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Atari Online News, Etc. Volume 10 Issue 25
Volume 10, Issue 25 Atari Online News, Etc. June 20, 2008
Published and Copyright (c) 1999 - 2008
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:
Fred Horvat
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=~=~=~=
A-ONE #1025 06/20/08
~ CCAG 2008 Fall Show! ~ People Are Talking! ~ New Yahoo Domains!
~ Political News Online! ~ Web Cancer Cures - No! ~ .cn Surpasses .net!
~ Firefox 3 Is Now Out! ~ NY To Get Verizon FiOS ~ Work Net Use Myth!
~ World's Lightest Laptop ~ Employer Snoop Limits! ~ IT Staff Snooping!
-* eBay Boosts Fraud Protection *-
-* Yahoo Lawsuit Judge: Don't Rush Me! *-
-* US FTC Halts Domain Name Registration Scam *-
=~=~=~=
->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
It's been a long week, but a good one. It was one of those typical New
England weeks. Our Father's Day celebration went well; we went to Maine
to visit my father and take him out for a nice lunch. On the following
day, we visited my wife's father's grave for the first time. I was tired
from all of the driving in two days, so rested early in the week. The
weather was great - sunny and warm (not hot!) during the day, and an
occasional brief thunderstorm in the evening. That went on all week;
the showers cooled things off nicely and began all over again the next
day! I played golf for a couple of days to get ready for a tournament
this weekend. Worked today, and more golf on the weekend. And then on
Sunday, it's supposed to rain - giving me an opportunity to wind down!
I'm just about done with all of my gardening, finally. Still have to
paint some window boxes before I can fill 'em with plants. I have a
number of vegetable seedlings that I'm waiting on to get a little bigger
before re-planting. Then I have a few raspberry and blackberry bushes
(my mother-in-law picked them up for me) to plant. About another load or
two of mulch to finish off the cosmetic look - and done!
So, while I get ready for my tournament in the morning, why not catch up
on the news of the week!
Until next time...
=~=~=~=
The CCAG Fall 2008 Show Is Coming!
Since the Spring 2008 Show was a smashing success CCAG has decided to
hold a second show for 2008!
Buy, sell, trade, play, and see classic video games, computers,
peripherals, memorabilia, and more at the Classic Computing and Gaming
Show (CCAG) on October 12, 2008 at the American Legion Hall - Clifton
Post, 22001 Brookpark Rd, Fairview Park, OH. Vendors, clubs, and
collectors will be displaying and selling their retrogaming and
retrocomputing goods, from Pong and Atari to Nintendo, Apple and IBM to
Commodore and everything in between with many set up for you to play
with and explore. We have 4000+ square feet of space. Help us fill it all
up!
For more information please go to http://www.ccagshow.com/
=~=~=~=
->In This Week's Gaming Section - Overlord: Raising Hell Soon!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" EA's Spore Creature Creator!
EA Extends Bid for Take-Two,
Is Rejected Again
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News - The Latest Gaming News!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Overlord: Raising Hell Playstation 3 Ship Date and New Video Announced
Codemasters announced Monday that Overlord: Raising Hell will launch for
the first time on June 24 in the US for the PlayStation 3 computer
entertainment system. Providing the most lovable vicious little critters
in gaming - the Minions - Overlord: Raising Hell will be dispensing their
unique blend of charm and carnage with a new video available for download
at http://www.codemasters.com/overlordraisinghell.
In preparation for the unruly horde's arrival in the extra evil edition of
Triumph Studios' twisted fantasy blockbuster, Overlord: Raising Hell is
coming out with a new preview video packed with minion mayhem. The video
showcases the troop of terrors in full-flight, mobbed up as they swarm
over enemies and pillage everything in sight before downing their own
body weight in booze.
Every aspiring tyrant hell-bent on subjugating their chosen population
requires an army to carry out their wretched will and do cruel deeds
without question. Fortunately, in Overlord: Raising Hell, players become
commander-in-chief of a fighting, thieving, and pillaging horde of up to
50 crazed minions (with hundreds more waiting in reserve) - a force quite
unlike any other.
These slavishly loyal, gremlin-esque critters are predisposed to violence
and are often drunk. But no matter what, they are always ready and willing
to follow even the most suicidal order, whether it's raiding villages for
kicks and giggles or hurling themselves at enemies in the face of kamikaze
odds. Controlling the minions is a slick operation, requiring a mere flick
of the right analogue stick to send a raucous rabble into battle.
While their intellect may not match their loyalty, the Minions are
resourceful little lunatics that are able to arm themselves with axes and
swords from fallen enemies. They'll dress themselves with scavenged armor,
even if that means rushing into combat wearing a pumpkin as a helmet or
brandishing a zombie arm as a club. Use them tactically and the minions
will always be there for you, ready to sacrifice themselves just to save
your illustrious Overlord arse.
Prepare for a hellishly good time being bad with Overlord Raising Hell,
coming June 24 in the US for the PlayStation 3 system. For the new minion
mayhem video, lord it over to
http://www.codemasters.com/overlordraisinghell and sign up as part of the
Overlord's army on Facebook* (or the sheep gets it).
The creation of Dutch developer Triumph Studios, the original Overlord was
a best seller in 2007. Now the deliciously despotic Overlord and his horde
of raucous minions returns in Overlord Raising Hell, a compendium of
tyrannical treats coming June 20th for the PlayStation 3 computer
entertainment system. The playable demo is now available for download
from PlayStation Network.
* Command Minions, Conquer Kingdoms: Set in a seriously twisted
fantasy world, Overlord: Raising Hell is an action adventure that
has players being ruthless, determined, and even a little despotic
as they pillage lands and conquer kingdoms in order to be
proclaimed the all-powerful Overlord. At the heart of the game is
an army of slavish little creatures known as Minions, and their
presence provides Overlord: Raising Hell with its deliciously dark
comedic touches.
* Go Deeper Into The Warped World: Overlord: Raising Hell adds a
series of additional hellish levels, each a supernatural abyss for
the game's five kingdoms. With the undead denizens of each abyss on
the attack and threatening the Overlord's superiority, there's only
one thing for it: assemble the Minions, descend into each abyss and
embark on a fresh wave of tyranny in order to claim the underworld
throne.
* Enhanced for PlayStation 3 System: In addition to offering a
complete collection of Overlord content, including online
co-operative pillaging and head-to-head slaughter, the PlayStation 3
system edition will also be enhanced with detailed visuals, a
top-spec audio system with 7.1 surround sound and gameplay
refinements, such as the addition of an on-screen mini-map.
EA Hypes Spore with Teaser 'Creature Creator'
Electronic Arts is daring gamers to test the limits of their imagination
with the latest game debut from its Maxis studio.
On Tuesday, EA released Spore Creature Creator. Noteworthy is the fact
that Spore Creature Creator is not a full game in itself, but rather an
introduction to the highly anticipated video game called Spore that will
ship globally in September.
Spore comes from the creators of The Sims. The game will give players
their own personal universe in a box. Players, in essence, enter a
virtual world where they can create and evolve life, establish tribes,
build civilizations, sculpt entire worlds, and explore a universe filled
with creations made by other gamers. Spore gives players creative tools
to customize nearly every aspect of their universe: creatures, vehicles,
buildings and even UFOs.
"Today is the day we begin to see Spore come to life," said Lucy
Bradshaw, executive producer and general manager at Maxis. "We're
excited to see what players will do with the powerful and intuitive
creativity tools we've put into the Spore Creature Creator."
Spore Creature Creator is available now for both PC and Mac. This is a
stand-alone product that EA is calling a "creativity toy box" that lets
players create their own unique creatures, bring them to life with
animations, and share them online with friends around the world.
The Spore Creature Creator lets players take their creatures on a test
drive, snap pictures, and make movies of them. Clicking one button lets
players share pictures or videos with friends. Players can also share
their creations with others by uploading to the "Sporepedia" at the
game's Web site. The Sporepedia is an online destination where people
worldwide can search for and share Spore creations, comment on other
players' designs, and check out celebrity creature creations.
"Our team will be excitedly keeping an eye on the Sporepedia to check
out creations made by players from around the world," Bradshaw said.
The ability to upload players' creations to YouTube has also been
integrated into the Spore Creature Creator. Players can import and
upload videos of their creatures' moves directly to YouTube from within
the game. EA said Spore will have its own YouTube channel where all
videos of users' creations uploaded from the game will be showcased for
the YouTube community to watch, share, rate and comment on.
Players who love their creature so much they want the entire world to
see it can post it to their blog for people to check out, and use it to
create an avatar for their favorite social-networking site. Players who
want to see their creature come to life in the real world can visit
Zazzle.com to upload their creature and turn it into a custom coffee
mug, T-shirt, magnet or sticker.
The full version of the Spore Creature Creator is available for $9.99 at
retail stores or through online purchase at www.spore.com. A free trial
version of the Spore Creature Creator is also available at the Web site.
The trial version features 25 percent of the creature-making parts from
Spore and lets players shape, paint and play with their custom-created
creatures. Creatures made in the Spore Creature Creator can also be
imported into the full Spore game, allowing players to populate their
own galaxies when the game ships worldwide later this year.
The Spore Creature Creator is rated E for Everyone by the ESRB. The
downloadable demo version is free. Spore ships for the PC, Mac, Nintendo
DS, and mobile phones on Sept. 5 in Europe and Sept. 7 in North America
and Asia.
EA Extends Bid for Take-Two, Is Rejected Again
Video game publisher Electronic Arts Inc on Tuesday again extended its
$2 billion takeover offer Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. but the
smaller rival rejected anew the bid as too low.
EA, publisher of blockbuster games such as "Madden" and "Need For
Speed," said it extended the $25.74-a-share offer to July 18 from June
16 in order to allow time for the U.S. Federal Trade Commission - which
must approve the pact - to review the deal.
Take-Two, publisher of titles including "Grand Theft Auto" and "Major
League Baseball 2K," said its board continues to recommend that
shareholders not tender their shares to EA, which launched its bid in
February.
So far, about 6.14 million shares of Take-Two have been tendered in the
offer, which Take-Two said represents just 7.9 percent of the total.
Take-Two Chairman Strauss Zelnick said in a statement, "The latest
extension of EA's unsolicited, highly conditional tender offer does not
alter the fact that their proposal still significantly undervalues
Take-Two, a fact that is reflected in the overwhelming number of
stockholders who still have not tendered their shares."
Electronics Arts had originally hoped that the deal would be done before
the late April launch of "Grant Theft Auto IV," whose sales topped $500
million in its first week.
But Signal Hill Group analyst Todd Greenwald said that if EA succeeds in
buying Take-Two, there is still time to reap the financial benefits of
the popular video game.
"The key thing for EA is to get it done before the holidays," he said.
"Yes, GTA launched on April 29, but the game ... is definitely going to
get another big bump come October and November. EA wants to be in place
(then) so they get that bump, as opposed to Take-Two."
Should the FTC approve the deal, EA may have to sweeten its bid to north
of $30 in order to change the minds of Take-Two management and
shareholders, Greenwald adds.
In the meantime, Take-Two said it continues to mull its strategic
alternatives.
A purchase would also hand Electronic Arts, which battles with
Activision Inc (ATVI.O) for the title of biggest video game maker, a
virtual monopoly in sports games. EA makes the popular "Madden"
franchise and Take-Two makes some of the only titles capable of rivaling
EA's powerful football, hockey and basketball franchises.
Take-Two shares slipped 8 cents to $26.32 on Nasdaq on Tuesday
afternoon. Shares of EA, which would become the largest sports game
maker by far if it buys Take-Two, rose 4 cents to $47.10, also on Nasdaq.
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE Gaming Online - Online Users Growl & Purr!
"""""""""""""""""""
Chandler Hosts Vintage Video Game Challenge Saturday
Remember when Atari was king? Adults can relive the video games of their
youth during the Vintage Video Game Challenge. Gamers age 18 and older
will play classic titles - such as Asteroids, Centipede, Lunar Lander,
Missile Command and Battlezone - on an Atari Flashback 2 game system.
After a preliminary round, the top three scorers will face off for prizes.
Individuals will play on a first-come, first-served basis. While you wait,
check out ZAP! The exhibit explores the video game craze of the 1970s and
80s with arcade games, memorabilia and photos.
>> The Vintage Video Game Challenge for adults is 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Saturday, June 21, at McCullough-Price House, 300 S. Chandler Village
Drive, Chandler,AZ. A similar competition for teens ages 13-17 is 1 p.m.
to 4 p.m. Friday, June 20. Free. (480) 782-2876 or
www.chandleraz.gov/pricehouse.
=~=~=~=
A-ONE's Headline News
The Latest in Computer Technology News
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
Judge to Plaintiffs in Yahoo Lawsuit: Don't Rush Me
A judge denied shareholders' request to accelerate the start of a trial
for the lawsuit they filed alleging Yahoo failed to protect their
interests by sabotaging Microsoft's acquisition attempt.
The shareholders failed to prove that the court should expedite the
setting of a trial date, Judge William Chandler of Delaware's Chancery
Court ruled Monday.
"Aside from the maelstrom of media coverage, very little has changed
about plaintiffs' core contentions since I denied plaintiff's previous
request for expedition," Chandler wrote, pointing out that the
plaintiffs had previously filed a similarly unsuccessful motion to
expedite this matter.
Last week, the shareholders in the class-action lawsuit argued in their
motion that it was imperative for the trial to be held in July, before
Yahoo holds its annual shareholders meeting on Aug. 1.
In particular, the plaintiffs wanted the judge to rule on the legality
of a controversial employee severance plan that they allege Yahoo
leaders adopted to derail Microsoft's attempt to buy the company.
The employee severance plan is so vague and costly that it amounts to a
poison pill "entrenchment device" that is illegal under Delaware law,
the plaintiffs argue.
The plan, which was approved shortly after Microsoft's offer, would be
triggered by a change in who controls the company, including the
election of a new slate of directors, as billionaire investor Carl Icahn
seeks.
Thus, the plaintiffs argue that, as long as the severance plan is in
place, shareholders will be coerced to vote to reelect the current
board, just to prevent the plan from getting activated and triggering a
mass employee exodus.
The plaintiffs also argued in another filing last week that Yahoo's deal
to outsource part of its search advertising business to Google
represents a coercion on shareholders' vote because it gives Google the
option to cancel the deal if Icahn succeeds in getting his candidates
elected to the board.
But Judge Chandler wasn't convinced that the plaintiffs' case is at risk
of irreparable damage unless a trial is rushed and scheduled for next
month. He reminded the plaintiffs that in order to expedite the setting
of a trial date, the court must accelerate certain proceedings and
conduct, among other things, "a truncated determination of the merits of
the underlying claims."
"To successfully earn expedition, the movant must show good cause why it
is necessary to impose upon the counterparty and the Court these
substantially increased burdens of time, effort, and expense," Chandler
wrote.
Instead, the plaintiffs and Yahoo should quickly set up a briefing
schedule regarding Yahoo's motion to dismiss the lawsuit, Chandler
wrote, adding that the court is "willing to and capable of deciding that
motion before the Yahoo annual shareholders' meeting."
The lead plaintiffs in the class-action lawsuit are Detroit's Police &
Fire Retirement System and General Retirement System.
For Yahoo, the judge's determination is a welcome victory in the case.
Two weeks ago, the judge ruled against Yahoo's request to keep portions
of the plaintiffs' complaint under seal. As a result, the document was
released in its entirety and its previously redacted parts provided
details about Yahoo's internal process for drafting the severance plan
Containing excerpts from internal Yahoo documents, e-mail and phone-call
transcripts, the complaint fanned the flames of discontent among those
Yahoo shareholders who are upset that the merger talks with Microsoft
collapsed.
In their complaint, filed originally in February and later amended, the
plaintiffs claim that the severance plan is unusually broad and generous
and could have cost Microsoft up to US$2.4 billion in severance payments
and benefits, not to mention the cost associated with losing many
valuable employees.
However, Yahoo claims that the plan doesn't make it easy for employees
to qualify for its benefits because it has a so-called "double
trigger" - a change in control and an employee's termination "without
cause" or a resignation for "good reason."
Microsoft announced its unsolicited offer to buy Yahoo on Feb. 1 - a
$44.6 billion cash-and-stock deal that offered shareholders a 62 percent
premium over Yahoo's stock price the day before.
Yahoo's board rejected that offer, saying it undervalued the company,
and Microsoft later increased it to $47.5 billion, but Microsoft
eventually walked away from the negotiations on May 3 after the two
sides failed to agree on a price.
After Microsoft withdrew its offer, several large Yahoo institutional
investors publicly criticized Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang and the board for, in
their view, not negotiating in good faith and failing to look out for
shareholders' best interests.
Yang and other Yahoo executives responded by saying that they were open
to negotiating further but that Microsoft unexpectedly walked away
without ever putting its last offer in writing.
Microsoft has said it is no longer interested in acquiring all of Yahoo,
and its subsequent attempts to buy Yahoo's search ad business also
failed.
Icahn's main motivation in seeking to oust the current directors, as
well as unseating Yang as CEO, is to bring Microsoft back to the
negotiating table.
On Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Icahn is now mulling
whether to proceed with his proxy fight to oust the entire incumbent
board or instead aim for "some" seats. The Journal, which sourced its
information to anonymous people familiar with the matter, also reported
that Icahn is still evaluating the merits of the search ad deal between
Yahoo and Google.
Yahoo has said the deal will generate $250 million to $450 million in
operating cash flow during the first 12 months, and that it represents
an annual revenue opportunity for Yahoo of $800 million. The deal is for
an initial period of four years, with an option for Yahoo to extend it
for a further six years.
Firefox 3 Web Browser Is Now Out As Free Download
The new version of the Firefox Web browser became available as a free
download Tuesday.
The release was delayed as visitors checking for the update overloaded
Firefox's Web servers. The site was slow or unreachable for about two
hours starting about 12:45 p.m. Eastern time, 15 minutes before the
scheduled release time, according to AlertSite, an Internet performance
monitoring company. Performance improved later in the day.
Firefox supporters organized launch parties around the world as they
tried to set a world record for most software downloads in a 24-hour
period.
The category is new, and Guinness World Records must certify it, a
process that could take a week or longer.
Firefox comes from Mozilla, an open-source community in which thousands
of people, mostly volunteers, collectively develop free products.
Firefox is the No. 2 Web browser behind Microsoft Corp.'s Internet
Explorer.
Firefox 3 includes enhancements to help users organize their frequently
visited Web sites and block access to sites known to distribute viruses
and other malicious software.
Users of Yahoo Inc.'s mail service can also use Firefox 3 to send e-mail
by clicking a "mailto" link they might come across clicking on a name or
a "contact us" link on a Web page. Previously such links could only open
a standalone, desktop e-mail program.
Firefox 3 also offers other design and speed improvements.
Toshiba Lays Claim to 'World's Lightest' Laptop
Toshiba on Tuesday launched a new ultraportable laptop that it claims is
the world's lightest, putting it in contention with vendors including
Apple and Lenovo.
The company said the full-featured PortR500-S5007V weighs just 2.4 pounds
(1.08 kilograms), compared to Apple's MacBook Air, which weighs 3 pounds,
and Lenovo's Thinkpad X300, which weighs around 2.93 pounds. The laptop
measures 0.77 inches at its thinnest point, according to Toshiba.
The company also claimed that the new laptop was the first to include a
128G-byte solid-state drive (SSD) to replace the hard drive. Laptops to
date have had 64G bytes of storage, though both Lenovo and Apple provide
128G bytes of storage through two 64G-byte modules.
SSD has no moving parts like a hard drive, so it consumes less power
that can give the battery more runtime. The laptop can run for an
eight-hour runtime on a single battery charge, according to Toshiba. The
company did not respond immediately to questions about the type of
battery in the laptop.
Battery life is also preserved by the laptop's transreflective 12.1-inch
screen, which can shut down the LED (light-emitting diode) backlighting
by reflecting the sun's rays to illuminate the screen, according to
Toshiba.
For US$2,999, users can get a laptop powered by an Intel Core 2 Duo
U7700 processor at 1.33GHz, with 2M bytes of cache and 2G bytes of RAM.
It will come with Windows Vista Business OS, which is also downgradable
to Windows XP Professional. The laptop includes a SuperMulti optical
drive that can read and rewrite DVD and CD media, wired and wireless
802.11 a/g/n networking, Bluetooth 2.0 support and built-in safety
features to protect laptop data during falls.
Toshiba said the laptop includes a specially built motherboard that can
provide the same functionality of boards found in 15.4-inch laptops, but
is one-third the size.
The laptop will start shipping in the third quarter this year, according
to the company. The company wasn't available to comment on worldwide
availability.
Free Internet Is Part of New FCC Airwaves Auction
The Federal Communications Commission on Friday said it wants to auction
a section of wireless airwaves to buyers willing to provide free
broadband Internet service without pornography.
The agency asked for public comment on its plan to auction an unused
portion of the wireless spectrum with the condition that the winning
bidder offer free Internet access and filter out obscene content on part
of those airwaves.
Successful bidders for the spectrum would also be required to provide
coverage to at least half of the United States within four years, and to
at least 95 percent of the U.S. population by the end of the 10-year
license, the FCC said.
"Additional obligations associated with the licensee's free broadband
service would include a requirement to provide a network-based filtering
mechanism for the free Internet service in order to protect children and
families, and a requirement that the network allow for the use of open
devices," the agency said.
The FCC posted its proposal on its website at
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-08-158A1.d oc .
Verizon Expects NY Green Light for FiOS Next Month
Verizon Communications Inc said on Wednesday it expects the New
York Public Service Commission to approve its FiOS video service next
month.
"Our plan is to cover all of the 3.1 million households in all five
boroughs in the next five to six years. We will start this year as soon
as we receive the approval of the New York Public Service Commission,
which we expect will be next month," Chief Operating Officer Denny
Strigl said in a speech at the NXTcomm telecommunications industry
conference in Las Vegas.
In New York City, which includes the five boroughs, FiOS TV would
compete with Time Warner Cable Inc and Cablevision Systems Corp.
DontLikeUrName? U Can Get a New Yahoo Address
Yahoo on Thursday announced two new e-mail domains for Yahoo Mail users
worldwide. The domains are ymail.com and rocketmail.com.
The search-engine provider is billing the new domains as a way to give
users a chance to register for the e-mail address or Yahoo ID they
really want. For some, that could mean abandoning early selections, such
as CutiePie4Ever80 or mattclark1977@yahoo.com for a new image.
"We recognize that people want an e-mail address that reflects who they
are, whether they are signing up for an e-mail address for the first
time, or simply updating their e-mail pseudonym to reflect the stage
they are at in life," said John Kremer, vice president of Yahoo Mail.
Despite the rise of Google's Gmail, Yahoo Mail is still the number-one
Webmail service in the world with more than 260 million users, according
to comScore Media Metrix.
Because it has so many users, the most desirable e-mail addresses have
been taken for the yahoo.com domain, as well as for localized versions
in countries around the world. With the new domain choices, Yahoo will
make millions of new e-mail addresses available.
Yahoo may also be trying to put some juice into its brand, according to
Greg Sterling, principal analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence.
"Some people may perceive, in some sense, that the Yahoo brand is not be
as edgy or cool as it once was," Sterling said. "The Yahoo brand is
still very across the board, but groups of people may not think it's
quite as buzzworthy."
Yahoo recently commissioned a survey conducted by Harris Interactive to
determine what online adults look for when choosing an e-mail address.
The study found that the majority of online adults (59 percent) consider
the most important attribute of an e-mail address to be that it is easy
to remember.
Asked if they would choose any e-mail address for personal use, seven in
10 online adults said they would opt to have some portion of their name
included. Specifically, 31 percent would want their last name included,
27 percent would choose their first name, and 28 percent would prefer to
have their nickname as part of their e-mail address.
Of online adults who indicated they are not currently using their first
choice e-mail address, more than half (54 percent) agreed that they want
their e-mail address to reflect who they are, and about half (48
percent) would be at least somewhat likely to change addresses should
their preferred choice become available.
E-mail addresses at the new domains will have the same Yahoo Mail
features as addresses at the yahoo.com domain, including free unlimited
storage, integrated instant messaging and text messaging, protection
from spam and viruses and country-specific e-mail accounts.
A Yahoo ID will work for everything across the Yahoo Network, from
checking e-mail to checking out Messenger, Flickr, Groups, Sports,
Finance and more. In many markets, Yahoo said, the company will also
help users transfer their e-mail and contacts to their new address and
notify friends of their new e-mail address.
"I think people are more inclined to use a Web-based e-mail address if
they have a name or some address that they like, one that's more
intuitive," Sterling said. "Yahoo should see a lot of registrations.
Whether or not they'll see a lot of usage is another matter. It's sort
of like domain names. You want to reserve your name."
EBay Boosts Fraud Protections for PayPal Users
EBay has unveiled expanded protections for those buyers and sellers in
its marketplace who complete transactions using the company's PayPal
online payment service.
The new protections, which will go into effect in the fourth quarter and
are offered at no extra cost, will cover almost all types of PayPal
transactions, except those involving autos, real estate and capital
equipment, such as heavy machinery.
EBay made the announcement at its eBay Live conference for merchants,
which began Thursday and ends Saturday in Chicago.
To be covered, transactions have to occur on eBay.com, and not on the
company's country-specific marketplace sites. Buyers can be anywhere in
the world, but sellers must be geographically based in the U.S.
Buyers will be covered for 100 percent of an item's purchase price, with
no limit on the price, which previously was capped at a maximum of
US$2,000. For sellers, the PayPal protection has been available to
PowerSellers, which must meet certain requirements to qualify, but is
now being extended to all merchants, and it also has no price maximum.
EBay will refund the money in the form of cash-back to buyers' and
sellers' PayPal accounts. Auctions, fixed-price products and store items
are all covered by the protections.
Buyers would be protected for items that either aren't received or that
are significantly different from the description provided by sellers.
Meanwhile, merchants would be protected against claims, chargebacks and
reversals due to an unauthorized payment or an item that was not
received. The protections extend to items shipped by sellers to the 190
markets worldwide where PayPal is accepted.
In addition, eBay is increasing its incentives for PowerSellers,
offering a 20 percent discount from their final transaction fees if they
have at least a 4.9 rating in the four "detailed seller rating" (DSR)
categories. EBay already offered PowerSellers smaller discounts based on
DSR ratings.
Thursday's announcement clearly seeks to address one of the biggest
deterrents to doing business on eBay: the fear of fraud.
Historically, eBay has defined itself as a neutral, mostly hands-off
marketplace where third parties meet to buy and sell products. In other
words, eBay enables transactions between buyers and sellers and doesn't
get as involved in the actual deals as more traditional e-tailers. For
example, Amazon.com, in addition to selling its own inventory, also has
an eBay-like marketplace, but exerts more control over its activities
than eBay does.
It is one of eBay's core beliefs that people are overwhelmingly honest
and that its large community of buyers and sellers can police itself by
publicly rating its members via the marketplace's feedback system.
However, as eBay has sought to grow by attracting more mainstream and
less adventuresome buyers and sellers, it has progressively become more
involved in intervening whenever transactions go sour due to alleged
fraud or miscommunication between the parties.
Recently, eBay officials have made it a priority to boost the buying
experience on its marketplace. Earlier this year, eBay announced
sweeping changes aimed at rewarding those sellers who provide good
customer service and charge reasonable shipping fees, betting that this
will in turn attract more buyers to the marketplace.
As often happens whenever eBay announces changes, controversy erupted,
as sellers complained about the modifications they didn't like, such as
a rebalancing of seller fees and the cancellation of sellers' ability to
leave negative feedback for buyers.
US FTC Halts Domain Name Registration Scam
A U.S. judge has ordered a Canadian company to stop billing small
businesses and other customers for nonexistent domain name registration
services, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday.
The Toronto-based Data Business Solutions, doing business as Internet
Listing Service, deceptively posed as domain name registrars and sent
bogus bills to thousands of U.S. small businesses and nonprofit groups,
the FTC alleged. The invoices were for annual "Website address listing"
as well as search engine listing.
Many of the businesses and nonprofits believed they would lose their Web
site addresses unless they paid the invoice, the FTC said in a press
release.
The invoices sent by the company listed the existing domain name of the
billed party's Web site or a slight variation on the domain name, such
as substituting.org for.com, the FTC said.
Most consumers who received the invoices were led to believe that the
defendants were their domain name registrar and that they must pay them
to maintain their registrations of domain names. Other customers were
induced to pay based on the defendants' claims that their "search
optimization" service would "direct mass traffic" to the customers'
sites and that their "proven search engine listing service" will result
in "a substantial increase in traffic," the FTC said.
Internet Listing Service has been sending the invoices out since 2004,
the FTC said. Customers who paid the invoices did not receive any domain
name registration services, and the search optimization service was
ineffective and did not increase traffic to the customers' Web sites,
the FTC said in a complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the
Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, in May.
The invoices suggested that the defendants had a preexisting business
relationship with the customers, the FTC alleged.
Judge Robert Dow Jr. has ordered a halt to the company's claims and
frozen the defendants' assets in the U.S., pending trial. The FTC will
seek a permanent halt to the scheme and will ask the court to order the
company to pay back victimized consumers, the agency said.
The defendants named in the FTC complaint are Data Business Solutions,
also doing business as Internet Listing Service, ILS, Ilscorp.net,
Domain Listing Service, DLS and Dlscorp.net. Also named were the
company's owners, Ari Balabanian, Isaac Benlolo and Kirk Mulveney.
Internet Domain Name for China Surpasses ".net"
Registrations for Internet addresses ending in China's ".cn" have
surpassed those for the global ".net," showing the continued rapid rise
in Internet use in the communist nation.
A study by VeriSign Inc., which runs the ".net" databases and other core
directories for helping computers find Web sites and route e-mail, found
that ".cn" overtook ".net" sometime in the first quarter of 2008.
VeriSign did not provide registration breakdowns but said ".cn"
registrations grew 23 percent from the previous quarter and were triple
those in the same period in 2007.
The organization that runs Germany's ".de" domain pegged ".cn"
registrations at 11.8 million and ".net" at 11.6 million as of May.
The findings come as China reported that the number of Internet users
there has soared to 221 million, by some measures tying the U.S. online
population as largest in the world.
There's no threat of ".cn" overtaking ".com" any time soon, however. The
".com" suffix, which VeriSign also runs, is the overwhelming leader,
with 76.5 million registrations worldwide, while ".de" is second with
12.1 million, according to the German group.
Both ".com" and ".net" are global domain names, available to
individuals, groups and companies worldwide on a first-come,
first-served basis. They are typically used by U.S. entities, however.
Elsewhere, country-specific addresses such as ".de" and ".cn" are
typically preferred.
Many country-specific domains have in recent years relaxed registration
rules and are now available around the world and function like ".com"
and ".net."
VeriSign's study found growth in other country names as well, including
Poland's ".pl," Spain's ".es," Russia's ".ru" and France's ".fr."
Study Shatters Myths on Personal Net Use at Work
It's no secret that people sneak in some personal e-mail and Web surfing
when they're supposed to be working.
A new study attempts to shatter perceptions that these Web surfers are
just slackers trying to avoid work. In fact, it turns out everyone does
it, from senior managers to entry-level employees - and researchers
figure that means management attempts to clamp down on Internet use may
be missing the mark.
Many legitimate reasons may be at play, speculates R. Kelly Garrett, one
of the study's authors and a communications professor at Ohio State
University. For instance, people may use the Web at work to help balance
job and life responsibilities; with the personal matters taken care of
from work, they can focus on the task at hand.
"It's appropriate to just avoid the knee-jerk response that all personal
Internet use is detrimental," Garrett said.
Installing filters to block access to Web sites and e-mail services
could backfire by reducing job satisfaction and thus productivity,
researchers wrote.
The study on "cyberslacking," based on statistical analyses of responses
in a phone survey of 1,024 people during the summer of 2006, was
published in the June issue of the CyberPsychology and Behavior journal.
James N. Danziger, a professor at the Center for Research on Information
Technology and Organizations at the University of California, Irvine,
was Garrett's co-author.
The study didn't attempt to go much beyond trying to gauge the types of
employees who use the Internet for personal reasons. Garrett said more
research is needed to determine motives and measure effects on
productivity. Those studies, researchers say, would then help companies
figure out how best to control and accommodate personal use.
One in Three IT Staff Snoops on Co-workers
One in three information technology professionals abuses administrative
passwords to access confidential data such as colleagues' salary
details, personal emails or board-meeting minutes, according to a survey.
U.S. information security company Cyber-Ark surveyed 300 senior IT
professionals, and found that one-third admitted to secretly snooping,
while 47 percent said they had accessed information that was not
relevant to their role.
"All you need is access to the right passwords or privileged accounts
and you're privy to everything that's going on within your company,"
Mark Fullbrook, Cyber-Ark's UK director, said in a statement released
along with the survey results on Thursday.
"For most people, administrative passwords are a seemingly innocuous
tool used by the IT department to update or amend systems. To those 'in
the know' they are the keys to the kingdom," he added.
Cyber-Ark said privileged passwords get changed far less frequently than
user passwords, with 30 percent being changed every quarter and 9
percent never changed at all, meaning that IT staff who have left an
organization could still gain access.
It added that seven out of 10 companies rely on outdated and insecure
methods to exchange sensitive data, with 35 percent choosing email and
35 percent using couriers, while 4 percent still relied on the postal
system.
Court Limits Employer Access to Worker Messages
A federal appeals court has made it more difficult for employers to
snoop legally on e-mails and text messages their workers send from
company accounts.
Under Wednesday's ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals,
employers that contract an outside business to transmit text messages
can't read them unless the worker agrees.
Users of text-messaging services "have a reasonable expectation of
privacy" regarding messages stored on the service provider's network,
Judge Kim Wardlaw wrote in the three-judge panel's unanimous opinion.
The ruling limits employers' access to employee e-mail on internal
servers.
The text-message part of the ruling will affect more employers than the
e-mail portion because most U.S. companies pay outside parties for
text-messaging but keep e-mail on internal servers, analysts said.
The judges had few precedents, Wardlaw acknowledged in the ruling.
"The extent to which the Fourth Amendment provides protection for the
contents of electronic communications in the Internet Age is an open
question," she wrote.
A civil liberties advocacy group called the ruling a "tremendous
victory" for online privacy. The Electronic Frontier Foundation said in
a posting online that the ruling helps ensure the Fourth Amendment
"applies to your communications online just as strongly as it does to
packages and letters."
The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by Ontario police Sgt. Jeff Quon and
three other officers after Arch Wireless gave their department
transcripts of Quon's text messages in 2002. Police officials read the
messages to determine whether department-issued pagers were being used
solely for work purposes.
"I think right now service providers are going to be a little leery of
providing anything to the subscriber because of this case," said John
Horowitz, a lawyer representing Arch Wireless.
Dimitrios Rinos, an attorney for the city of Ontario and its police
department, said his clients probably will appeal the ruling.
Voters Take Advantage of Internet To Get Unfiltered Data
Nearly half of all Americans have used the Internet, e-mail or
cell-phone text messaging to get news about the 2008 presidential
campaign, share their views, and mobilize others, according to the Pew
Internet and American Life Project.
The proportion of Americans going online to get political news or
information on a typical day at the tail end of the primary season has
more than doubled since a comparable point in the 2004 race -- from
eight percent of all adults in spring 2004 to 17 percent in spring 2008.
"The Internet is allowing people to learn and share their interest in
the political realm in a way that wasn't available 10 years ago or 20
years ago," said Pew Internet project research specialist Aaron Smith,
an author of the report.
The poll found, among other things, that younger voters are among the
most active and intense Internet users. Young voters are helping define
the online political debate - 12 percent of online 18-to-29-year-olds
have posted their own political commentary or writing to an online
newsgroup, Web site, or blog. Led by young voters, Democrats and Obama
supporters have taken the lead in their use of online tools.
These online voters are more likely to support Democrat Barack Obama,
Pew revealed, and that means his partisans were significantly ahead of
Hillary Clinton's supporters online in the Democratic race. What's more,
the survey showed, Obama backers have a higher profile in some online
areas than supporters of Republican John McCain.
Three online activities became especially prominent as the presidential
primary campaigns progressed: First, 35 percent of Americans say they
have watched online political videos -- a figure that nearly triples the
reading the Pew project got in the 2004 race.
Second, 10 percent say they have used social-networking sites such as
Facebook or MySpace to gather information or become involved. This is
particularly popular with younger voters: Two-thirds of Internet users
under the age of 30 have a social-networking profile, and half of these
use social-networking sites to get or share information about politics
or the campaigns.
Third, six percent of Americans have made political contributions
online, compared with two percent during the entire 2004 campaign.
A significant number of voters are also using the Internet to gain
access to campaign events and primary documents. Some 39 percent of
online Americans have used the Internet to access "unfiltered" campaign
materials, which include videos of candidate debates, speeches and
announcements, as well as position papers and speech transcripts.
"The number of people who are bypassing the traditional media and, in a
lot of cases, bypassing the campaigns themselves to go online and get
documents that are unspinned and unfiltered, such as ... speech texts
and candidate debates, is noteworthy," Smith said. "People are watching
or reading those at their own leisure and absent any kind of analysis
from traditional news sources."
Online activism using social media has also grown substantially since
the first time Pew probed this issue during the 2006 midterm elections.
Pew found, for example, that 11 percent of Americans have forwarded or
posted someone else's commentary about the race. Five percent have
posted their own original commentary or analysis, and six percent have
gone online to donate money to a candidate or campaign.
Yet despite the growth in the number of people who are politically
engaged online, Internet users express some ambivalence about the role
of the Internet in the campaign. On one hand, 28 percent of wired
Americans say the Internet makes them feel more personally connected to
the campaign, and 22 percent say they would not be as involved in the
campaign if not for the Internet. At the same time, however, even larger
numbers feel that the Internet magnifies the most extreme viewpoints and
is a source of misinformation for many voters.
FDA Cautions Consumers Against Cancer "Cures"
Consumers should beware of products sold on the Internet that claim to
cure cancer, U.S. health officials said on Tuesday, threatening
penalties against more than two dozen companies selling creams, tea and
pills as treatments for the disease.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said a variety of Web sites sell
such products, which can harm patients with potentially risky
ingredients or by keeping them from seeking proven therapies.
"FDA is very concerned consumers will purchase these products on the
Internet and use them instead of products that have been proven safe and
effective," said Michael Levy, head of the FDA's Division of New Drugs
and Labeling Compliance.
Levy and other agency officials said their warning letters targeted
roughly 125 products that claim to treat, cure or prevent cancer. The
FDA has not received any reports from consumers who have fallen ill
taking them, officials said, but called on the companies to stop making
promises.
They could not say how many such products have been sold. Some included
various ingredients such as bloodroot, shark cartilage, coral calcium
and various mushrooms, according to the agency.
Representatives for the American Herbal Products Association said such
ingredients are not harmful but that manufacturers of products that
include them are not allowed by law to make medical claims.
"These companies are making drug claims and it is simply illegal to
market an unapproved new drug," said Michael McGuffin, president of the
association which represents a variety of herbal product makers.
Cancer is a condition that comes in many forms and causes cells to grow
out of control. Approved treatments include such methods as surgery,
radiation, chemotherapy and other medications.
"FDA expects prompt and complete corrective action," said David Elder,
director of the FDA's Office of Enforcement. "Firms that don't heed the
warnings that we've delivered and other firms marketing similar
unapproved products may face further regulatory action."
The agency can levy fines, impose injunctions and seize products, among
other penalties.
FDA officials conceded that the Internet makes it easy for companies to
shut down one site and start up another. They also said it can be
difficult to track down who actually operates a website, which can be
registered in one country but run in another.
The agency listed the companies targeted by the letters on its website
at: http://www.fda.gov/cder/news/fakecancercures.htm.
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