," Google spokesman Nate Tyler said in a statement.
Nonetheless, he advised users against installing the change, saying "it
could result in security vulnerabilities on their computer and may disrupt
their computer's ability to access Google Video."
Johansen, 21, became a hero to hackers at age 15, when he posted software
called DeCSS to unlock the Content Scrambling System, or CSS, the film
industry used on DVD movies to prevent illegal copying. The act made
Johansen a folk hero among hackers.
After the film industry complained, Norwegian authorities charged him with
data break-in, but Johansen was acquitted at trial and on appeal.
Johansen, an advocate of the open-source philosophy of making software code
freely available for inspection and sharing, has also repeatedly posted
programs that circumvent the copy-protection technologies on Apple Computer
Inc.'s iTunes software.
Google's shares have more than tripled to more than $300 in the 10 months
since their debut. Most of the company's income is from online advertising,
although it could boost revenues by charging for some videos in the future.
The company has been stockpiling amateur and professional videos since
April, when it asked users to submit their images, and the new viewer
allows them to sample the collection for free.
The Google Video Viewer, consisting of about 1 megabyte and still
officially in a "beta" test phase, was designed to do nothing but stream
Google's videos through the Internet Explorer or Firefox Web browsers. Its
limited scope meant it wouldn't be competing with the popular multimedia
players made by Microsoft Corp. and RealNetworks Inc.
'Timeshare Spammer' Set to Plead Guilty
A man known as "The Timeshare Spammer" said Thursday he will plead guilty
to one count of violating anti-spam laws, marking one of the first
prosecutions using the federal statute.
Peter Moshou, 37, of Auburndale, Fla., could face up to three years in
prison for violating a federal anti-spam law. Prosecutors say Moshou sent
millions of unsolicited commercial e-mails using Atlanta-based EarthLink's
network.
The messages, sent throughout 2004 and 2005, were about brokerage services
for people interested in selling their timeshares.
EarthLink filed a civil lawsuit against Moshou in January after the company
detected a massive influx of spam in its system and later handed its
investigation over to federal prosecutors.
On Thursday, as Moshou awaited a first hearing with U.S. Magistrate
Gerrilyn Brill, he did not seem like a man who could face prison time and
a fine of up to $350,000 for sending the spam e-mails. Wearing a striped
shirt and tennis shoes, Moshou idly chatted with prosecutors about spam
attempts, laughing as one joked about spamming ploys.
But when the court hearing began, no one on either side of the counsel
table was laughing.
"Internet spam is more than just an annoyance," said U.S. Attorney David
Nahmias. "It is criminal."
EarthLink says the e-mails falsify "from" addresses, use deceptive subject
lines, fail to identify the sender and fail to provide an electronic
unsubscribe option, among other violations.
Those requirements are part of the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited
Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003. Spammers who violate the rules face
possible prison time and criminal fines of up to $250,000 for individuals
and $500,000 for an organization.
Moshou's case is among the first prosecutions using the federal law, said
Larry Slovensky, EarthLink's assistant general counsel.
The first criminal conviction under the federal law was believed to be in
September 2004, when Nicholas Tombros, of Marina del Rey, Calif., pleaded
guilty of using unprotected wireless networks to send more than 100
unsolicited adult-themed e-mails from his car.
Moshou's case marks the second high-profile prosecution EarthLink has
helped secure. After the Internet service provider in 2003 won a $16.4
million judgment against Howard Carmack, the so-called Buffalo Spammer, the
company turned its evidence over to New York prosecutors.
In May 2004, Carmack was sentenced to up to seven years in prison for
sending 850 million junk e-mails through accounts he opened with stolen
identities.
Moshou is expected to enter his guilty plea at 4 p.m. Thursday before U.S.
District Judge Richard Story.
Beware of Fake Microsoft Security Alerts
A new wave of spam that disguises itself as a Microsoft security bulletin
contains a link to malicious software that gives attackers complete access
to the infected machine, security researchers are reporting.
The e-mail, which began circulating late Tuesday, identifies itself as
Microsoft Security Bulletin MS05-039, and offers a link to what it claims
is a patch against the Sober Zafi and Mytob worms.
In fact, there is no such thing as Microsoft Security Bulletin MS05-039,
and real Microsoft security bulletins provide links to a Microsoft download
site, rather than to the patches themselves, says Mikko Hyppnen, director
of antivirus research at F-Secure. Microsoft has a Security Home Page.
The phony patch is a variant of the SDBot Trojan horse software, which is
at present not detected by antivirus software products, according to a
report from security research firm WebSense.
The risk of someone downloading this Trojan horse is very low right now,
because the server hosting the Trojan horse downloads no longer seems
active, Hyppnen says. That server, which appeared to be hosted by
ThePlanet.com Internet Services, evidently has exceeded its allowed
bandwidth, he says.
"I think this particular case is not going to be a problem anymore, but
nevertheless I think it was a fairly interesting case," Hyppnen says. "I
wouldn't be surprised to see more of this happening."
The Swen e-mail worm, which began circulating in 2003, used a similar
technique, he adds.
U.S. to Retain Oversight of Web Traffic
A unilateral decision by the United States to indefinitely retain oversight
of the Internet's main traffic-directing computers prompted concerns Friday
that the global telecommunications network could eventually splinter.
"This seems like an extension of American security in the aftermath of
9-11," said John Strand, a Denmark-based technology consultant. "People
will ask: `Do the Americans want to control the Internet?'"
Washington's decision, announced Thursday, departs from previously stated
U.S. policy.
Many countries favor gradually releasing oversight of the Internet's
so-called "root servers" to an international body, and a showdown on the
issue could come in November at a U.N. information society summit to be
held in Tunisia. A U.N. report this month on Internet governance is
expected to address the issue.
Michael D. Gallagher, an assistant secretary at the U.S. Commerce
Department, said in announcing the policy shift Thursday that it was a
response to growing security threats and increased reliance on the Internet
globally for communications and commerce.
But the explanation did little to allay fears that the United States is
overstepping its boundaries and locking its grip on the Internet, which as
history's most powerful communications tool lets people do everything from
sell secondhand shoes to promote Jihad or criticize authoritarian regimes.
Patrik Linden, a spokesman for the foundation that runs the Swedish
national domain .se, called the U.S. announcement "rather confrontational"
but said the move was what a lot of Internet experts thought Washington had
always intended.
A Japanese government official said the declaration was sure to provoke
debate.
"When the Internet is being increasingly utilized for private use, by
businesses and so forth, there is a societal debate about whether it's
befitting to have one country maintaining checks on that," said Masahiko
Fujimoto of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications' data
communications division.
The "root servers" in question - 13 computers located mostly in the United
States - are the Internet's master directories. They tell Web browsers and
e-mail programs how to direct traffic, and Internet users the world over
interact with them every day, though most without knowing it.
Robert Shaw, an policy adviser with the Geneva-based International
Telecommunication Union, said he understood the basis for the U.S.
decision: Root servers and other address-resolving computers lower down the
traffic-management chain are vital and merit protecting just as much as
cities, water supplies and highways.
"Many governments are legitimately concerned that another country has
ultimate control of basically their communications infrastructure," he
said. Some countries have pressed to move oversight of the root servers to
an international body such as the ITU, a United Nations group.
Though physically in private hands, the root servers contain
government-approved lists of the 260 or so Internet suffixes, such as
".com," ".net" and country designators like ".fr" for France or ".no" for
Norway.
In 1998, the Commerce Department selected a private organization with
international board members, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names
and Numbers, to decide what goes on those lists.
But Thursday's declaration means the department will keep control over that
process rather than ceding it to ICANN as originally intended, though the
United States said ICANN would retain day-to-day operational control.
Naji Haddad, a Lebanese owner of a Web business, believes the U.S. decision
will splinter the Internet.
"The announcement will definitely drive countries and organizations toward
creating private solutions similar to what is currently offered by New.net
and Walid.com (alternative naming systems), which will result in fracturing
the global Internet into several networks," Haddad said.
In a worst-case scenario, countries refusing to accept U.S. control could
establish their own separate versions of the Domain Name System, thereby
making addresses in some regions unreachable in others.
The U.S. government has historically played the role of overseer because
it funded much of the Internet's early development. And while it is not
known to have interfered in any major sense with traffic-routing affecting
other countries, that does not ease concerns that such interference could
occur.
"It's not going to work in the long run to have the USA deciding everything
by themselves," said Patrik Faltstrom, one of Sweden's foremost Internet
experts.
The Amiga, Revisited
MLAgazine has a detailed history of the Amiga, from its beginnings as the
pipe dream of a frustrated Atari engineer to it's beginnings as a
revolutionary gaming console, through the mini-collapse of the gaming
industry, and into the early days of the personal computer.
The Commodore Amiga began its life at Atari. Jay Miner, an engineer at the
enormous video game company wanted to create a console centered around a
16 bit processor and a floppy drive, making development for the new console
very easy and inexpensive. The executives at Atari were unwilling to risk
damaging sales of their popular 8 bit consoles, and did not allow Miner to
pursue his idea any further.
The idea for the new console was revived in 1982 after Jay Miner is
contacted by Larry Kaplan, and old Atari employee who was enamored with the
idea. Larry was interested in starting a new game company that would
create a brand new console and license it to Atari. Jay lined up $7
million in investments from a group of dentists, an Hi-Toro was formed.
Hi-Toro had two divisions, one to produce games and peripherals for the
Atari 2600, and the other to develop the new console, which was named
Lorraine (after the wife of CEO Dave Morse). The company marketed several
successful peripherals for the Atari 2600, and also released several games.
As a result, Hi-Toro was flush with cash to be used on the Lorraine
project.
Miner headed the Lorraine project and envisioned a very ambitious feature
set. The console would be much more powerful than its contemporaries and
it would be much less expensive to develop for. Unlike the 2600, the
Lorraine would be very popular and inexpensive to develop for.
The 68000 processor was adopted as the CPU, a processor more commonly used
in workstations than game consoles.The Lorraine chipset was also very
powerful. It took advantage of blitters, chips that allowed information to
bypass the CPU completely. Thanks in part to the blitters on the mainboard,
the machine was capable of using up to 4096 colors. This was unheard of in
the video game industry.
More important than its performance and features, the Lorraine would be an
easy platform to develop for. Unlike Atari (and Sony and Microsoft
today), developers would not need a special development workstation to
create the games. The Lorraine would be bundled with a keyboard and 3.5"
floppy drive, eliminating the need for expensive workstations. Once a game
was finished being developed, the company did not need to license the
cartridge media from Hi-Toro, common floppy disks could be used.
Around the time that the Lorraine was entering beginning stages of
development, Hi-Toro's name changed to Amiga after it was discovered that a
Japanese company already had the same name. The new name, chosen by Dave
Morse, would be Amiga, Portuguese for woman friend.
In 1983, the video game industry was on the brink of collapse. Atari had
not updated their line of consoles since the late seventies, and most
consumers were uninterested in the company's underpowered line of
computers. After a series of failed game launches, the market fell
through. TimeWarner, parent company of Atari, saw its stock price plummet
to $20 from $60, and many game development companies went out of business.
Amiga was not immune to the dip in demand, and was forced to look for more
investors as revenues for its Atari products fell. The first demonstration
of Lorraine was slated to be the 1984 CES show in Chicago, a seemingly
impossible deadline.
The project was divided into to two groups. One, headed by Jay Miner,
focused on completing the hardware of the computer, while the other, led by
Dale Luck created an operating system for the new system. Hardware design
was nearly finished by mid-1983, and was mostly centered around
minituarizing the machine's components. The software team on the other
hand had a major task ahead of them.
Instead of develop an entire operating system for CES, the software team
focused on creating several
demos that would show off the technical prowess
of the machine. The most popular and impressive of these demos was the
"Boing Ball" demo where a red checkered sphere bounced around the screen.
By early 1984, Amiga was ready for CES, kind of. The hardware prototype
was on four different breadboards, not in the custom case that Miner had
designed. Nonetheless, many of the show's visitors were impressed by the
machine's power, but Amiga was unable to find an investor to help complete
the project.
Atari was also present during the show, and was impressed by the Lorraine.
Instead of offering to invest in the company outright, Atari offered a
$500,000 loan in exchange for the Lorraine's motherboard design. The loan
would have to be paid back in one month. If Amiga was unable to pay the
loan, all of the Lorraine project would be forfeited to Atari. Nobody at
Amiga liked the plan, but there was no alternative, and the company
accepted. Atari knew that Amiga would not be able to afford the loan, and
would be forced to cede the Lorraine for a fraction of its real price.
Many of the engineers at Amiga feared that Atari had no interest in the
team itself, only in the chipset, which would be used to thwart Commodore's
plans to release a 16 bit home UNIX computer.
In a corporate coup at Commodore, Jack Tramiel walks out of the company
with much of its engineering staff and buys Atari from TimeWarner. Tramiel
uses the Amiga deal to get back at Commodore, and sues the company for
interfering with the deal. The suit was unsuccessful, and served only to
pique Commodore's interest in Amiga's technologies. Commodore buys Amiga
and pays Atari's loan back days before it was due. The Lorraine was
renamed Amiga and would be released in one year.
Commodore had no experience in the console market, and decides to pitch the
Amiga as a home computer and the successor to the wildly successful
Commodore 64. A brand new case was also designed, with the characteristic
keyboard case below the display.
By late 1984, the Amiga's hardware was finished, but the operating system
and GUI were still lagging behind. Commodore, worried that it would miss
its ship date, decided to adopt an existing operating system, Tripos.
Tripos was not nearly as advanced as the system that Dale and Jay had
wanted, but it was still far more advanced than the Macintosh System or
MS-DOS. The Amiga software developers set to work creating a user
interface for the new operating system. Instead of using a desktop
metaphor as GEM and Macintosh, the Workbench used a work bench metaphor.
Files were called projects and were stored in drawers. The developers at
Amiga also decided to include a command interpreter into the Amiga, making
it more attractive to power users. Since most users would probably use the
Amiga on a television set, a high contrast theme of blue and orange was
used to make it easier to see.
Tramiel's Atari did not intend to give Commodore the 16 bit market, and
produced another 68000 based computer (mostly from off the shelf
components), the Atari ST, and released it before the Amiga. The machine
was not nearly as impressive as the Amiga, it used the single tasking
CP/M-68k operating system (also available for the LISA) and GEM GUI, but it
was good enough for many home users.
Commodore was apparently unfazed by the new product, and released the Amiga
in Lincoln Center on July 11, 1985. Andy Warhol, who had been a devoted
Mac user since 1983, showed off the machines graphical abilities, and
several musicians took advantage of its sound system. The audience was
thrilled, and the press was impressed by the Amiga. Unfortunately, the
machine's price kept it out of most consumer's homes. The Atari ST cost
less than half the price of the Amiga, and had many of the same features.
The Amiga was going head to head with the Macintosh Plus, and without the
vast collection of software the Plus had, it did not fare well.
Despite its slow start, many developers were thrilled with the computers
capabilities. Electronic Arts embraced the Amiga and became its largest
developer, releasing Deluxe Paint for the Amiga, with features impossible
on any other platform. The Amiga was also popular amongst television
producers, since it had an onboard NTSC interface. Video Toaster was
released on the Amiga, and is still used today by many producers.
Commodore was not oblivious to the limited appeal of the expensive Amiga,
and worked to widen it. Commodore created the Amiga 2000 (developed by a
separate team based in Germany) and repriced the original Amiga, renamed
the Amiga 1000, to be more competitive with the ST. The original Amiga
team was upset with Commodore's management of the product, especially after
the release of the 2000 (which was seen as being technically inferior to
the 1000) and most left.
1987 was the most significant year in Amiga history. Commodore released
the German designed Amiga 500, which actually cost less than the ST, and
began a marketing blitz to sell home users on the Amiga. The scheme was
relatively successful in North America, but was especially effective in
Europe, which became the largest market for Amigas in the world. At the
end of the fiscal year of 1987, Commodore had posted a $28 million profit,
and seemed destined to regain its Commodore 64 glory days.
The Atari ST began to sputter in 1987. Its software had not had a major
update since its launch, and was well beinhd Amiga and the Macintosh in
terms of features. Atari completely aanbdoned the North American market,
and focused its last effort at Europe, where it enjoyed mild success for
several years to come.
Commodore continued to release new products spanning a huge price range.
From the inexpensive A500 to the high end Amiga 3000. During this time,
Workbench received a major face lift. A gray and blue color scheme
replaced the garish orange and blue of the earlier workbench.
Moving beyond the personal computer, Commodore attempted to put Amiga in
the living room (as Jay Miner had intended in 1979). The result was the
CD32 and CDTV. The CDTV, introduced in 1991, was a basic Amiga 500 with a
TV tuner bundled. The CD32 had the distinction of being the first "32 bit
console" but almost no software was written for the device, forcing users
to use standard Amiga programs with interfaces optimized for the computer
screen. For both devices, Commodreo was eager to differentiate the Amiga
brand from its consumer electronics devices. Retailers were not permitted
to display the devices within five yards of the computer section and were
encouraged not to stress the presence of Workbench.
Commodore began to falter in the early nineties, as the PC became more
advanced. The multimedia features that wowed audiences in 1985 were
commonplace in even inexpensive computers of the early nineties. With the
advent of VGA graphics, SoundBlasters and Windows 3.1, Amiga had little to
offer. Commodore failed to update its lineup as technology advanced,
ultimately resulting in the company marketing pitifully underequipped
computers in the same range of PC clones (at one point, a 7 mhz A500+ cost
more than a 33 mhz IBM clone)
Not until the early nineties did Commodore release Amigas that had similar
specs to comparably priced PC's, but the Amiga brand had already been
associated with low end home computers in the public eye. Commodore went
bankrupt in 1994, and the Amiga brand bounced around from owner to owner
with little success. Today, it is owned by Amiga Inc, which licenses the
software to several hardware manufacturers, whose computers are mainly used
in video production.
=~=~=~=
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