Volume 4, Issue 46        Atari Online News, Etc.       November 15, 2002   
                                                                           
                                                                              
                  Published and Copyright (c) 1999 - 2002
                            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
                           Donald A. Thomas, Jr.



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                                  =~=~=~=



A-ONE #0446                                                 11/15/02

   ~ FTC Sues Six Spammers! ~ People Are Talking!     ~ ASMA Update News!
   ~ Opera Readies Browser! ~ Million AOL CDs Collect ~ What Is Lindows??
   ~ Mac OS X Update News!  ~ GEM Library WinDom!     ~ Net Taxes Reality?
   ~ Case For OpenOffice!   ~ MyWay: Yahoo! Is Toast! ~ Xbox Live Goes Live!

                  -* Kid-Friendly Zone Approved!  *-
               -* Microsoft Temps Case Clears Hurdle! *-
           -* Supreme Court To Hear Library Filter Case! *-



                                  =~=~=~=



->From the Editor's Keyboard              "Saying it like it is!"
  """"""""""""""""""""""""""



While Joe is out gallivantin' at some QA conference/seminar for most of this 
week, most of us are diligently working and getting things done.  I 
shouldn't complain - Joe was diligent and got his column in to me.  However, 
by getting it to me early, he left the door wide open for "editorial 
comment" by me!  C'mon Joe, a Quality Assurance seminar?  Isn't that like 
holding a seminar on Procrastination Tips and expecting people to show up?

Well, our Indian Summer weather last weekend was short-lived.  It was nice 
while it lasted.  I spent most of the weekend outside, cleaning up leaves, 
but it wasn't bad.  Got the entire yard clean.  Naturally, once the weekend 
ended, the weather changed - wind and rain and cold.  By Tuesday morning, it 
looked like I never touched the yard!  This weekend it looks like I'll be 
back at it again, but in weather that will be about 30 degrees colder than 
last weekend.

The battle over library internet filtering will apparently be settled by the 
Supreme Court.  It should be an interesting case, and decision.  And the 
legal battle over spam continues to be waged.  More offenders are being 
rounded up and sued - I love it!  Maybe my many e-mail mailboxes will start 
to become less filled with this daily trash.  Hey, I bet Bill Gates' trip to 
India this week will be a major highlight in his life!  I wonder how it 
feels to arrive in a foreign country and be greeted by an eight-foot tall 
condom!  And, it's a tribute!  We have the story for you!  I better stop 
there as I certainly can't top that!

Until next time...



                                  =~=~=~=



                    Release of GEM Library WinDom & DFRM


D. Brziat has announced:

Please find on official WinDom web site http://windom.atari.org) the last
version of the GEM WinDom C-library 1.20.

Moreover, DFRM, a WinDom companion library is released on
http://windom.atari.org/dfrm. This library allow you to build object
structure without using an resource editor in a similar way than GTK+.

These libraries are available for PureC, Sozobon, Gcc 2.8.1 and Gcc 2.9.5
and both are open-source.



                             ASMA 2.5 Released


A new update to the Atari SAP Music Archive was released, adding over 70 
new songs to the collection which now contains 1554 POKEY tunes. Get the 
archive and player at the homepage.

http://asma.atari.org



                                  =~=~=~=



                             PEOPLE ARE TALKING
                          compiled by Joe Mirando
                             joe@atarinews.org



Hidi ho friends and neighbors. It's going to be a short column this time
around. I'll be away for part of the week at a Quality Assurance auditing
seminar. I'm not looking forward to it, but there are just some things
you have to do whether you want to or not.

I'm not sure of what I'm supposed to be learning at this thing, but there
are times when you've just got to take a leap of faith and try things
out.

My association with computers has been a lot like that. The first time I
saw an actual computer in person was in college in 1979 or '80 (I don't
remember exactly with semester it was). A friend was finishing up his
computer lab, and I was waiting so that we could grab some lunch. While
he kept telling me that he'd be another five minutes every five minutes
or so, I picked up the manual that came with one of the college's Apple
][ computers. By the time he was done, I had written a cute little
program that would draw little spirograph-like images on the screen. I
admit it... I was hooked.

I knew at that moment that I'd never be a programmer (even to me, my code
looked ugly and awkward), but I decided right then that computers were
going to play a part in my life. It was just so cool!

I took a leap of faith that I wasn't just wasting my time. I never
envisioned the world wide web, or the swapping of music as digitized
files, or even high-color displays. But something told me that great
things were just around the corner. I didn't envision viruses or spam
either, so I'm not claiming to be a visionary or anything like that. All
I'm saying is that if I hadn't thought that that 2K Apple ][ with the 9"
monochrome Sony monitor was so cool, I probably wouldn't be boring you
now. <grin>

Well, let's get on with the news, hints, tips, and info from the UseNet.

From the comp.sys.atari.st NewsGroup
==============================

 Al Ferrier asks about Zero X:

"Situation: I have downloaded some WAV sound files from across the net
and decided to import them into my Akai sampler.  I started using a
small freeware program called WaveDump (from the superb and much-missed
Electronic Cow people) to transfer them.  Most of the WAVs transferred
well but some refused to be loaded for some reason.

I then decided to try Zero X, a bigger and more comprehensive program.
I had two demo versions which were both demos and had sample transfer
disabled.

Request: can anyone tell me where I can get Zero X (full version) or
does anyone here have it?  Alternatively, can anyone suggest a program
that does transfer WAVs to Akai samplers?  I know of one called Akai
Sample Exchange but the link to that are dead."

J.J. van de Gruiter tells Al:

"http://www.copson.com/Zero-X/
He still sells it for 1500 SEK (Swedish Krones) which is approx. 165 Euro.

Or

http://www.atari-workshop.co.uk/products/soundpool.htm
More expensive..."

Sanjay Punjab asks about recovering data from his 130XE:

"I received an Atari 130XE as a gift in 1986. It was my first computer.
It has a nostalgic value to me. I miss all of those games on my
collection of floppy disks. I would like to see again some of the many
programs I created in basic. However, it is now 2002 and I haven't
touched the 130XE in over 10 years and its at my parents home
thousands of miles away. At this point, all I can hope for is to
salvage some of the data on my floppies. I don't worry at all about
the hardware, since if my 130XE doesn't work anymore, I could try to
have it repaired or buy an old one from ebay.

But my data is something that can't be replaced.
Is their any way I can recover the data on my old floppies?
I don't want to setup my old computer to salvage the data. I am
concerned that the 130XE disk drive could potentially damage the
disks, since the drive itself is quite old. Ideally I would like to
find a way to use a PC with a 5-1/4" disk drive that can read an atari
diskette and write the exact bit pattern to a brand new 5-1/4" disk.
Even better if there is some utility that can perform some type of
error correction on corrupt sectors. Or perhaps there is some service
center that specialized in what I need done.

Please explain what I options I have to recover my old data."

Ron Hamilton tells Sanjay:

"Only a really old PC with archaic disk controller would be able to read
the single density FM coded Atari 5.25 floppies. Even the 1050
non-standard MFM enhanced density does not seem compatible with PC floppy
controllers.

Building an SIO2PC cable involves using your XE and drive for the
transfers as does use of a null modem cable. BTW the A8 drives use a crc
type checksum when reading the sectors.

When you remove your hardware from the picture, you only leave 3rd party
hardware. I am unaware of any commercial providers of transfer service;
just a few afficionados like Mo and myself who have done it for other
former Atarians."

James Alexander adds:

"If you do pick up a used 130XE and drive,  you could probably test it out
one some blanks or duplicates of stuff.  Or you could also pick up a
drive from one of the remaining mail order dealers,  there's a few around.

That way you could get yourself a drive that works reliably to recover
your old stuff. Believe it or not I got a couple well used 1050's and
810's that I've managed to kept in good order.  Wasn't too hard either.

I can see what you mean bout not bothering with the one you left in your
parents house.  If its in another country the shipping would be expensive
and it would probably be a different video standard and perhaps require
different power supplies as well."

Michael Livsey asks about the difference between Double Sided and Single
Sided floppies:

"I've been experiencing a few problems with data on my Atari 1040
recently, and it's been pointed out to me that the high density discs can
cause problems - I've been using a few alongside the double density
discs, and in my naivety I thought they were OK - at least they seemed to
work. Would simply taping up that other hole and carrying on with them be
more reliable, or should I tape the hole up and re-format first, or chuck
them away altogether? Any ideas? To be honest I don't understand the
difference."

Nick Harlow tells Michael:

"I believe that the magnetic flux on the HD is lower than DD's... you can
use HD's but eventually you will lose data....  maybe not straight away,
but you will lose it at some point."

Ken Springer adds:

"I believe Nick is right.  And I remember either hearing or reading the
magnetic coating on the disks themselves was also different.  I had no
problems with the HD disks when they first came out, but eventually
(basically) none of them would work for me."

Al Ferrier adds:

"I think there is a fundamental difference between single sided, double
sided and high density floppies.  I'm not big into the actual technology
of them but the tracks on a HD are closer together than a DD and the
drives on STs are not designed to use them as they experience problems
both reading from the format and writing to it.  You can buy a HD drive
for your ST (anyone know where? My local place is Analogic in Surrey and
I think they do them). I would suggest not using HD disks with your ST
and buying some new DDs instead as they are much friendlier to our aging
machines!"

Well folks, that's it for this week. See? I told you it was going to be
short. Tune in again next week, same time, same station, and be ready to
listen to what they are saying when...

PEOPLE ARE TALKING



                                  =~=~=~=



->In This Week's Gaming Section  - Xbox Live, Goes Live!
  """""""""""""""""""""""""""""    Xbox Bundle Boosts Sales!
                                   Activision Hits!
                                   And more!


        
                                  =~=~=~=



->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News   -  The Latest Gaming News!
  """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""



                  Xbox Blasts Video Gaming Into Cyberspace


Microsoft goes live with Xbox Live on Friday, officially signaling the
latest battleground in the video game wars: cyberspace.

Now that all the latest generation of game consoles, including Sony
PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube, are capable of linking to the
Internet, online games promise to become crucial to tapping into the
public's passion for social play -- and drawing on a new source of income.

Though revenue from online game subscriptions will reach $670 million in
2004, according to Jupiter Research, the totals will be minimal this year
and next, director Mike Gartenberg says. "This is the cornerstone, where
the infrastructure is laid and the initial bets are being made, long- and
short-term," he says. "We think it evolves into something very significant
over time."

But for players such as Albert Chung, 20, of Phoenix, who has been testing
the Xbox Live system, the fact that video games are moving online opens up
new dimensions of play.

"You can always find someone to play against," he says. "And it's just
better competition. I'm better at some games than my friends, and my
friends are better than me at some games. Online, you can search for your
equals."

Adding online connections to today's rich, vivid video games is "the next
quantum leap," says Microsoft's Xbox general manager J Allard. "It is going
to bring more creators and a new wave of experiences, experiences that
compete with Friends, Survivor, The West Wing and 8 Mile. . . . We want to
lead that."

* Microsoft is operating its own network. The software giant has been
testing the system for three months, with about 35,000 online currently.
Estimated capacity is about 1 million subscribers. The service, for those
who already have broadband Net connections, uses Xbox's built-in networking
capabilities. Xbox Live Starter Kits hit stores Friday ($49.95 for one year
of service, plus an Xbox Communicator headset and a demo disc).

Subscribers create an online identity (a "gamertag") that is "like a phone
number or e-mail address," Allard says. "Your friends can find you, no
matter what game you are playing."

* Sony, the first to take its system online, has sold about 200,000 network
adapters at $39.99 since late August and hopes to sell 400,000 total by
year's end. The adapters have both broadband and dial-up connections; more
than 40% of PS2 users who have connected have done so using dial-up, Sony's
Kaz Hirai says. "This validates our strategy to have both modes of
connectivity."

Unlike Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo don't operate networks on their own.
They let gamemakers handle the mechanics -- as well as charge subscription
fees. So far, no PS2 games have fees.

* Nintendo's modem and broadband adapters ($34.95, sold separately) have
been available for two weeks, as has the first GameCube game playable
online, Sega's Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II. It also is the first
game to charge a subscription fee, $8.95 a month.

The game company has some online offerings in development, but none that
would be available until mid-2003 at the earliest. "We're taking a more
cautious approach," Nintendo's George Harrison says. "It's clear that
consumers are interested, but we are still skeptical about what the
business opportunity is here (for online gaming)."

For Phantasy Star Online, Sega will allow players to download new levels
and other upgrades. For its sports games, up-to-date rosters can be
downloaded. "Maybe you have mastered a game and completed it. For online
console gamers, we can always deliver fresh new content to keep those games
alive," Sega's Gwen Marker says.

The next few years will be a time of experimentation in the design of the
next generation of game systems, which are expected to begin arriving in
2005. "Essentially, everybody is dipping their toes in the water in online
gaming," says Brian O'Rourke, an analyst with research firm Instat/MDR.

More than 11 million people could be playing console games online worldwide
by 2006, O'Rourke estimates, but only about 4.5 million will be playing
games that charge. In an Instat/MDR survey conducted this summer, about
half of U.S. next-generation console game system owners (132 respondents)
said they were interested in online gaming. Of those, 34% said they'd be
willing to pay $10 to $20 a month, while only 17% were opposed to paying
any fees.

"When people say they are not only interested but are willing to pay, that
indicates the significance (online gaming) can have," O'Rourke says.



                    Xbox Sales Up with New Bundle Offer


Microsoft Corp.'s plan to bundle two games from publisher Sega Corp. with
its Xbox video game console has helped boost Xbox sales, brokerage UBS
Warburg said in a research note on Tuesday.

The $199 combination puts Xbox on sale with Sega's "Jet Set Radio Future"
and "Sega GT 2002," and has helped improve Xbox's sales performance against
Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 2, according to UBS analyst Michael Wallace.

"Our channel checks indicate hardware sales have remained strong into the
beginning of November. In particular, we have heard that the Xbox/Sega
bundle is having a positive impact on Xbox sales," Wallace said.

"While PS2 will almost certainly remain the leader, we believe Xbox has had
a significant improvement," he added.

Sony's PlayStation 2, or PS2, console was released a year before both the
Xbox and Nintendo Co. Ltd.'s GameCube console, and it dominates the video
game market. Analysts widely expect Xbox and GameCube to fight for second
place.

The Xbox originally was released at $299 with no bundled games. That price
was cut to $199 in May, and Microsoft has said the current bundle is a
$100 savings compared to the retail prices for the individual parts of the
package.

Microsoft has said sales of the bundle thus far have exceeded their
expectations. The company could not immediately comment on Wallace's
report.

Nintendo has also just recently started a bundle of its own, packaging the
GameCube with its "Super Mario Sunshine" game and an external memory card
for $189, $40 more than the GameCube stand-alone price.



                   Spider-Man, X-Men Fight For Activision


The video game industry has become a story of haves and have-nots. Lately,
Activision Inc. has been one of the haves.

Activision and Electronic Arts Inc. both handily beat sales and earnings
estimates for the most recent quarter, and both raised their guidance.
Meanwhile, companies like THQ Inc. and Midway Games Inc. have disappointed.

Analysts say larger game publishers like Activision and EA should
outperform their peers this holiday season because they have multiple
successful game franchises and more clout with retailers.

Activision's games include "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater" and comic book
character games featuring Spider-Man and X-Men. The Santa Monica, Calif.,
firm recently bought rights to make games based on the "Lemony Snicket"
children's books.

William Chardavoyne, Activision's CFO, spoke with IBD recently about his
company's outlook.

IBD: Is the video game industry boiling down to a few healthy third-party
publishers?

Chardavoyne: We talk about consolidation, and you would expect that. We
think there are a couple of tiers. There are the top publishers - and EA
and ourselves are certainly in that group. Then there are a number of other
publishers at the low bottom that depend on one hit to sustain their
growth.

As we move further in this (video game console upgrade) cycle and into the
next cycle, you'll see a further parting of the waves between the more
successful publishers and the less successful publishers. Games are
becoming more expensive to produce, and you have to have longer lead times.

IBD: In recent weeks, some have questioned the health of the video game
market. Should those concerns be limited to certain companies and certain
game platforms?

Chardavoyne: We think the market's very strong. We're looking at 18%-20%
growth for this period. And for calendar year 2003 we're looking at
13%-17%.

The (Nintendo) GameCube and the (Microsoft) Xbox have probably not
performed to expectations. Conversely, (Sony's) PlayStation 2 has performed
well above what people were thinking. So we're very bullish about the
installed base.

Just the other day, I saw the hardware numbers for September this cycle vs.
the September when we were in the last (five-year) cycle (new video game
consoles run in about five-year cycles), and we're up 50% in the installed
base. That's very good news for us.

IBD: How cautious are retailers being this holiday season?

Chardavoyne: The retailers are cautious for unproven titles and unproven
brands. Activision has a long history of bringing proven product to the
table month in and month out. We're seeing no loss of business regarding
big launches.

We just shipped "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4" and we're very excited about the
product. It's gotten extremely high quality rankings in the game magazines.
The intent of our consumers in purchasing the product is extremely high. We
shipped the same number of units we had shipped for its predecessor a year
ago. Clearly, being the No. 2 (third-party) game publisher (behind EA) has
a lot to do with getting our product into shelf space.

IBD: What are Activision's big games for this Christmas?

Chardavoyne: This quarter we're really excited about "Tony Hawk." Here's a
game where you have 13 levels, going from amateur to pro, skating in a
significantly large free-roaming space. We're expecting big things from
it.

Then there's our relaunch of "Spider-Man," a very successful game for us
for the quarter ending in June and again last quarter. Now with Sony's DVD
(movie) launch with the game, in excess of 20 million units in North
America, we're excited about the prospects. We lowered the price at retail
from $49 to $39, so we think there's a lot of opportunity for the game.

We have "Minority Report," based on the Steven Spielberg-Tom Cruise movie
released earlier this year. We also released an X-Men fighting game this
quarter that's doing extremely well.

The proven brands add to the stability, predictability and quality of our
earnings. If we can leverage these proven brands against multiple platforms
and geographies, it helps our position. And that's one of the clear reasons
why we're the No. 2 video game publisher.

IBD: Children's games haven't been performing very well lately. Why?

Chardavoyne: Those games tend to do well toward the end of the cycle, when
the hardware is at very low prices and it's more of a mass merchant, mass
market product.

IBD: What about mature, adult-themed games? Is Activision going to cede
that market segment to Take-Two Interactive Software?

Chardavoyne: Take-Two has done a great job with ("Grand Theft Auto") and
(sequel) "Vice City." But M-rated games represent less than 10% of our
portfolio.



                                  =~=~=~=

 

->A-ONE Gaming Online       -       Online Users Growl & Purr!
  """""""""""""""""""



For Immediate Release

Contact: Donald A. Thomas, Jr.  815-439-5591, datj@icwhen.com


            NEW YORKER WINS JAGUAR VIDEO GAME PACKAGE WITH KIOSK


November 14, 2002 - Plainfield, IL - ICWhen.com announced today the
winner of its recent Atari(tm) Jaguar(tm) kiosk.  Mr. Doug Engel of New
York entered the highest bid as the clock ticked away the final seconds of
item number 1394768436 on eBay.  Mr. Engel's winning bid of $1582(US)
covers a complete Atari Jaguar video game package including an arcade
machine-sized store display, console, software and an assortment of very
rare peripherals and accessories.  The auction concluded at almost 1AM PST
on Monday, November 11.

"I am pleased to learn that Mr. Engel has won this auction," states
Donald A. Thomas, Jr. of Thomas Solutions (ICWhen.com).  "I have known Mr.
Engel for years and recall that he and his colleagues were staunch
supporters and developers of the Atari Jaguar 64-bit video game system."

The Jaguar package auction attracted more than 1,700 hits as a
spotlight of ICWhen.com's newly opened "vault" of auctions on eBay.
ICWhen.com has hosted an award winning site featuring the history of home
computers and video games in chronological format.  The site has been used
by students worldwide and referenced repeatedly in newspapers, magazines
and books.  ICWhen's collection of video game and home computer items
include rare and one-of-a-kind items in collectible condition.  These items
are now becoming a part of an ongoing swarm of auctions hosted by
ICWhen.com and easily found by bookmarking the URL of
http://www.icwhen.com/vault.

Items currently on the virtual auction block include one-of-a-kind
art proofs, autographed DVDs, unusual wrist watches, very rare games and
impressive themed bundles.  Many of the auctions include bonus items that
are rare in themselves.  Thomas promises that there are more to come.



                                  =~=~=~=



                           A-ONE's Headline News
                   The Latest in Computer Technology News
                       Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson



                    Supreme Court to Hear Web Porn Case


The Supreme Court said Tuesday it will decide if the government can
restrict Internet surfing at public libraries, the third case pitting
free-speech concerns against efforts to shield children from online
pornography to reach the justices.

The court will resolve whether federal funding can be stripped from
libraries that don't install filters on computers to block sexually
explicit Web sites.

The decision would affect more than 14 million people a year who use public
library computers to do research, send and receive e-mail, and, in some
cases, log onto adult sites.

A three-judge federal panel in Pennsylvania ruled last spring that the
Children's Internet Protection Act violates the Constitution's First
Amendment because the filtering programs also block sites on politics,
health, science and other non-pornographic topics.

The judges recommended less restrictive ways to control Internet use, such
as requiring parental consent before minors are allowed to log in on an
unfiltered computer or having a parent monitor a child's Web use.

"The filtering turns the Internet into something fit for a 5-year-old, and
not even that. It blocks enormous amounts of protected speech," said
Charles Sims, a First Amendment lawyer in New York. "Congress can't get it
right."

Lawmakers have passed three child protection laws since 1996, but the
Supreme Court struck down the first and blocked the second from taking
effect. Those dealt with regulations on Web site operators. Legislators
tried a new approach with the 2000 law, arguing that it should be able to
regulate government property.

"The government has more authority when it's controlling the purse strings
than when it's deciding what people can do with private funds and private
property," said Eugene Volokh, a conservative constitutional expert at UCLA
Law School.

Still, Volokh predicts the government will lose as the court again grapples
with the balance between protecting children and preserving free speech.
The court has been very protective of First Amendment rights.

The Bush administration said in its filings that libraries are not required
to have X-rated movies and pornographic magazines and shouldn't have to
offer access to pornography on their computers.

The law is opposed by the American Civil Liberties Union, the American
Library Association and other groups.

"The public library is for everybody. That's why it's called public,"
Barbara Gloriod, a librarian in Washington for more than 20 years, said
Tuesday as patrons surfed the Internet nearby on computers without filters.
"Filters are just not good enough. They don't filter out all the bad and
they do filter out some of the good."

The state of Texas joined the federal arguments at the Supreme Court.

"Parents should not be afraid to send their children to the library, either
because they might be exposed to such materials or because the library's
free, filterless computers might attract people with a propensity to
victimize children," wrote Texas Attorney General John Cornyn, who was
elected to the U.S. Senate last week.

Congress knew the latest law would be challenged, and directed any appeals
to go straight to the Supreme Court after a trial before a three-judge
panel.

U.S. Solicitor General Theodore Olson said the lower court panel's ruling
hurts Congress' effort to ensure that money spent for education does not
pay instead for access "to the enormous amount of illegal and harmful
pornography on the Internet."

Paul Smith, the library association's attorney, said thousands of Web sites
that have nothing to do with sex are blocked by filtering companies. "You
have an awful lot of censorship going on, and it's censorship the librarian
is not in control of," he said.

The Supreme Court struck down the 1996 Communications Decency Act, which
made it a crime to put adult-oriented material online where children can
find it. The court said the law violated free-speech rights because it
would keep material from adults who have a right to see it.

This year the court upheld part of the 1998 Child Online Protection Act,
which required Web sites to collect credit card numbers or other proof of
age before allowing Internet users to view material deemed harmful to
minors. But justices did not rule on the law's constitutionality, and the
government was barred from enforcing it.

The case is United States v. American Library Association, 02-361.



                      Tax-Free Online Shopping May End


When state legislatures reconvene in January, imposing an Internet sales
tax could be high on their agendas. That's because delegates from 31 states
have approved a program to streamline the now fragmented sales tax
programs.

"This [program] is a 21st century system that will dramatically improve the
morass that currently exists," says Utah Governor Michael Leavitt.

The plan calls for uniform definitions for taxable goods and one statewide
sales tax rate by 2006. Known as the Streamlined Sales Tax Project, it
received the nod Tuesday.

To start collecting, states must now enact tax laws that correspond to the
proposal. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures,
lawmakers from Minnesota, North Carolina, Wyoming, and Wisconsin have
already done so.

States with large cities, such as New York and Illinois, may be the last to
change their systems because the local governments have their own sales tax
laws to raise money, says Neal Osten, senior committee director for the
state legislators' conference.

Once ten states representing 20 percent of the population change their
systems, companies could voluntarily impose an Internet sales tax. At that
point, Congress could also approve a mandatory online sales tax, but only
for states that successfully simplify their tax laws, says Osten.

The District of Columbia and 45 states now collect sales tax, but at widely
varying rates. More than 7000 state and local tax jurisdictions have
different laws and definitions of what they can tax.

"Simplification is the first step toward a level playing field," says
Maureen Riehl, vice president of the National Retail Federation, a trade
group that represents nearly 1.4 million stores. "Once the system is
simplified, we can convince Congress to apply the same rules to everyone,
whether they sell their merchandise from a storefront, over the phone,
through a catalog or on the Internet."

If the states act, this would be the first revamping of the nation's sales
tax system in 40 years.

Ten years ago, the Supreme Court ruled that states cannot force retailers
to collect (and hand over) sales taxes unless they have a physical presence
in the customer's state. For example, Seattle-based Amazon cannot collect
sales tax in California. However, the Supreme Court ruling does allow
Congress to impose an Internet sales tax once states simplify their
programs.

In November 2001, Congress approved a two-year extension on the Internet
sales tax moratorium. This banned Internet access taxes on Internet service
providers, but does not apply to states that collect taxes on Internet
purchases.

Online shoppers are supposed to pay sales tax, but many states don't have
an effective way to collect them, Osten says.

"This is not a new tax because consumers already owe it, but states can't
collect it," Osten says. "Whether you buy [a product] in the store or on
the Internet, it should be treated in the same way."

For states with budget problems, this seems like an attractive solution.
The U.S. General Accounting Office estimates that states lose $13 billion
each year on untaxed Internet transactions. A 2001 University of Tennessee
study suggests this number could more than triple to $45 billion by 2006.

"When states realize how important this money could be to their budget
deficit... it makes it more likely we are going to succeed next year," says
Osten, who will now focus on educating the more than 2000 newly elected
state legislators.



                    Congress Creates Kids' Internet Area


Congress approved legislation Friday to create a safe haven on the Internet
for children, where parents can be assured Web sites are free of
pornography and other material not suitable for youngsters.

The measure would make a ".kids.us" Internet domain that would be available
within a year and monitored by a government contractor to ensure the
material is appropriate for children under 13. The bill won unanimous
approval from the Senate on Wednesday and the House on Friday. It now goes
to President Bush, who was expected to sign it.

The House also sent Bush a bill Friday allowing small Internet music
broadcasters to pay lower copyright royalty fees, something those
businesses say is key to their survival. If they grow sufficiently, they
would no longer be entitled to pay the lower fees.

The Internet domain measure was backed by child advocates.

"Kids need a safe place to go on the Internet," said Sen. Byron Dorgan,
D-N.D., who introduced the bill in the Senate. "This is our nation's best
chance to guarantee kids an online experience that is fun and
age-appropriate from start to finish."

Web sites wishing to register in the "dot-kids" area within the United
States Internet domain would have to agree to display only child-friendly
material. The sites would be prohibited from linking to Internet sites
outside the kids area. Instant messaging or chat rooms also would be banned
unless they are certified as safe, protecting children from Web predators.

The legislation defines Web content as harmful to children if it depicts
sex or nudity, is clearly sexual in nature or "lacks serious, literary,
artistic, political or scientific value for minors."

Critics, including some civil liberties groups, say the new domain will do
more harm than good.

In a letter sent to lawmakers before the bill passed, Alan Davidson,
associate director of the Washington-based Center for Democracy and
Technology, said the legislation has good intentions but "would be
ineffective at protecting children."

One problem, Davidson said, is that the age range is too broad - material
suitable for a 12-year-old may not be right for a younger child. If the
material is restricted for the youngest children, older kids won't be
interested, he said.

"Many parents will find that limiting their children's Internet activity to
`.kids.us' will not be a solution to keeping them safe online," Davidson
said. "And the company administering the domain would be required to make
decisions for millions of children that would be better made by families."

Congress wants that company to be NeuStar Inc., a Washington firm that has
managed the ".us" country domain for a year. The company has another three
years in its contract and would get a two-year extension if it agrees to
manage the children's domain, a Dorgan aide said.

The Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information
Administration would oversee NeuStar, which would monitor the domain and
remove anything it finds objectionable. There would be procedures for Web
site operators to contest decisions to remove their content.

Davidson said a huge amount of Web site policing would be needed and would
likely fall short of what parents expect. He said Internet safe areas
developed and run outside the government would be more effective.

James Casey, policy director for NeuStar, said the company is up to the
task.

"We have to make sure we do it right for the children," Casey said.

The Internet broadcasting bill mirrors an agreement worked out earlier by
webcasters and the recording industry, which wants royalties for songs
broadcast over the Internet.

The legislation would let the recording labels and artists who hold
copyrights set their own royalty rates for webcasts rather than use the
standard imposed by the U.S. Copyright Office in June - 70 cents for every
song heard by every 1,000 people.

Internet radio - either simulcasts of traditional over-the-air radio or
Internet-only stations streamed over the Web to computers - is becoming
popular as more people get high-speed connections.

But many webcasters are small and highly specialized, reaching only
hundreds or thousands of people. They complained the rates imposed by the
Copyright Office would be more than they could afford, forcing them
out of business.

The bill authorizes SoundExchange, the organization collecting payments
on behalf of the music industry and artists, to reach rate agreements
with small webcasters based on an Internet broadcaster's revenue.



                      Net Music Gets Royalty Reprieve


Smaller Internet music broadcasters will be allowed to pay lower copyright
royalty fees than they do now under legislation Congress passed on Friday.

The bill, which has been sent to President Bush to be signed into law,
mirrors an agreement worked out earlier by webcasters and the recording
industry, which wants royalties for songs broadcast over the Internet.

The legislation allows the recording labels and artists who hold copyrights
to set their own royalty rates for webcasters rather than use the standard
imposed by the U.S. Copyright Office in June - 70 cents for every song
heard by every 1,000 people.

The Senate approved the bill late Thursday and the House followed Friday.

Internet radio  either simulcasts of traditional over-the-air radio or
Internet-only stations streamed over the Internet to computers - is
becoming popular as more people get high-speed connections.

But many webcasters are small and highly specialized, reaching only
hundreds or thousands of people. They complained the rates imposed by
the Copyright Office would be more than they could afford, forcing them
out of business.

Webcasters and the recording industry worked out a deal last month that
calculates rates based on an Internet broadcaster's revenue.

The House approved that deal, but it stalled in the Senate after religious
broadcasters objected to language setting specific rates. The compromise
legislation removed the wording.

The bill authorizes SoundExchange, the organization collecting payments on
behalf of the music industry and artists, to reach rate agreements with
small webcasters.

"We urge webcasters, broadcasters and others to meet us in good faith to
find marketplace solutions, rather than fighting in court and other
forums," said SoundExchange executive director John L. Simson. He said the
record industry would use the rates worked out last month.

Simson said the legislation adds a six month extension for noncommercial
webcasters - such as college radio stations that broadcast online - to pay
retroactive royalties. The extension will allow for more negotiations to
work out a separate deal with them, he said.

Radio stations have historically been exempt from royalty payments because
they provide promotional value for songs. The recording industry long
opposed the exemption and in 1998 got Congress to require royalties for
digital services.



                     Microsoft Temps Case Clears Hurdle


The U.S. Supreme Court's refusal Tuesday to consider a challenge to a
Microsoft settlement cleared the way for thousands of current and former
temporary employees to receive their share of $97 million in payouts.

The high court without comment let stand a lower court finding that $27
million in legal fees was reasonable for the Seattle law firm that
represented Microsoft's long-term temporary workers.

Stephen Strong, a partner at Bendich, Stobaugh & Strong, said he's thrilled
his clients can begin applying for their share of the settlement money.

"We spent thousands and thousands and thousands of hours and years of work
on a risky case, and finally we're going to get something out of it,"
Strong said.

Two former temporary employees had appealed the settlement, arguing that
their share of the money was too small and lawyers' fees were too big.

Calls to their lawyers were not returned, and efforts to reach the two
temps were unsuccessful. Microsoft had no immediate comment.

The "permatemp" lawsuit was filed in 1992, after some temporary workers had
spent years with the company. The lawsuit challenged the practice of paying
workers through temporary employment agencies, thus denying them certain
benefits provided to permanent employees.

The settlement was approved in May 2001.

Between 10,000 and 12,000 current and former Microsoft employees who
worked at least 750 hours over at least nine months are eligible for a
share of the money.



                        E-Mail Viruses Up, Spam Down


E-mails bearing viruses increased 42 percent in October compared with
January, with one in every 134.5 messages being infected, according to
MessageLabs, which provides e-mail filtering services.

MesageLabs scanned 212 milion e-mails, of which almost 15 million were
found to have potentially harmful content. Users who worked in the leisure
industry, sports and entertainment, and retail were most likely to receive
viruses and spam, because those industries have the most contact with home
users. The fewest attacks were aimed at the IT and telecommunications
sectors.

Bugbear and Klez.h were the most popular viruses, followed by Yaha.E and
SirCam. Spam accounted for one in 6.1 e-mails in October, down slightly
from one in 6 in September.

Porn spam declined from January to October; e-mail containing pornographic
images made up one in 3,418 e-mails, down 23 percent since January.



                   FTC Sues Six in 'Spam' E-Mail Round-Up


The Federal Trade Commission said on Wednesday that it had sued six junk
e-mailers who bombarded Internet users with illegal pyramid schemes,
fraudulent loans and e-mail filters that actually attracted more "spam."

The announcement came as other state and federal law-enforcement
authorities in the Northeastern United States announced actions of their
own as part of a concerted effort to cut down on deceptive spamming and
other illegal behavior on the Internet.

"All of us are combining our resources to combat deceptive spam and
Internet scams," said Barbara Anthony, regional director for the FTC at a
press conference in Boston.

The FTC coordinated similar efforts in the Midwest and Pacific Northwest
earlier this year.

While spam is widely regarded as a nuisance for Internet users, it is not
illegal under U.S. law.

All those facing FTC lawsuits are charged with violating existing laws
against deceptive and unfair trade practices.

One defendant used the logos of well-known financial institutions like
Prudential and Fannie Mae in order to collect personal information like
income and home values from respondents, the FTC said.

The defendant, whose name was not released, also used false return
addresses so those trying to contact him would not receive "no such
recipient" and "do not contact me" messages, the FTC said.

As a result, 30,000 such responses were sent to an innocent Internet user,
the FTC said.

Another defendant sent spam messages for a service that promised to
eliminate spam. In fact, the product sold by NetSource One and its
principal, James R. Haddaway, actually attracted more spam, the FTC said.

Four others were charged with sending illegal chain letters asking for
money. The defendants agreed to stop the practice or face fines, the FTC
said.

Another 100 pyramid-scheme operators received warning letters from law
enforcement authorities.

The FTC also said that investigators had scattered special e-mail addresses
around the Internet to see if spammers would pick them up.

While spam has been a nuisance for Internet users for years, complaints
have risen dramatically as the volume of unwanted commercial pitches has
exploded. Anti-spam firm Brightmail estimates that spam now makes up 36
percent of all e-mail traffic, up from 8 percent a year ago.

E-mail addresses left in news groups and on Web pages were almost certain
to receive spam, they found, while those left on message boards and posted
in e-mail directories were somewhat less likely to receive unwanted
commercial pitches.

Addresses left in chat rooms were certain to receive spam, they found. In
one instance, an e-mail address posted in a chat room started to receive
spam eight minutes after it was posted.

Twenty-six states have anti-spam laws of one sort or another, but efforts
to pass a national law in Congress have stumbled over opposition from
commercial marketers.

The Direct Marketing Association, which represents many commercial
marketers, switched its position last month and said it would ask Congress
to pass anti-spam legislation so legitimate marketing efforts would not be
drowned out.

Internet users can forward spam for FTC investigation to uce@ftc.gov. The
consumer-protection agency has amassed a database of 20 million junk
e-mails.



                       Apple Releases Mac OS X 10.2.2


Apple today posted an update to its Mac OS X operating system, bringing the
current version to 10.2.2.

According to Apple, the update delivers enhanced functionality and improved
reliability for the following applications and technologies: Address Book,
iChat, IP Firewall, Mail, Print Center, Rendezvous, Sherlock and Windows
file service discovery. The update also includes the updated services
previously delivered in Security Update 2002-09-20.

The 24.4MB update is available via the Software Update control panel in
Mac OS X 10.2.



                 Opera Readies a Leaner Browser for Battle


Opera Software is keeping the browser wars of the 1990s smoldering with
the beta release of a new version of the Opera Web browser for Microsoft's
Windows operating system on Wednesday.

Opera 7 for Windows is both smaller and faster than earlier Opera releases,
and constitutes a wholesale rebuilding of the browser, according to a
statement released by Opera of Oslo, Norway. The heart of the new browser
from Opera is a redesigned rendering engine that provides improved support
for established and emerging Web standards like Document Object Model
Level 2 (DOM2), extended Cascading Style Sheets Level 2 (CSS2), and
HTML 4.01.

"We wanted to make things faster and to be able to handle more live
content. Opera 7 is very much faster in rendering and it also starts to
render things at a very much earlier stage," said Jon von Tetzchner, chief
executive officer of Opera.

Other features of Opera 7 include revamped e-mail and news clients, and
Small Screen Rendering (SSR) technology that will allow Web site developers
to see how a particular page will appear on a small-screen device such as a
personal digital assistant or mobile phone.

Opera's focus on portable devices may be a way to keep the company and its
product relevant.

Microsoft is widely recognized as the indisputable winner of the
much-ballyhooed browser wars. Its Internet Explorer is used by almost 95
percent of all Web surfers, according to the most recent data from
OneStat.com of Amsterdam, a Web research organization. Surfers using the
Opera browser accounted for just 0.9 percent of the total, according to
OneStat.

"There is an inherent challenge to companies that are
operating-system-independent to sell a product that comes packaged with an
operating system," said Dan Kusnetzky, vice president of systems software
research at IDC. "They've got to overcome the idea that 'this product came
at no additional cost, so why pay for something to replace it?'"

And as more and more Web-based services such as online banking standardize
on Microsoft's products, the hurdles facing those who use Opera or other
browsers only multiply, said Kusnetzky.

With mobile devices the next frontier for purveyors of online content,
however, Opera sees a window of opportunity that is not open in the market
for desktop applications.

"On the desktop, I don't think we can topple Microsoft in the near future
because they control the distribution," von Tetzchner said. "In mobile
market, however--phones, PDAs, even TV--Microsoft doesn't control
distribution. It's a totally different ballgame."

In that market, the leaner Opera 7 has an advantage over Internet Explorer,
Tetzchner said. Most mobile devices have comparable computing power to
desktop computers of the early 1990s, at best. In addition, the desktop and
mobile versions of Opera 7 are identical, making content development for
mobile devices that use Opera much easier than for Microsoft's mobile Web
browser, which is different from the Internet Explorer, according to von
Tetzchner.

Opera has made it known that it is looking to develop deals with
mobile-device hardware vendors to ship a copy of the Opera browser with
their devices. So far, no deals have been announced, and von Tetzchner
refused to comment on the prospects for any future announcements, but the
built-in small-screen-rendering features of Opera 7 may win the company a
following within the mobile computing development community.

"That idea is definitely there," von Tetzchner said when asked if Opera
was courting mobile content developers with the new version of Opera.

Opera also hopes to capitalize on the growing popularity of the Linux
operating system. Opera already has a loyal following among users of Linux
and Unix, and the company is attempting to increase its support for
different Unix and Linux distributions.

On that front, in order to gain market share, Opera must find ways to get
its browser packaged with operating systems, according to Kusnetzky. "If
your browser's not packaged with the operating system, then you've got to
convince people to download and install it, and there are costs inherent
in that, even if they're not licensing costs," Kusnetzky said.



                          The Case for OpenOffice


What is free, easy to learn and manage, and compatible with other file
formats and every major platform? (Hint: It also represents one less tie
to Microsoft.) The answer is OpenOffice.org, according to the creators,
managers and evangelists of this open source office productivity suite.

OpenOffice.org is a two-year-old project, the result of more than a dozen
volunteers' efforts to create a software suite that contains a word
processor, spreadsheet, presentation program, graphics app and database.

The project has its roots in StarDivision, a German company that originally
authored the StarOffice software suite. Microsoft rival Sun Microsystems
purchased StarDivision in 1999 and released StarOffice 5.2 in June 2000,
while also turning over its code to the OpenOffice.org group of developers.
Now, in a turning of the tables, OpenOffice.org's efforts are at the core
of Sun's most recent StarOffice 6.0 release.

The freely available software is backed by a community of nearly 10,000
users, according to Scott Carr, documentation maintainer for
OpenOffice.org. Besides being an inexpensive investment, OpenOffice.org is
often a first step for businesses considering a switch to Linux on the
desktop.

"With OpenOffice.org, it's ... try before you buy, but you never have to do
the 'buy' part," Carr told the E-Commerce Times.

Some analysts have questioned the merits of an enterprise switch to
OpenOffice from Microsoft Office, citing migration costs, training issues,
compatibility problems and support worries, but the OpenOffice project
leaders insist that choosing the most qualified candidates for a switch
can minimize these risks and costs.

"If you go to a site and they have 100 employees, maybe two or three are
of the mindset to do some programming," said Carr. "But the rest of them,
they want to go in and have a document that has a couple of fonts ... and
do a little bit of formatting and be done with it."

Carr conceded that OpenOffice is not the perfect solution for every desktop
user in a company, but added that for the majority, it is a viable option.

Besides usability, the cost savings argument is undeniable, said Sam Hiser,
co-leader of marketing for OpenOffice.org. "The ROI that you get from a
transition to OpenOffice.org is infinite because you're going from paying
licensing fees that can be grand to [paying] nothing," he told the
E-Commerce Times.

Carr estimated that even taking into account the training costs companies
encounter, plus the migration time involved in replacing applications, a
business using 1,000 Microsoft Office licenses at US$300 each could save
about $300,000 on up-front expenditures by switching to OpenOffice.org.

But the main selling point for OpenOffice.org is its file and platform
compatibility, according to Joerg Heilig, director of engineering for
StarOffice at Sun. "XML is the default file format, and we are working on
the standardization. It's documented on OpenOffice.org, and we invite
others to work with us," Heilig told the E-Commerce Times.

Also, because OpenOffice.org can be used on multiple platforms, including
Windows, Linux, Solaris and Mac OS X, it is a draw for companies that use
more than one platform.

Heilig also disputed claims that OpenOffice.org and StarOffice have
difficulties with macros, pivot tables and other items developed in Visual
Basic.

"We do support [pivot tables], but we have to call them differently because
they are a trademark of Microsoft, so they are called data pilots in
StarOffice," he said. "On the macro side, we do support StarOffice Basic,
and we have an extensive basic API so you can do custom solutions based on
StarOffice, but the API is different than [Microsoft's]."

For some companies, turning over support of their most common applications
to a community of volunteer IT specialists is a daunting task. However,
Carr pointed to rapid turnaround times that range from five minutes to a
week for questions posted to the OpenOffice.org mailing list.

Conversely, for calls to Microsoft support, Carr noted, "What is the chance
of you actually being able to speak with a developer?" He also lamented
that the most common response to a Microsoft support call is the standard
refrain, "it's coming out in the next release."

Understandably, noted Hiser, some companies require contractual support
for their applications. That is one reason OpenOffice.org sees itself as a
testing ground for companies considering a StarOffice purchase from Sun,
which provides direct support, patches and QA50 per copy, is flexible and
inexpensive enough to be a contender with Microsoft Office, according to a
recent Gartner research note. According to Gartner, StarOffice could gain
at least a 10 percent market share at the expense of Microsoft Office by
the end of 2004.

But that projected gain was qualified with the note that in order for
StarOffice to earn such popularity, Microsoft would have to remain true to
its current licensing policies, which took effect July 31st. Companies
gained access to continuous Microsoft software upgrades and improved
security, but they were required to pay what amounted to costly monthly
licensing fees, stirring up frustration with the software giant.

One of the most compelling reasons to use OpenOffice, according to the
project's supporters, is that it can serve as a testing ground for an
eventual switch from Windows to Linux on the desktop.

Once users have migrated to OpenOffice, the reasoning goes, switching to
Ximian Evolution, a free e-mail and group calendaring application, and
Mozilla, an open source Web browser, becomes easier. And once those
transitions are complete, removing Windows entirely and replacing it with
Linux becomes less of an issue.

"Many [companies] are thinking of migrating to Linux, and a first step is
always to exchange their existing office suite with something that is more
open," said Heilig.

The goal, said OpenOffice.org's Hiser, is not to put Microsoft out of
business, but rather to make free or cheaper software available on a
worldwide scale and eventually to increase the size of the overall office
productivity software market. Hiser estimated that within 10 years, the
market's size will have increased three to five times -- and open source
will share a substantial portion of the pie.



                          What Is Lindows, Anyway?


Lindows is a Linux-based operating system that promises to make using Linux
as easy as Windows. Indeed, its name suggests a combination of Linux and
Windows -- but what exactly is this distribution that has found its way
onto Wal-Mart shelves? Is it the next big thing or just good marketing?

In the beginning, Lindows' goal was to let users run Windows applications
on Linux. The company still provides Wine (a Windows compatibility layer
for Unix) with its software, but it has retreated from its original plan to
make a fully Windows-compatible Linux. Instead, it is focusing on
delivering applications that provide the same features as users' favorite
Windows apps.

Therefore, the main selling point for Lindows, besides ease of use, is its
"Click-N-Run Warehouse." Linux apps have long been as easy to use as their
Windows counterparts, but installing them has not been. Most Windows users
balk at the idea of using command-line tools or compiling their own apps.
Lindows provides a wide variety of applications -- 1,685 of them, according
to the Lindows Web site -- that users can install by clicking a single
green button.

Most Lindows software is freely available, though Lindows does offer some
commercial applications, such as StarOffice and TuxRacer Deluxe.

It costs US$99 to join Lindows' "Insiders" program for two years to
receive the operating system plus Click-N-Run privileges. The $99 is a
promotional price that soon will change to $299. For users with a
broadband connection, software installation via Click-N-Run is quite
convenient, but for dial-up users, installation could be a slow process.
Users can still install software using traditional tools, according to
Lindows public relations director Cheryl Schwarzman.

Schwarzman admitted that longtime Linux users are not the company's
market. "The Linux group is highly intelligent. They enjoy being able to
compile and apt-get.... They don't have interest in Lindows; it'd be like
asking an adult to slap training wheels on their bike." But for less
technical users, she said, Lindows can be a viable option.

"Microsoft has about 95 percent of the market share," Schwarzman added.
"There's plenty of room for us to compete with Microsoft. We can bring the
affordability that Microsoft hasn't brought, with the same ease of use."

The Lindows distribution is based on Debian GNU/Linux. Lindows is not the
first company to base a commercial product on Debian, but if it turns a
profit, it will be the first to do so. Several other Debian-based Linux
distros -- Stormix, Progeny and Corel -- failed in the marketplace. Corel
managed to sell its distro to Xandros, while Progeny shifted business
strategies and Stormix died on the vine.

What can Lindows offer that those distros could not? The answer is not only
technical innovation, but also marketing.

Many have said that Microsoft is not a technology company, but rather a
marketing company. If that is true, then the only way for Linux to make
serious inroads into the desktop market may be to match marketing wits
with the software giant. That is where Lindows' strength comes in,
according to Jeremy White, CEO of CodeWeavers, a corporate backer of the
Wine Project.

"They're a marketing and branding company, bringing the value and power of
Linux to an audience that otherwise might not receive it," White said.
Although CodeWeavers and Lindows parted ways at the beginning of the year,
he said he would be happy if anyone could offer people a choice to
Microsoft. "All I want is to see the OS stranglehold on the market gone."

When Lindows was first announced, Microsoft filed suit to stop the company
from using a name that is so similar to "Windows." White said Microsoft's
aggressive tactic may have backfired -- during the trial, the judge
questioned Microsoft's right to trademark such a common word as "Windows."

"I think that [Lindows founder and CEO] Michael Robertson shrewdly chose
the name, in and of itself a powerful marketing tool," White added.
"Microsoft wanted to see if they could stop them, but it's been a PR
nightmare for Microsoft."

Unlike most Linux distros, Lindows is available only via download or by
purchasing a PC with Lindows pre-installed. Schwarzman said retail
distribution is in the future for Lindows, but he could not provide a
definite time frame. For now, users can buy PCs with Lindows pre-installed
through several OEMs, including Microtel, which has made headlines by
selling such PCs through Wal-Mart's Web site.

A Microtel PC with Lindows pre-installed costs $199, about the same price
as the Windows XP professional upgrade. Even with the cost of a
Click-N-Run subscription, that is a lot cheaper than using Windows. Whether
price will drive masses of users to Lindows or other Linux distros remains
to be seen.



                     Virus-Trapper Prevents Worm Spread


SentryBay said Thursday that it's launching Viralock, a virus-trapping
utility designed to stop the spread of E-mail worms and viruses such as
BugBear and Klez, next week at Comdex.

Unlike traditional virus hunter-killers, Viralock doesn't sniff out
viruses, but instead encrypts E-mail addresses in Microsoft Outlook and
Outlook Express, the two clients most often targeted by viruses and worms.
Malicious code can't find and use the addresses to spawn additional copies
and infect friends and co-workers.

Viralock can be downloaded directly from SentryBay for $19.95. Volume
pricing is also available.



                     New Web Portal Takes Aim at Yahoo!


The businessmen who salvaged the Excite Network from one of the Internet's
biggest bankruptcies are launching a new Web site targeted at disaffected
Yahoo! users.

"Yahoo! is Toast" is the theme of their aggressive new advertising campaign
introducing MyWay.com, a new online portal that replicates many of Yahoo's
popular features without ads, fees and intrusive privacy policies.

MyWay.com will instead find profits through pay-for-placement listings in
its search function, which is powered by Google, said Bill Daugherty, who
also founded the popular online sweepstakes site iWon.com.

The antagonistic radio-and-print campaign debuts Tuesday and will continue
through Nov. 27 in 38 major markets, including Sunnyvale-based Yahoo's home
turf in the Silicon Valley.

Daugherty, co-CEO of Irvington, N.Y.-based Bulldog Holdings Inc., is
certain the marketing push will touch a nerve with Web surfers who feel
betrayed by a series of changes Yahoo has made under a new management team
to survive the tech meltdown.

Yahoo now charges for many once-free services and peppers its site with a
variety of ads that slow the site's loading speed. Yahoo offers fee-based
services such as personal ads, the HotJobs career-search site, enhanced
e-mail and game rentals. The company also loosened its privacy policies so
it could sell more of the information collected about its registered users.

"No Web site has changed its relationship more dramatically in the past two
years than Yahoo has," Daugherty said.

Yahoo, not surprisingly, sees things differently, pointing to the Internet
icon's huge online audience and the growing number of visitors willing to
pay for services as a validation of its ongoing popularity.

In September, Yahoo ranked as the Web's third most popular destination,
after Microsoft and AOL Time Warner, attracting 60.7 million unique
visitors accessing the Internet from home, according to Nielsen/NetRatings.

Yahoo pegs its worldwide audience at 201 million, a 7 percent increase from
last year. Visitors also don't seem especially concerned about Yahoo
selling their personal information to third parties. Yahoo says 93 million
registered users logged on to its site in September, a 37 percent increase
from the same time last year.

In the same statement, Yahoo said it doubts MyWay will be able to duplicate
the "breadth and depth of the engaging, comprehensive and relevant
services" offered by its site.

"A simple ad-free site does not provide value to consumers' lives if it
does not incorporate the leading technology, compelling products or an
understanding of consumers," Yahoo said.

Daugherty has established a solid track record since hitting the Internet
scene four years ago. His company quickly made a splash with iWon, which
gives away $10,000 per day, and expanded its Web presence late last year
with the $10 million purchase of Excite.com from bankrupt At Home Corp.

IWon and Excite rank among the Web's 25 most popular destinations,
attracting a combined 7.6 million unique visitors in September, according
to Nielsen/NetRatings.

The privately held Excite Network has been profitable 14 consecutive
months, according to Daugherty, although he won't disclose specifics.

Daugherty thinks he will substantially expand his company's reach by using
MyWay to woo away disillusioned Yahoo users. MyWay looks like a
clutter-free version of Yahoo, offering all the standard features of a Web
portal without advertising.

The ad-free environment enables MyWay's page to load on Web browsers
quicker than Yahoo and present more news headlines on the home page.

MyWay also intends to keep overhead low. The entire Excite Network, which
the company says is the Internet's eighth largest in terms of daily
visitors, employs just 157 workers. Yahoo, in comparison, employs just
under 3,600 workers worldwide.

"Once we get the word out, people are going to start coming to MyWay and
they are going to like what they see," he predicted. "If people spend just
three minutes at MyWay, they won't go back to Yahoo again."



                  Yahoo Introduces Premium E-Mail Service


Internet portal Yahoo Inc. on Thursday unveiled an e-mail service that
offers users expanded storage and new account management features, its
latest move to expand its subscription revenue and lessen its reliance on
Web advertising.

Sunnyvale, California-based Yahoo said Yahoo Mail Plus will cost anywhere
from $29.99 to $59.99 per year, depending on how much storage the user
wants. The packages range from 25 megabytes to 100 megabytes of storage
space.

Mail Plus will allow users to attach more and larger files to their
messages, block more addresses to prevent junk or "spam" messages and set
up more filters to direct specific messages to specific folders.

The new service will also allow access to Yahoo mail accounts through
traditional desktop e-mail programs like Outlook or Eudora, allow messages
to be sent from different e-mail accounts through Yahoo, and remove the
company's promotional taglines from messages.

Yahoo has cited paid services like extra e-mail storage as a key growth
area. Such services, which the company has been adding to offset a
prolonged slump in advertising, accounted for 41 percent of Yahoo's revenue
in the most-recent quarter.

Lisa Pollock, director of messaging products for Yahoo, told Reuters the
new, bundled service offered a 33 percent discount over existing separate
offerings from Yahoo.

"What we're doing with this package is targeting e-mail users, and not
just Yahoo Mail users, who use their e-mail frequently," she said. "It
expands our ability to consolidate a number of different accounts through
Yahoo Mail."

Besides the ability to check messages from different accounts, Mail Plus
will also allow people to send their messages from different addresses, so
an e-mail sent from Yahoo could look as those it was sent from someone's
workplace, with replies directed to that address.

Pollock said Yahoo has seen "substantial growth" over the last three years
in the percentage of mail users who pay for additional premium services,
although the company does not disclose the actual figures.



                     Term 'Morons' Sparks Harvard Flap


A cartoon in Harvard Business School's student newspaper criticizing the
school's computer system triggered the resignation of a student editor and
generated a free speech controversy.

The problems arose before corporate recruiting sessions, when computer
mixups scrambled some of the students' interview schedules.

The student newspaper, Harbus, reacted by publishing a cartoon of a career
services Web site overloaded with error messages, including one referring
to "incompetent morons." In turn, the director of the MBA program
reprimanded two student editors, and warned them to avoid "disrespectful"
language.

Nick Will, the paper's editor in chief, resigned and cited "personal
intimidation and threats" by Harvard officials, according to The Boston
Globe. The exchange has prompted debates about free speech.

"The message the school sent to Nick Will was pretty threatening," Jennifer
Taylor, a second-year student and member of a board reviewing the case.
"This is denying the community a voice to express its frustrations."

MBA chairman Carl Kester, however, said there was no intent to censor the
editors. The cartoon violated the campus "community standards" code, he
said, because it insulted the school's career-services employees.

"If it weren't for those two words, nothing would have been said or done to
the students," Kester told the Globe. "There was just a very palpable sense
that this had damaged the feelings of people working very hard on behalf of
students."

Kim B. Clark, dean of the Business School, wrote in a memo sent Friday to
students that while the school is "committed to principles of free
expression and inquiry ... each of us first and foremost is a member of the
Harvard Business School community, and as such, we are expected to treat
each other respectfully."

Harbus editors argued the cartoon faulted the school's computer system, not
individuals.



                    Pair Aims to Return Million AOL CDs


Two California men rebelling against a sea of America Online promotional
compact discs have got mail like never before.

People around the world have sent Jim McKenna and John Lieberman more than
80,000 CDs offering trial subscriptions to AOL's Internet services. They
say when they collect a million, they'll go to the company's front door in
Virginia to say, "You've got mail."

"Basically, we'll enlist the help of volunteers who are willing to take a
pickup load and drive back to AOL headquarters with us," McKenna said. "We
will be as obvious as possible and very polite."

Promotional CDs offering Internet service are common in the industry, but
AOL, the largest Internet service provider, uses them most pervasively.
Their discs appear in magazines, at the post office, at movie theaters and,
of course, in mailboxes.

McKenna and Lieberman have requested the CDs through a Web site devoted to
complaining about the discs. The site features pictures of alternative uses
for the CDs (mobile, ceiling covering, chew toy) and even includes haiku by
disgruntled recipients.

The El Cerrito men, who are in their 30s and work in information
technology, are building an international alliance for their cause, with
partners in France, Germany, Australia and the United Kingdom serving as
CD receiving points.

"People find this action very cool and the ecology aspect is very loved in
France," said Aziz Ridouan of Stop CD France, which has accumulated about
1,600 CDs for the men so far.

McKenna and Lieberman say they have nothing against AOL, but see the discs
as a waste of resources and have found a creative way to ask the Internet
giant to stop making and sending them.

AOL is responding by offering to help.

"If they reach their goal ... I'd be happy to give them directions and
greet them at the door," company spokesman Nicholas Graham said. "We would
make a contribution ourselves to put them over the top."

He said, however, that the company still believes the promotional CDs are
the best way for it to reach potential customers, and added that overall,
people have responded well to the discs.

Graham wouldn't say how many discs AOL distributes each year but noted that
anyone can return unwanted discs for the company to recycle. He added that
if anyone is unhappy about getting the CDs they can call the company and
ask to not receive them.



                    Bill Gates Welcomed with Huge Condom


An eight-foot tall condom greeted Microsoft chairman Bill Gates Thursday
during a visit to an Indian city, a tribute to mark his generosity in
fighting AIDS.

The world's richest man smiled when he saw the giant air-filled condom in
India's rising technology hub of Hyderabad, where his company has opened
its first software development center outside the United States.

The billionaire inaugurated his four-day visit to India on Monday by
announcing $100 million in contributions from his charity, the Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation, to spread awareness on AIDS.

India has four million people with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, making
it the second largest number in the world after South Africa.




                                =~=~=~=


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