Last updated: 10/25/99
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The Internet In the News

Feel free to quote the items below, but it would be polite to mention the source. The citation or source of an item is shown in parentheses at or near the end of the item. My comments, if any, are shown after the citation.

Many of the stories involve mergers and acquisitions. In earlier times, if a company wanted to expand or round out its business, it would establish and staff a new division. The pace of innovation is much higher today, and in order not to lose out, many companies feel that they have to take the faster route of buying new abilities and customers. Also, the rise in the price of Internet stocks means that many companies can afford high prices for mergers, if the cost can be paid in stock shares. Also, high stock prices mean that you don't have to be a giant to run a strong business; companies that occupy small niches such as a regional market or a specialized service, can do very well without being one of the giants. And if you do very well, one of the giants will probably buy you out, and you can retire young with the big bucks.

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The National Asociation of Securities Dealers will add online stock trading to its website (www.nasdaq.com) which now gets over 20 million hits per day for stock quotes. (New York Times, 10/31/99, Business, Pg 9)

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More and more companies are going wireless -- assigning employees a desk phone and a cellular with the same number, that both ring at the same time. Executives say that they are more productive. Also, wireless networking is growing, although it is not as popular because of low transmission speeds. Speeds, however, are rising quickly. (New York Times, 10/31/99, Business, Pg 4)

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Tranparency International, based in Germany, has issued its annual perception-based ranking of the most corrupt countries, and has added a ranking of willingness to pay bribes as well. The scale for bribe paying ranged from 0 for extremely likely to pay a bribe to 10 for extremely unlikely. China was at the bottom, with a ranking of slightly more than 3, while Sweden was at the top, with a ranking of slightly more than 8. The United States and Germany ties at slightly more than 6. The ranking was regarded as a rebuke for the US, which argues strongly for anti-bribery regulations. Transparency officials said that the US probably suffered from resentment on the part of other nations, resentment based on its heavy-handed anti-bribery insistance. Because US companies often do well in corrupt countries, they also said, locals assume that they are paying bribes. (New York Times, 10/31/99, Business, Pg 4)

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Toshiba will spend approximately $1 billion to settle a class-action lawsuit about defects in the software that runs floppy disk drives on its spatop computers. (New York Times, 10/30/99, Pg A1)

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Akamai Technologies sold stock for the first time (Initial Public Offering or IPO) on 10/29. It has developed a new Internet technology for speeding up the transport of web pages. It stock gained approximately 500% during its first day of trading. (New York Times, 10/30/99, Pg B4)

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Amazon.com, the online book seller, said that its losses may grow, perhaps in a major way, as it stepped up advertising and marketing to compete during Christmas. Much of the marketing will be in the form of email coupons and discounts. Analysts were annoyed, since Amazon had just recently predicted losses that would grow only slightly. (New York Times, 10/28/99, Pg C1)

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Coke is testing a vending machine that can raise prices in hot weather, when demand is higher. (New York Times, 10/28/99, Pg C1)

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Hewlett Packard's stock price fell 12% as analysts reported their reduced earnings estimates, based on small increases or even a decline in sales of Unix servers. H-P had warned of similar possibilities in October, when its CEO, Carly Fiorina, said that the North American sles force was the problem, and that poor performers would be dismissed. Analysts said that some sales might be lost in anticipation of Microsoft's Windows 2000, with release now scheduled for February 2000. H-P has also been losing server sales to Sun Microsystems. H-P has brought its servers up to a competitive level, but sales still lag. Critics say that Sun is focussed on Unix servers, but H-P loses focus in selling both Unix and WindowsNT servers. (New York Times, 10/28/99, Pg C2)

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SBC Communications Inc and Global Crossing Ltd disclosed earnings that exceeded estimates on 10/27, while Qwest Communications International met estimates. SBC said its results were best in data, wireless and international services. (New York Times, 10/28/99, Pg C2)

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Harmonic Inc will buy the Divicom unit of C-Cube Microsystems Inc for $1.7 billion in stock. Divicom has developed expertise in using MPEG2 for digital video compression. Harmonic serves digital video over cable, satellite, telecommunications and wireless networks. (New York Times, 10/28,99, Pg C4)

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Exodus Communications Inc will buy Service Metrics Inc for $280 million in stock. Service Metrics monitors the performance of web sites. Exodus runs server farms, where servers are centrally located and managed. (New York Times, 10/28/99, Pg C4)

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BET Holdings Inc, which owns Black Entertainment Television, will pay up to $1 billion to buy up to 127 radio stations from Clear Channel , which needs to sell the stations in connection with its purchase of AMFM Inc. (New York Times, 10/28/99, Pg C4)

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The Unisys Corp, which supplies computer services, plans that more than half of its revenues will come from Internet services within three years. The company's growth has been flagging recently. (New York Times, 10/28/99, Pg C4)

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Several Internet companies sold stock for the first time (Initial Public Offering or IPO) on 10/27. Intertrust makes software for digital signatures, and its stock price tripled. JNI, which makes optical fiber hardware and software, and its stock more than doubled. (New York Times, 10/28/99, Pg C4)

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Nyfix Inc is leading a group of investors in setting up an alternative method for trading stocks, to be known as Nyfix Millenium LLC, and operating by the second quarter of 2000. (New York Times, 10/28/99, Pg C5)

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The largest manufacturer of database software, will start a company to sell network computers for $199. The computer will use the Linux operating system (a version of Unix), the Netscape Navigator browser, and an Intel microprocessor. CEO Larry Ellison wants to develop computers that compete with Microsoft. (New York Times, 10/28/99, Pg C5)

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Dreamworks SKG has entered into a long-term deal with Aardman Animations, the English maker of the Wallace and Gromit claymation pictures for four feature-length pictures to be distributed by Dreamworks. While this commits all of Aardman's feature-length films, the company will still make short subjects on its own. (New York Times, 10/28/99, Pg C8)

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Iftekhar Chowdhury is Bangladesh's ambassador to United Nations agencies in Geneva, Switzerland, also represents a group or 48 countries that cannot afford such ambassadors. He is proud that Bangladesh's exports have climbed from less than $1 billion ten years ago, to $3 billion today. He would like to have Bhutan, one of the small countries among the 48, admitted to the World Trade Organization. (New York Times, 10/28/99, Pg C10)

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MCI Worldcom bought the Brazilian long-distance telephone company Embratel, when it was being sold by that government as part of its privatization. At the time, MCI Worldcom was told that it would not be responsible for back taxes owed by Embratel. Now, the Brazilian government has changed its mind and has decided to sue for the taxes. (New York Times, 10/28/99, Pg C10)

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President Clinton has announced administrative rules to protect the privacy of medical information. The rules cover information kept either electronically and/or on paper, and would permit patients to review, copy and supplement or correct information in, their personal records. (Most medical records are still kept in paper form.) Issuing these rules fulfills an obligation imposed by Congress when it placed a deadline on itself; if the deadline passed, which it has, then the administration would have to issue its own rules. Consumer advocates had some complaints, but the health insurance industry said that the rules would raise costs unacceptably. Information could be released as needed for treatment or payment for treatment, but otherwise substantial fines and jail terms could be imposed. (New York Times, 10/27/99, Pg A1)

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The Dow Jones Industrial average ("The Dow") dropped Sears, Chevron, Goodyear and Union Carbide and replaced them with Microsoft, Intel, SBC Communications and Home Depot. The Dow index is issued by The Wall Street Journal, and managing editor Paul E. Steiger said that the changes would make the Dow "even more representative of the evolving US economy." (New York Times, 10/27/99, Pg C1)

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Ford Motor Company is buying approximately $10 million worth of broadcast time worldwide to present the same commercial at the same time around the world. Two web sites will also present the commercial. The boradcast is scheduled for 9 PM Monday 11/1 Eastern Standard Time. (New York Times, 10/27/99, Pg C1)

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Richard D. Nanula has been Chief Financial Officer at the Walt Disney Company, and Chief Operating Officer at Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc, the world's largest hotel company. After less than a year at Starwood, he resigned in April 1999 due to an ego clash with the Starwood president, who had recruited Mr Nanula. On 10/26, Broadband Sports Inc, a tiny Internet start-up with about 125 employees, said Nanula had been recruited as chairman and cheif executive. Broadband has several sources of revenue; eCommerce, content syndication, advertising, subscription fees for premium content, and sponsorships. (New York Times, 10/27/99, Pg C2)

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Compaq Computer reported higher-than-expected profits yesterday, but continued problems. Dell Computer sold more personal computers for the first time, during the third quarter. Of its three product lines, consumer PCs, business PCs and larger computers and services, the business PC unit lost money last year, with lower sales than a year earlier. Soem of the sales decline was attributed to the Taiwan earthquake. Compaq also sold its Altavista Internet search site. (New York Times, 10/27/99, Pg C2)

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In Indonesia, foreign financiers claim that they are having a hard time understanding how the new government of Abdurrahman Wahid will restructure the economy, and fear that the government does not have the necessary expertise or cohesion. Indonesia's economy is dependent on loans from the International Monetary Fund, but those loans have been frozen due to a banking scandal that is still unresolved. (New York Times, 10/27/99, Pg C4)

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GTE Corporation, operator of local telephone services, sold local lines in Oklahoma to DBA Communications LLC, in a move to shed its slower-growing businesses. (GTE is being acquired by Bell Atlantic Corp) (New York Times, 10/27/99, Pg C4)

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IBM will buy back $3.5 billion of its stock, to increase its earnings per share, the tenth buy-back since 1995. Recently, IBM stock lost 19% in one day. (New York Times, 10/27/99, Pg C4)

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Bamboo.com, which provides virtual online real estate tours, and Interactive Pictures Corporation, which develops software for such web sites, agreed to merge, creating a company with $850 million in market captialization (number of shares times share price). (New York Times, 10/27/99, Pg C4)

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Cisco Systems Inc, the largest manufacturer of Internet gateways and routers, will buy Tasmania Network Systems for $25 million in stock. Tasmania makes software that "caches" or stores Internet content locally, to speed up its delivery. (New York Times, 10/27/99, Pg C4)

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Executone Information Systems Inc said that it would develop a system for selling tickets for the Jamaica lottery online. (New York Times, 10/27/99, Pg C4)

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Mactell Corp, which made equipment to run with Apple computers, will go out of business. (New York Times, 10/27/99, Pg C4)

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Lucent Technologies Inc (formerly the famous Bell Labs) and Nortel Networks Corporation, both leaders in the booming communications industry, announced growth exceeding analyst's estimates. Lucent's revenues grew 23% over last year, and its profits grew 50%. Nortel's revenue and profits each grew by 30%. As a Canadian company, Nortel is subject to slightly different accounting rules. Nortel said it would switch completely to US accounting rules next year. (New York Times, 10/27/99, Pg C8)

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Marc Andreesen, who is credited with writing most of the early code for Netscape, and was a co-founder of Netscape Communications, and who resigned as America OnLine's chief technology officer last month (after AOL acquired Netscape), announced that he will be the CEO of Loudcloud Inc, which will make software for setting up eCommerce sites quickly. Loudcloud is currently housed in a single large extra room at a semiconductor equipment company. Andreesen said that he was reveling at being back in the Silicon Valley start-up mode, similar to Hewlett Packard and Apple Computer in their early days. He also said that software will become more important, but the software industry will become less important. (This could refer to automating the development of software / David Bowen) (New York Times, 10/27/99, Pg C10)

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Dr. George L. Carlo, the director of a study on whether or not cellular telephones can cause cancer has complained that, while this study did not find a link, there is enough evidence to justify advising consumers to take precautions such as: using headsets, extending the antenna fully to keep it away from the head, holding the phone at least 2" away from the head (the distance radiation would normally penetrate), limiting the length of calls, and not letting children, who are more susceptible to cancer, use cellular phones. The study headed by Dr. Carlo found no link to cancer. (New York Times, 10/26/99, Pg D8) (The theory of statistics predicts that, even if there really is no link, a certain number of cases or studies would find a correlation. This effect decreases in percentage terms as the number of cases studied increases [The uncertainty in the percentage is proportional to one divided by the square root of the number.] Apparently the number of positive cases found falls within this limit. More cases and further studies would reduce the limit. Electromagnetic radiation is also emitted by many other devices, from electrical transmission lines to electric blankets. Controversy has surrounded these sources also, although no consistent results have been found, either in laboratory studies or in statistical surveys.)

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Excite@Home, the Internet Service Provider unit of AT&T's cable network, will buy Bluemountain.com, the electronic greeting companies, for a price that could range up to $1 billion in stock and cash. Bluemountain users can send free Internet greeting cards. It has virtually no revenues, but attracts approximately 10% of all Internet traffic. (New York Times, 10/26/99, Pg C1)

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AT&T saw its profits for the third quarter rose and beat analyst's predictions. Strong gorwth in wireless and information units more than made up for losses in the more traditional units. (New York Times, 10/26/99, Pg C1)

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A large group of corporations lead by Cisco Systems, the leading manufacturer if Internet gateways and routers, and Motorola, formed an alliance to promote fast data rates for a wireless Internet. There are two major regions of the radio frequency spectrum, one called MMDS and the other LMDS, that are being developed for wireless Internet. Consumers should also be able to choose cable and satellite high-speed Internet access technologies. New York Times, 10/26/99, Pg C2)

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Digital Island Inc. will buy Sandpiper Networks for $630 million in stock.  Both companies develop eCommerce web sites and operate networks in parallel with the Internet that allow clients to bypass bottlenecks. (New York Times, 10/26/99, Pg C4)

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The Internet postage seller Stamps.com agreed to buy Iship.com for $305 million in stock. Stamps.com sells postage online that customers can download and print by computer on envelopes. Iship.com is an online shipping company that customers can use for package pick-up and delivery. (New York Times, 10/26/99, Pg C4)

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NCR will cut 1,500 jobs and take a charge of roughly $250 million, and leave the computer hardware business to concentrate on ATMs, retail in-store automation software, and data mining. Data mining is a technique that corporations use to find patterns in their sales that they can exploit to further increase sales. (New York Times, 10/26/99, Pg C4)

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Diebold Inc, which manufacturers ATMs, will buy the Brazilian ATM manufacturer Procomp Amazonia Industria Electronica SA, for $225 million in cash. (New York Times, 10/26/99, Pg C4)

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Emmiss Communications, which runs radio and TV stations, will sell $150 million of its shares to Liberty Media Group. Liberty Media is a part of AT&T's Broadband and Internet Services unit. (New York Times, 10/26/99, Pg C4)

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Micron Devices Inc will provide memory components to Compaq Computer Corp in a five-year deals that covers nearly half of Compaq's memory purchases. Micron is the largest US supplier of memory chips, and Compaq is the world's largest personal computer manufacturer. The deal comes during a shortage of memory chips, and will assure Compaq's supply. (new York Times, 10/26/99, Pg C4)

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Newgen results, which sells database systems for automobile dealers, will buy Computer Care, a unit of Automatic Data Processing Inc, for a price between $11 million and $20 million. (New York Times, 10/26/99, Pg C4)

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NEC lost $465 million during the first half of 1999, due to slow sales of its telecommunications equipment and low prices for its memory chips. (New York Times, 10/26/99, Pg C6)

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GTE Corp is suing AT&T and Comcast Corp about requirements that the two companies made for their customers to use the Internet Services Provider (ISP) Excite@Home. As a local phone company, GTE cannot require its Internet customers to use a specific ISP, while the two companies maintain that the separation does not apply to cable services. (New York Times, 10/26/99, Pg C10)

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Dreamworks SKG and Imagine will cooperate in a project with Vulcan Ventures to create a web site called pop.com to feature 30-second to 6-minute digital interactive video shorts called "pops". Pops will include chat sites and instant messaging. Dreamworks is owned by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen and Imagine is owned by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer. Vulcan is owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. (New York Times, 10/26/99, Pg C10)

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The American Management Association released a survey of its members. Nearly half elminated jobs from June 1998 to June 1999. For every three jobs cut, five were created. Many times the same company was cutting and hiring at the same time. This creates turmoil cha churning in the job market. Earlier, layoffs occurred because the market for a companies product had declined. Now, the motivations are cutting costs and reengineering. Work that fails to create a competitive advantage for a company is in jeopardy. Job cutting focusses on management. The most common area for job creation is information technology. Training has a generally positive impact on profits and hiring. Productivity, growth, quality and market share all tend to increase as training levels go up. (National Public Radio, carried by 101.9 FM in metro Detroit, on WSU's radio station WDET, 10/26/99)

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After President Suharto was forced to relinquish power in Indonesia in May of 1998, B.J. Habibe became Prime Minister, and recently Abdurrahman Wahid was elected President by the legislature, in the first democratic transfer of power in that country since Suharto assumed office, and after inconclusive results in the general election. On 10/24, Mr Wahid gave his first address, to foreign investors and academics. He was quoted as saying that, "It is nonsense to talk about democritization, peace, demilitarization and other big issues if people cannot afford even their basic necessities", and "We have to live in a free, open international trade system where companies are motivated by profits." He asserted that the country's history of corruption and crony capitalism would come to an end. Some of his ideas included increasing the independence of the judiciary and making regional governments more autonomous, at least partially to attract foreign investment. (New York Times, 10/25/99, Pg A14)

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While IBM started the "PC revolution", it has fallen behind both Compaq and Dell in PC sales, and last week, claiming that "the PC era is over" because commputing power was moving onto the Internet, it announced it would stop retail sales of its PCs and sell directly over the Internet. The business plan is that, even though profits on PCs are low, due to the intense competition, this way there is an increased opportunity to sell higher-profit add-ons and services such as monitors an Internet connections. (New York Times, 10/25/99, Pg C1)

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The recent change in the US's basic financial services regulations, which will allow institutions to combine banking, insurance and stock sales within a single company, allows financial institutions to collect a greater range of information on consumers, and has raised concerns about consumer privacy. The bill requires financial institutions to create privacy policies and inform customers about them annually. Charlotte Birch a spokeswoman for the American Bankers Association, an industry group, said that the companies' motivation behind the new legislation was to establish a total relationship with the customers, and that this would require respect for privacy concerns. A critic of the legislation, Richard Shelby, a Republican Senator, said that the protections in the bill "are a sham", and that he would refuse to sign the House-Senate conference bill that would be the final legislation. One provision that consumer's groups failed to get was a provision that use of information would have to be authorized by the consumer for every transaction, which the industry said would be wildly impractical. However, a bank might also note from health insurance records, that an applicant for a mortgage had a chronic health condition, and refuse the mortgage on that basis. Under this legislation, there would be no legal obligation to inform the applicant of the basis for the rejection, or to let the applicant check the accuracy of the information. (New York Times, 10/25/99, Pg C11) (If information is shared between businesses through credit bureaus, consumers do have the right to see that information and challenge its accuracy. So, if turned down for a mortgage at one institution, the consumer could go to another institution.)

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Critics of the "Internet rat race" claim that fortunes are now earned on the basis of the next business plan, not making businesses that actually work. An example is Blue Mountain Arts, the online greeting card web site, which is valued at $1 billion, has millions of users, but earns virtually no money at all. Some critics claim that such companies constitute a vast Ponzi or pyramid scheme which will inevitably collapse, and that the speed with which money can be moved via the Internet has removed the constraint that companies must actually be able to earn revenues. (New York Times, 10/25/99, Pg C4) (A Ponzi or pyramid scheme is a fraud in which the funds invested by new investors are used to pay off previous investors without actually doing anything to create value, such as selling a product or service. These pyramids inevitably fail when growth falls off.)

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Global PC sales grew by 23.2% last year, with strong growth in all regions, driven at least partially by lower costs. Compaq remained the leading manufacturer, although its market share fell. The report, from the market research company Dataquest, mentioned the new Gateway-America OnLine agreement as the indicator of a new type of business model.

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eCommerce relies on communications equipment and software, but these products are usually not sold by means of eCommerce. An exception is the new web site Telezoo.com, where a communications engineer can input requirements, be shown all products that meet the specifications, and be put in tough with the manufacturers. The site intends to charge vendors for listing their products, and to charge a commission on each sale. (New York Times, 10/25/99, Pg C4)

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Online consumer advice is a growing business, and there are many formats for providing advice. One site, Epinions, pays product reviewers on the basis of how many times their opinion is read, and provides web pages for reviewers so they can establish their credibility. Epinions earns revenues from companies who want links in the areas in which their products are reviewed, and it also charges for advertising. Another model is Exp.com, which offers locations where independent experts can auction off their advice, for example $5 for advice on growing flowers. Exp.com takes a commission on these payments. Other sites, such as Productopia.com and Deja.com, simply offer free locations for consumers to post and read reviews. Productopia also pays professional reviewers. Manufacturers are also putting up their own product review web sites, but the objectivity of reviews posted there can be an issue. (New York Times, 10/25/99, Pg C16)

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MTV, owned by Viacom Inc, will start a calbe-web play-along music game starting November 29. "Web Riot" will be a cable-based game show with on-air contestants answering questions about popular music. Viewers with web access will also be able to answer the questions, and at the end of the show, the top ten at-home winners will be named and they will win prizes. Viewers will need to be at least 13 to play. 44% of American homes have Internet access, 80% have cable access, and 23% have the computer and a TV set in the same room. MTV says that 51% of its viewers in its target 14 to 24 age group have Internet access.

In another cable-web connection, the Disner Company has web sites where National Football League (NFL) viewers on its ESPN or ABC channels can log on to ESPN.com, ABC.com or NFL.com web sites, answer questions about how the game will develop, and compare their answers to the rest of the audience and the actual game. An example question is who will be the ball handler for th enext play. (New York Times, 10/25/99, Pg C21)

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In the aftermath of the recent school shootings, and a statement by a student at Columbine High School in the Denver area that he would "finish the job", a high level of interest is developing in a computer program being developed to help high school administrators evaluate the level of risk posed by students who show a tendency towards violence. Critics saw a potential abuse of civil liberties, but supporters said that it would put together real-life experience and enable those responsible for public safety to draw on the advice of a group of advisors. (New York Times, 10/24/99, Pg 1)

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Native peoples and tribes in many countries are making use of a communications network funded by Indian gaming in the US. Examples are a woman who charges that her husband was killed by authorities in Australia, and a group of Cree Indians from Canada who went to Nepal to show a mountain village how to oppose a hydroelectric project. (New York Times, 10/24/99, Pg 5)

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By learning to use technology, a growing number of home musicians is recording their own personal music, and cheaply enough, that they can support themselves by selling a handful of albums, without benefit of producers, a studio, a band and a recording contract. For these musicians, such as F.M. Cornog. Kathleen Hanna and Tim Foljahn, being able to make quality recordings under their own control, with or without the day job, is reward enough. (New York Times, 10/24/99, Arts & Liesure, Pg 35)

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Online stock purchasers have been surveyed to find out what is important to them, and which online stock brokers provide it. Concerns, starting at the most important, were security of personal and portfolio information, uninterrupted access, credibility, value and speedy service. (New York Times, 10/24/99, Business Pg 8)

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The Encyclopedia Britannica has gone from a $2,000 printed reference work whose largest cost was its door-to-door sales force, to a subscription web site, and on Tuesday 10/19 to a free web site. The site was overwhelmed by more than 10 million users, and is adding new computers as quickly as possible. Britannica.com hopes to be able to charge enough for advertising and links to products that the content can be kept up to date. (New York Times, 10/24/99, News of the Week in Review, Pg 3)

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Ivan Wong is 17 and runs a mountain-biking web site www.msdwonline.com, or Mud Sweat's Downhill World, named after the shop that sold him his bike, Mud Sweat and Gears. His father is a cybersquatter, who buys Internet domain names that campanies might want to pay for. Morgan Stanley Dean Witter and Company is a major stock broker which wants to open its online stock trading web site under the domain name -- guess what -- with the name Ivan Wong is using. Is Ivan really a cybersquatter front for his dad? That's what the stockbroker is claiming. (New York Times, 10/22/99, Pg A1)

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TheUS Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has assured Congress that Y2K problems in Russian computers will not trigger an unintended nuclear attack, but that there could be accidents in Russian nuclear power reactors. However, a group of scientists is taking out ads urging citizens to ask the president to negotiate a nuclear weapons stand-down and deply emergency generating equipment at nuclear reactors to make sure that the facilities could still be brought under control in the event of unexpected Y2K problems. (New York Times, 10/22/99 Pp A5 and A21)

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Dr Jerri L Nielsen, the doctor at the North Pole who developed breast cancer and was recently airlifted out, received treatment advice while at the North Pole via video conferencing and email from a cancer specialist in the Indiana University Cancer Center, Dr Kathy Miller. Dr Nielsen is now being treated "IRL" (In Real Life) at the Indiana Center. (New York Times, 10/22/99, Pg A23)

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Consulting companies such as McKinsey and Company and Mercer Management Consulting, are finding that employees and college recruits are being lured away by ecommerce offers. To compete for these employees, such firms are offering two-month vacations, leaves of absence to start up a new venture, and access to Internet investment funds. (New York Times, 10/22/99, Pg C1)

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The Clinton Administration, the banking industry, independent regulatory agencies and Congress have agreed to an overhaul of the depression-era Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, which forbade banking, stock brokering and insuring from being conducted within the same company. The theory in 1933 was that this would prevent one of the industries, if it failed, from causing the other to fail. Financial industries had long criticized the restrictions, saying that it made them incompetitive in international finances, since other countries have no such restrictions. More and larger financial mergers are anticipated, along with financial superstores which offer complete one-stop services. One issue was sharing of consumer information, which is allowed with adequate notices and protection. Another issue was "redlining", or not making loans in depressed areas. Companies with a history of redlining will not be allowed to merge, although banks making loans in depressed areas will be more accountable. (New York Times, 10/23/99, Pg A1)

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The World Bank suspects that the Russian Inkombank paid a World Bank member, Leonid Grigoriev, for insider information on the World Bank's plans to aid the Russian economy. (New York Times, 10/23/99/ Pg A4)

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A web site will officially open this coming Monday 10/25 to offer the ova of modelsat auction, for prices expected to be up to $150,000. Critics were outraged, citing ethical concerns and the women's rights. The founder, Ron Harris (the site is called www.ronsangels.com), defended the rights of the models to profit from their higher value to society. (New York Times, 10/23/99, Pg A10)

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The Internet and electronic communications fueled an unsubstantiated rumor made in a book shceudled to published by St Martin's Press, but then withdrawn, that Presidential candidate George W. Bush had been arrested for cocaine use as a teenager. Many new agencies became skeptical when it was revealed that the book's author, J.H. Hatfield, had been convicted in 1988 of soliciting a murder for hire, and was on parole. (New York Times, 10/23/99, Pg A11)

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Motorized and computerized Lego blocks are becoming adult toys. Hackers have written extensions for "the brick", which is the computer at the core of the toys. The computer can access sensors that tell about the neighborhood around the toy, and oeprate the motors that move the toy. As with all Lego sets, many different toys can be contructed. These toys are associated with legendary computer researcher Seymour Papert and his book, Mindstorms, about the use of child-controlled drawing programs. (New York Times, 10/23/99, Pg A17)

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Amazon.com has sued Barnesandnoble.com for stealing its patented "one-click purchasing" concept. eCommerce companies are increasingly patenting their new concepts, seeking both competitive advantage and licensing royalties. (New York Times, 10/23/99, Pg B1)

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The widely anticipated first stock sales (Initial Public Offering or IPO) of Sycamore Networks Inc lived up to expectations. The stock opened at $38 a share, shot up immediately to over $270, and even after losing $85, closed at just under $185, still a profit of just under 400% in one day. Sycamore makes equipment for speeding up optical fiber networks, such as fully optical switches, that are the latest development in fine-tuning these networks for maximum throughput. For comparison, Sycamore ended up with a market capitalization (shares time price per share) of $14.4 billion, while the larger and older 3Com company, manufacturer of a wide variety of networking equipment, is valued at $9.5 billion. (New York Times, 10/23/99, Pg B1)

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Mannesman A.G. is a German engineering and telecommunications company. Vodaphone Airtouch PLC is a similar English company and the world's largest. (Vodaphone bought Airtouch recently). The two companies have joint ventures in Germany, Italy and France. On Thursday 10/21, Mannesman made an offer for Orange PLS, the third-largest English communications company, invading Vodaphone's turf. Vodaphone has indicated it is not pleased with this, and is considering some form of retaliation, possibly a hostile takeover of Mannesman. (New York Times, 10/23/99, Pg B2)

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Agilent, the measurement technology unit of Hewlett-Packard, will be spun off soon, and expects to raise $1.1 billion in its Initial Public Offering (IPO).

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Microsoft will pay almost $3 billion in stock for the English cable company Telewest Communications, if regulators approve the deal. (New York Times, 10/23/99, Pg B3)

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Omnipoint Corporation will buy East/West Communications Inc for $121 million in stock and cash. Both companies provide wireless services, but in different regions. (New York Times, 10/23/99, Pg B3)

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Nokia, the Finnish cellular phone company (world's largest) will buy the US company Telekol for $56.5 million. Telekol has 60 employees and provides voice-enabled coporate communications solutions. (New York Times, 10/23/99, Pg B3)

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Chip makers located in Taiwan say that they are back to their normal production levels and will even meet September orders, after the earthquake during September. Taiwan is the third-largest supplier and accounts for only about 12% of the world's supply. The spike in prices following the earthquake has also started to fall back to normal levels Workers on Taiwan gave up time off for an annual festival and worked around the clock to work around problems. (The quake caused $2 billion in damages.) (New York Times, 10/22/99, Pg C4)

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Iron Mountain Inc will buy Pierce Leahy Corp for $630 million in stock. Both companies provide record storage and information management services. (New York Times, 10/22/99, Pg C4)

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Liberty Media Group, which is owned by AT&T and provides programming for cable TV, will buy Ascent Entertainment Group, which provides similar services for Ascent Corp for $513.6 million in stock. (New York Times, 10/22/99, Pg C4)

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Wind River Systems Inc will buy Integrated Systems for $437 million in stock. Wind River produces software for embedded systems such as microwave ovens and cellular phones, while Integrated's products make embedded software run faster. (New York Times, 10/22/99, Pg C4)

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Critical Path will buy Isocor for about $287 million in stock. Both companies provide email services for corporations, Internet Service Providers, web hosting companies and web portals. (New York Times, 10/22/99, Pg C4)

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Zhone Technologies Inc will buy Premisys Corporation for $248 million in cash. Zhone, founded in September by three former executives of Ascend Communications, makes communications equipment, as does Premisys. (New York Times, 10/22/99, Pg C4)

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Netmanage Inc will buy its competitor Wall Data Inc for $94 million in cash. Both companies make networking software to connect personal computers and workstations to servers and mainframes. (New York Times, 10/22/99, Pg C4)

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Nokia, the Finnish manfuacturer of cellular phones and other wireless devices, reported that its third-quarter profit rose 38% as new models outsold older ones. Nokia, the world's largest manufacturer of such devices, competes with Ericsson and Motorola. (New York Times, 10/22/99, Pg C4)

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Viacom, which owns several cable and publishing companies, will sell Blockbuster early in 2000. Sumner Redstone, chair and CEO of Viacom, said that Blockbuster is a health business with growing profits, although analysts expect that its videotape rental business will be replaced by video-on-demand over the Internet, as connection speeds increase and more homes go online. Also, Viacom has bought CBS, and Melvin A. Karmazin, CEO of CBS, who will become President and Chief Operating Officer of the merged company, is reported to oppose selling Blockbuster. (New York Times, 10/22/99, Pg C6)

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The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will increase subsidies to local rural telephone companies to make rural telephone service affordable. This increase is likely to mark the beginning of a transitional period, after which subsidies will decrease. Consumers will find the "universal service connectivity charge" on their bills, which funds the subsidies. Some of the access charges that local companies charge long-distance carriers also pay for the subsidy.

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The Internet first began about thirty years ago, with the first transmission on10/29/69. Unlike other inventions, the Internet was developed by many people. By 2000 there will be 200 million people online, 80 million in the US. 93% of web sites collect personal information. There is a "digital divide" in the US: 38% of homes are online, but 48% don't have a computer. 25% of Europeans will be online by next year. Asia, Africa, the Middle East and South American taken together have 21% of the world's Internet users. Among the major industrialized nations, Japan is lagging in Internet use. Traditions of personal service, a language barrier, and high telephone costs are some of the reasons. Worldwide, only 2.5% of people are online; 50% have never even made a telephone call. In the US in 1998 there was $8 billion in retail online commerce, but $43 billion in business-to-business. One of the newest developments is online business-to-business brokers, which bring buyers and sellers together for output and raw materials within specific sectors, such as steel, chemicals and even agriculture (farmers selling online can wait for a better price, unlike those selling at traditional one-day local auctions). Internet retailing is very competitive, but unlike first predictions, the lowest price is not the only thing; service is important. Online grocers learn what you like. Clothing stores have virtual modelling, with a virtual model with your measurements. Also, completing orders and timely delivery is important. Online is even affecting brick-and-mortar retail, as people research products and prices online, and then demand the same choices in stores. The military is preparing for online battles. Disrupting information networks will be a vital weapon in the future. Electrical supply networks, financial networks, and others, will be used. The US at present is vulnerable, but has been lucky. (ABC Nightly News special Internet segment, 10/22/99)

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IBM warned that its profits would be lower than forecast, and would remain low, because companies that have that have prepared for Y2K are now reluctant to upgrade computers any further, and are delaying purchases. IBM's stock price fell. (New York Times, 10/21/99, Pg C1)

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America OnLine (AOL) announced higher earning than expected, and also announced an investment in Gateway, the computer manufacturer. As part of the deal, Gateway will market its products more intensively on AOL and move its own ISP customers to AOL. The two companies said that this deal was the start of an inevitable convergence between ISPs and computer manufacturers, as the motivation for computer purchases increasingly changes from acquiring stand-alone producivity software

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CBT Systems (CBT means Computer Based Training) announced a name change to SmartForce, the "e-Learning Company". (New York Times (ad), 10/21/99, Pg C5)

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In the current US election cycle, candidate's web sites are the norm. They are used to "get the message out" directly to voters, display attractive pictures of the candidate and collect online donations. Many sites also have forms for supporters to use in sending email to their friends. Compared to other communications channels, the Internet is a bargain. Four years ago there were 7.5 million Internet users; today, 67 million. The opinion is that Internet is not (yet) decisive, but it is necessary. (New York Times, 10/19/99, Pg A1)

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Executone Information Systems is selling its Internet telephone unit to Inter-Tel Inc. for $44.3 million, in order to focus on its online lottery business. It plans to sell ticket on line for state lotteries. (New York Times, 10/19/99, Pg C4)

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Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, through his investment firm Vulcan Ventures Inc, is increasing his investment in Fatbrain.com, which sells engineering and technical books on line. For $20 million, Vulcan's investment is rising from 4% to 12% (New York Times, 10/19/99, Pg C4)

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Dell Computer Corporation warned that rising prices for the fast DRAM (Dynamic RAM) memory chips would decrease its profits, and its stock price fell in after-hours trading. The DRAM price increase is due to production disruptions in the wake of the Taiwan earthquake. (New York Times, 10/19/99, Pg C6)

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Directors of Rite-Aid Corporation, the drugstore company, fired CEO Martin L. Grass and announced lower earning for the previous three quarters, and announcing that its bankers had agreed to extend the due date for $2.7 billion in loans. (The Florida Attorney General has charged Rite Aid with illegally overcharging uninsured customers.) Analysts had distrusted earnings projections and reports, and Rite-Aid's stock fell 80% this year. The Securities and Exchange Commission (S.E.C.) had raised questions about Rite-Aid's reports, but had not indicated that legal action was expected. A Rite-Aid spokeswoman declined to say whether the loan extensions were contingent upon the departure of Mr. Grass. (New York times, 10/19/99, Pg C6) (Tranparency may not be a smooth process!)

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Arthur Levitt, chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (S.E.C.) called upon companies to make their regular conference calls with stock analysts open to all investors, and criticized stock analysts for not being independent enough, accepting companies' statements without critical review. Further, Mr. Levitt criticzed the practice of holding closed-door meetings before a company offers stock for the first time (Initial Public Offering or IPO). All potential investors should have access to the same information. Recently, Microsoft, WalMart and Exxon have failed even to invite all shareholders to their regular conference calls. In contrast, Amazon.com and Iomega broadcast their calls over the Internet. (New York Times, 10/19/99, Pg C16)

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Many web sites offer college papers that students can download and turn in as their own. Now there are web sites where faculty can check papers against all web sites, to see if plagiarism occurred. One such site is plagiarism.com. (ABC Nightly News, 10/21/99)

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The web site that posted information on charities from their tax forms starting on Monday 10/18 (see story below) had to take the information off their web site. The site got its information from the Internal Revenue Service, which was supposed to strip out the names and addresses of individual donors, which is private information. In about one percent of the cases, the names and addresses were not removed. The IRS will try again and the information will be reposted in the future. (New York Times, 10/21/99, Pg C11)

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The stock broker Morgan Stanley Dean Witter will expand its present online stock brokering to include all of its clients. Those presently using the firm's Discover online brokerage will see their per-trade fees rise from the present $14.95 to $29.95, but traditional clients will find the new rate is only a fraction of what they are used to paying. Rock-bottom rates for cut-rate online brokers range from $5 per trade to $8 per trade. Morgan Stanley is trying to bring its new online service into being before its rival, Merrill Lynch and Company, can establish its own online brokerage. (New York Times, 10/18/99, Pg C1)

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Tax returns for charities (IRS Form 990 filed under Section 501(c)(3) of the tax code) will be posted online. The first 140,000 (of 220,000 expected) are available now at www.guidestar.org. The posting is financed by major non-profits themselves, such as the Ford, Kellogg and Mellon Foundations, and another non-profit, Philanthropic Research Inc) is responsible for the web site. The online information shows, for example, that the Cancer Research Institute spends 91% of its donations on research, while the Walker Cancer Research Institute spends 83% of its donations on fund raising. Experts do not expect that average citizens will make heavy direct use of this information, but that watchdog groups will summarize the results for use by large and small donors. The usefulness of the information, for comparing charities and foundations, will be enhanced because it is standardized by the tax form into standard categories, and will be stored using database technology. (New York Times, 10/18/99, Pg C1)

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Organizations as diverse as sports teams, churches and rock stars are becoming virtual Internet Service Providers (ISPs) by contracting with commercial ISPs. Consumers are responding, saying that they often get special offers and information that is not available elsewhere, and that they don't mind these pop-up ads as much, because at least they are about an organization that the customer belongs to or is interested in. These "affinity ISPs" have user groups as small as 5,000 or less. (New York Times, 10/18/99, Pg C5)

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Supporters of the Linux operating system worry that commercialization may fragment the system into different and incompatible versions, similar to what has happened with the Unix operating system. (New York Times, 10/18/99, Pg C5)

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A patent has been awarded to three inventors from the New York region, for a system that can turn magazines and catalogs into online terminals. Users will press an icon representing a link, that will broadcast to a remote video server that will in turn signal a web server to send information to, for example, the user's TV set. (New York Times, 10/18/99, Pg C6)

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In the latest move to offer Internet services over telephone lines, in competition with the cable modem, SBC Communications announced that it will spend $6 billion over the next three years to offer high speed Internet communications using DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) and ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode).  (New York Times, 10/18/99, Pg C10)

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eCommerce companies are trying to predict when their peak traffic comes, so that they can be ready, and not join companies like Ebay, Toysrus.com and E*Trade in losing customers when traffic peaks. Smaller purchases such as books are often made during the day, while larger purchases may be researched during the day, discussed during the evening, and the final purchase made during the evening. Another developing trend is that online retailers are starting to offer discounts to employees of companies with websites, in return for exclusive access to employees over the company web site. (New York Times, 10/18/99, Pg C14)

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The American Association of Advertising Companies will put online information about its members onto its web site. This easily available information, in database form, will allow companies looking for an advertising company, to compare companies before contacting them. Currently, consultants typically perform this type of comparison service, and the web approach is expected to complement, not replace, these consulting services. (New York Times, 10/18/99, Pg C16)

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Dr Henry Yuen and his company, Gemstar International Group, have bought the larger TV Guide Inc for $9.2 billion in stock, in an effort to solidify their position as the leading on-screen program guide. In the era of 500-channel access, such online guides are expected to become more important. Online guides are also expected to become leading portals for Internet services and eCommerce. Unlike many Internet companies, Gemstar has high profits, $73.9 million from $166 million in revenues during its most recent annual reporting period. (New York Times, 10/18/99, Pg C18)

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ITC Learning Corp, which develops multimedia training systems for industry, government and schools, said that it would lay off half of its 140 employees as it struggled with losses. (New York Times, 10/16/99, Pg B3)

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The top securities regulator in Russia, Dmitri V. Vasilev, chair of its Federal Securities Administration, equivalent to Arthur Levitt, chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, resigned, saying that Russia is not equipped to protect the interests of shareholders and foreign investors. (New York Times, 10/16/99, Pg C1)

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Rupert Murdoch, prominent in the English communications market, said that British Sky Broadcasting PLC (B Sky B) was in talks with the German Kirch Group media company and might buy a part of Deutsche Telekom's cable business. Murdoch, who has been trying and failing at extending his holdings to Europe from England, criticized the French for insisting on strict regulation of communications, and said that as a result, ,he would not invest in French companies.

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Intel Corporation, the leading manufacturer of microprocessors, will buy DSP Communications Inc for $1.6 billion, which specializes in Internet technology for cellular phones. DSP is based in California and traded on the new York Stock Excahnge, although its owner and 250 or its 300 employees live and work in Israel. (New York Times, 10/15/99, Pg C4)

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The online stock broker Charles Schwab announced that its profits rose even though sales declined, due to nervous financial markets. (New York Times, 10/15/99, Pg C8)

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Sun Microsystems Inc reported that its profits for the quarter ending September 15 were $271.1 million, more than double the $113.9 million from a year earlier, and revenues rose 25% to $3.12 billion. Sun's competitor, Hewlett-Packard, announced slower growth because of poor sales of its Unix servers (Unix is an industrial-strength computer operating system). un also benefitted from delays in the introduction of Windows 2000, Microsoft's next entry into the industrial-strength operating system market. Sun is also benefitting from buying an office productivity suite similar to MS Office, from as German company. Scott McNeely, Sun's chairman and CEO, said that more than 1 million people had downloaded free copies of its Star office suite. With the new availability of a productivity suite and the delayed introduction of Windows 2000, customers are asking why they need Microsoft, according to McNeely. (New York Times, 10/15/99, Pg C19)

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IPV6 (IP Version 6) is the update of IP, the Internet Protocol. IP uses four numeric fields separated by dots; IPV6 will use 16. IP is running out of addresses; IPV6 will solve this problem, at least for a very long time. However, IPV6, according to present plans, will include the numerical address on the network card, permanently installed on the card by the manufacturer. The manufacturer may have the user's name and address in the sales database. So, the IP address could possibly be tied back to the user's name and address. Some critics view this as an invasion of privacy. True, the Internet Service Provider can also identify the user from the IP address and the ISP's user database. However, if you have a dialup connection, your IP address probably changes each time that you log on to the Internet connection, giving you at least some privacy. Will using the network board address provide an acceptable level of privacy? Stay tuned. (Detroit Legal News, Vol CIV No. 204, Pg 1. Thanks to Frances Cureton)

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Under the pressure of intense competition, online services worth hundreds of dollars are often being offered for free, as entrepreneurs try to generate market share, and because hardware, software and communications are decreasing. Word processing programs, voice mail and eCommerce web sites can all be had at no cost. Free Internet access, free online file storage, free computers and free electronic postage stamps are also available. In some cases, consumers must agree to listen to or view advertising, and in others, to make personal information available to the service provider, but in other cases, services come with few obligations. Critics claim that these giveaways cannot continue, but Free-PC has only to sell $30 per month in advertising to pay for the giveaway of a computer (but after giving away 30,000 computers, the company has apused to see how things work out). NetZero, offering free Internet service, needs $10 per month in advertising to cover its costs, although America OnLine generates only $5 per month. Nevertheless, investors value NetZero at $3 billion for its 900,000 accounts, while Earthlink, with 1.5 million paying accounts is only valued at $1.3 billion. Many firms that used to charge for online services have been forced to give them away as free competitors have emerged. (New York Times, 10/14/99, Pg A1)

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General Motors issued a joint statement with the National Automobile Dealers Association to say that it would go slow on its plan to buy dealerships, and said that it would take on existing dealers as partners in the dealerships it does buy. (New York Times, 10/14/99, Pg C21)

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The Nobel prize for Economics was awarded to Robert A. Mundell, born in Canada but currently at Columbia University. While Mundell had a large influence on Reagonomics and supply-side economics, the award was for his work on how the international flow of capital would decrease a country's ability to control and manage its economy through the traditional mechansisms of interest rates, and tax and budget policies. The traditional tools were monetary policy and fiscal policy, meaning, respectively, (a) controlling the money supply, which is the amount of money available for borrowing or investment at any time, which can be influenced by a government though interest rates under its control, and (b) the net effect of total expenditures and revenues and the net deficit or suuplus, and its effect on the economy. Mundell's conclusion, based on his observations of the Canadian economy, was that, if exchange rates between a country's currency and other currencies are fixed, monetary policy is effective and fiscal policy has little effect, which if the exchange rate is allowed to float according to the market, the opposite is true. (New York Times, 10/14/99, Pg C1)

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The microprocessor manufacturer Intel and the toy company Mattel have cooperated to produce the QX3, a $99.95 microscope with a TV camera that attaches to the user's computer to produce stills and movies of microscopic objects. Magnifications of 10X, 60X and 200X are available, although there is no claim that the microscope has the magnification or resolution of classroom or professional instruments. (New York Times, 10/14/99, Pg D1)

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Booth 3633 at the Internet World computer trade show had three human "borgs" (cyborgs or cybernetic organisms - Dr. Thad Starner from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and graduate students Josh Weaver and Rich Duval from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology) wearing small computer displays attached to eyeglasses, two-pound computers with wireless modems in a sidepack, and a "Twiddler" (handheld keypad). With this equipment, the borgs could surf the net and send and receive email. Later in the day, there was a borg fashion show complete with models. (New York Times, 10/14/99, Pg D1)

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A growing number of consultants will manage Internet advocacy campaigns for companies. Increasingly, this includes have a "plant" participate in computer conferences and chat rooms focussed on targeting the company. (New York Times, 10/14/99, Pg D1)

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The laptop market is not able to meet demand, following the disruption of production due to the Taiwan earthquake. (New York Times, 10/14/99, Pg D3)

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Netpliance is selling the I-Opener, an appliance to send and receive/display the Internet. Prices start at $199 with a two-year contract for Internet service at $19.95 per month. (New York Times, 10/14/99, Pg D3)

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Indian nations have formed a network to replace traditional inter-tribe visitations, which often involved arduous journeys. Trade between tribes is a prime motivation. (New York Times, 10/14/99, Pg D6)

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The US Department of Labor says that 7.5 million workers (1 in 16) are self-employed independent contractors. They are being served by a growing number of web sites that help them find work and take care of billing, benefits and taxes. So far, the number of work opportunities does not match the number of would-be workers, and many contractors are presently finding their own work, but on the other hand, this is an additional source. (New York Times, 10/14/99, Pg D6)

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Currently, many PTAs (Parent-Teacher Associations) use "scrip" as a fund raising mechanism. Local stores sell paper money to volunteers at a discount, who then sell it to members. When the scrip is redeemed at the store for goods, the PTA gets a small fraction of the sale. Now, escripinc.com will do the same type of transaction online. Contributors will register their credit cards, and the PTA will get a small percentage of each sale made with registered online merchants such as Amazon.com. Escrip says that PTAs will be able to earn much more money this way than they could with paper scrip. (New York Times, 10/14/99, Pg D8)

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"Cosmopolitan Fashion Makeover", software from Broderbund, works with Macy's web site, acts as a virtual model for women. Body measurements are input, and the user can "paste" on a digital head photo. The user can view the virtual model from all angles. (New York Times, 10/14/99, Pg D10)

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Apple Computer posted profits for the fourth quarter of its fiscal year which exceeded analyst's expectations. Its stock fell during the day precedding the announcement, but rose during after-hours trading following the announcement. Apple was able to sell only 6,000 of its new iBook laptops, although demand was much higher, because of a shortage of the new high-speed G4 PowerPC microprocessor from Motorola, due to disruptions following the Taiwan earthquake. Apple predicted continuing profit increases through December, as IBM begins to produce the G4 chip. Apple reduced speeds of chips that it would include, from 500 MHz to 450 MHz, without reducing prices. (Apple, IBM and Motorola jointly developed the basic PowerPC). (New York Times, 10/14/99, Pg C2) (While speeds for the PowerPC can be slightly lower than Pentium speeds, for equivalent performance, Pentium speeds currently top out at 600 MHz.)

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Palm Computing, a unit of 3Com Corporation, announced a partnership with Symbian, a joint venture of Nokia, Motorola, Ericsson, Psion and Matsushita. The partnership unites the major manufacturers of handheld and wireless devices and creates an effective standard for wireless Internet access. It will also bring together the Palm operating system and Symbian's Epoc operating system, with Nokia saying it would introduce a cellular phone with wireless Internet access combining the two operating systems. Microsoft's CE operating system for handheld devices seemed to be a loser in this announcement, but a Microsoft spokeman said that CE becomes more interesting as products get more complex.

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Motorola Inc announced that it had written off the remaining part of its $2.3 billion investment in the Iridium satellite communications company. This makes it even bigger than the $1.4 billion loss when Quaker Oats bought Snapple. Motorola said that it still believes that Iridium will become viable. Iridium planned to develop a $6 billion network of 66 low-orbit satellites to deliver wireless communications worldwide, but it failed to attract enough users in its first year to become viable. (New York Times, 10/14/99, Pg C6)

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The Hughes Electronics Corporation, owned by General Motors, announced losses of $29.6 million for the quarter ending September 30, in contrast to profits of $42.9 million for the same quarter a year earlier. Hughes claimed that its underlying business was sound, as it added a record 423,000 subscribers to its DirecTV and 204,000 subscribers to its Primestar service switched to DirecTV. (New York Times, 10/14/99, Pg C7)

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Time Warner Inc announced profits of $369 million. Its cable, cable network and publishing division gained, while its music and film divisions lost. (New York Times, 10/14/99, Pg C8)

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Technology publications are finding that competition is getting more intense, and are chaing their focus away from hardware and more towards the effects of technology on business. Examples of PC Computing and Red Herring, Upside, and a new Time publication on technology. (New York Times, 1014/99, Pg C8)

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The Ameritrade online stock broker company, and the Sprint wireless telephone company announced the first plan for wireless online stock trading, starting in late October. Users will have to have a Sprint Internet-ready PCS phone and an Ameritrade phone, and all charges both for connect time and per trade, will apply. (New York Times, 10/14/99, Pg C8)

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Priceline.com, which operates web-based bidding for hotel rooms and other travel-related services, sued Microsoft, which started its similar Expedia service after Priceline, saying that Expedia had violated a Priceline patent. (New York Times, 10/14/99, Pg C9)

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TD Waterhouse switched its investment in electronic communications networks (E.C.N.s, which match up stock orders automatically) from Island to Redibook, after pulling out of an earlier commitment to invest in Island. Microsoft co-found Paul Allen also had his Vulcan Ventures make a similar switch earlier. Redibook made a name for itself in July when it attracted support from the online brokers Charles Schwab, Fidelity Investments, and Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette. (New York Times, 10/14/99, Pg C10)

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Starting in January, High School students in Kentucky will be able to take Latin online, for credit. This is part of an effort to privide students in smaller rural schools access to the full range of courses. Tuition (for example, $300) will be paid by local school   boards.Courses will have been developed by Kentucky Educational Television, and Class.com, a for-profit subsidiary of the University of Nebraska. Educators expreseed concern that the online classes might not have the same educational value as IRL (In Real Life) classes, because of the dynamic of the classroom. Others say that with online discussion, the amount of interaction is the same. (New York Times, 10/13/99, http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/10/cyber/education/13education.html, thanks to Sharon Finch)

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Homestore.com, which operates real estate web sites including realtor.com, agreed to buy Homebuyer's Fair, based in Scottsdale Arizona from Central Newspapers Inc, based in Phoenix Arizona., for $85 million. Homebuyer's Fair provides online help for people who are moving and for businesses that are relocating employees. (New York Times, 10/13/99, Pg C4)

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Intel Corporation posted lower earnings than expected by industry analysts, and its stock price fell as a result. Analysts attributed the lower-than-expected earnings to lower prices for computer chips, slower-than-expected introduction of new products, and supply problems resulting from the earthquake in Taiwan. (New York Times, 10/13/99, Pg C1)

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General Motors (GM) has announced plans to buy 5% to 10%l of its dealerships and operate them itself. The move is motivated by the desire of automobile manufacturers to sell vehicles over the web. Dealers have been blocking these efforts, using state laws that require all vehicles to be sold by dealers. If GM owns dealerships, the state laws would allow Internet sales by these dealerships. Now the National Automobile Dealers Association has criticized the move by GM, and hinted that it might use its powerful local political connections to fight the move. (New York Times, 10/13/99, Pg C8)

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Booking travel and lodging over the Internet gives customers a degree of information and control that can be duplicated by brick-and-mortar travel agents, but only for special customers to whom larger-than-normal time and attention can afford to be devoted. The results for traditional travel agents:" stand by for heavy rolls, mate". More households are going on line, and fears about online use of credit cards is declining. (Forrester Research says that 53% of those who answer its online polls said that they felt comfortable using their credit cards online, compared to 15% a year ago.) Industry analysts expect the early web travel sites such as Travelocity and Expedia to dominate the online market as trusted brands, even as retail giants such as Wal-Mart start their own sites. (New York Times, 10/13/99, Pg C10)

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Motorola Inc. reported that its earnings rose sharply from $40 million in third-quarter 1998 to $332 million in thrid-quarter 1999, and that rising orders implied continued increases in earnings. (Motorola's stock price, which has doubled over the last year, fell in after-hours trading after its announcement, which basically met analyst's expectations.) Motorola sold more cellular phones, two-way pagers and cable modems, and sales of its microprocessors, which are used in Apple computer and Palm Pilot handheld computers. (New York Times, 10/13/99, Pg C10)

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Advertisers are coming to terms with eCommerce, according to those at the Association of National Advertisers which met in Florida (members are not advertising companies, but companies that advertise). Robert J. Herbold, Chief Operating Office (does that mean he's the COO?) at Microsoft, said that "incumbency has never been worth less" and that eCommerce is "cleaning up the value chain", meaning that the the line of companies from the raw product to the consumer is getting thinned out. Herbold cited the example of Proflowers.com which, instead of taking order online and shipping from retailers, instead ships directly from growers. He said that eCommerce will grow to be "gargantuan" and will become much more creative. Micahel A. Biendorf, COO at the online drugstore Planetrx.com, said that brands will continue to be important, but quick movement to and on the Internet is e;qually important. H ealso said that since online advertising and online sales are directly linked, advertisers will become accountable for results much more directly. Vivienne Bechtold, interactive marketing director at Proctor and Camble Company, said that direct sales of standardized products does not make sense for a company such as hers, but that some products for specific audiences, such as Pampers Preemies and coffee can be sold more creatively online. Customized products are also better sold online, she said. James J. Garrity of First Union Corporation, a bank with a web site that drew its one-millionth customer on October 1, said that the bank is differentiating its products and offering loyal customers (who are the highest-profit customers) with special deals, to keep them loyal. And David G. Ropes, director for corporate advertising and integrated marketing at Ford Motor Company, said that Ford is spending $20 million to retrain its dealers and expects to get 85% of them online by the end of 1999, with their own web sites, linked to the corporate web site. This is in response to "disintermediaries", which are independent web sites that sell new and used cars, which will also have a "huge  impact." (New York Times, 10/13/99, Pg C12)

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Faced with a shortage of chips for its popular new G4 computer, on Wednesday 10/13 Apple Computer cancelled deliveries. When customers tried to reorder slower models, for which enough chips were available, they were told that the computers would cost up to $350 more, even though in many cases the computers were already paid for. Faced with angry customers, on Friday Apple canclled the price increases. (New York Times, 10/16/99, Pg B4)

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WSU students are being told about the new OneCard that they will use for parking, vending machines, in the library, in the bookstore, for banking, and more uses are promised. It will carry a cash balance like the present parking and copy cards. When placed in a reader, the card will link back to a database that will have all of the required information. How is this information being protected? It is being protected like other information about students, such as the academic record. Access to the database will be restricted to people whose job function requires access, such as those people who enter the information furnished by students and change the information when an address or married name changes, or for similar circumstances. Students should also keep their own OneCard secure, and not loan it out. (The South End, 10/13/99, Pg 1)

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In Maine, some people licensing model year 2000 cars have evidence of the Y2K bug; the model year was interpreted as 1900, and they received licenses for antiques. (ABC News, 10/12/99

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One communications analyst, Marc Anderson, writing on the ABC news web site (www.abcnews.com) that the earlier MCI-Worldcom merger did not work out, and that now Worldcom gets another chance with MCI/Worldcom buying Sprint. Anderson criticized MCI for an unproductive and unfocused corporate culture. Plus, Worldcom gets a wireless network with Sprint. Anderson also reported that it will offer services for virtual ISPs in England (virtual ISP means one that doesn't actually have the equipment). (www.abcnews.com, 10/12/99)

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In England, Internet service, including eCommerce, is becoming available over digital cable TV using a TV set and an external keyboard (apparently no WebTV set-top box). The service, called Open, describes itself as the most advanced interactive network in the world, will operate over the BSkyB satellite network. An executive said that the service would be very low cost and would, of course, operate over a familiar medium. (www.abcnews.com, 10/12/99)

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Yesterday the French partner in Global One, a supplier of Internet Services for multinational corporations, offered to buy out the German and American partners (the American Partner is Sprint, recently bought by MCI/Worldcom). Today, the German partner speculated about buying out the other partners. (www.abcnews.com, 10/12/99)

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Nokia, the Finnish cellular phone company, and IBM announced a joint project to place Nokia's wireless Internet software inside IBM equipment such as servers. This follows a similar agreement between Nokia and Hewlett Packard. the Nokia system is called WAP (Wireless Application Protocol). Equipment incorporating WAP is expected during the fourth quarter of 1999. WAP will compete with compact-HTML, being developed in Japan. Both systems filter out complex parts of HTML to avoid slowing down wireless networks, which currently operate at 9600 bits per second. The forthcoming GPRS (General Packet Radio Switching and third-generation protocols should relieve this bottleneck. (See note from Wired magazine below). (www.abcnews.com, 10/12/99)

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Washington, D.C. and its Virginia and Maryland suburbs, is emerging as a high-tech center. The number of of high-tech employees exceeds 470,000, exceeding the 350,000 Federal government employees. For two centuries, the Federal government has been the primary employer in this area, but this has now changed. For example, America OnLine has its headquarters in suburban Virginia. (New York Times, 10/12/99, Pg A1)

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Thirty years ago, on October 29, 1969, the first message ("login") was sent across Arpanet, the first version of the Internet, between UCLA and Stanford University, 300 miles away. In a famous story, the UCLA student, Charley Kline, crashed the system when the third letter in the transmission overflowed a buffer and crashed the system. (New York Times, 10/12/99, Pg D1)

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Manufacturers of video games, and video game parlors, are joining to try self-regulation before regulations are imposed. Plans are to place restrictions on selling and renting particular games to minors. A rating system similar to the one for movies was developed in 1994 by the Entertainment Software Rating Board. (New York Times, 10/12/99, Pg C1)

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The software companies VA Linux and Silicon Graphics Incorporated (a well-known manufacturer of high-speed computers for moviemakers and graphic artists) have joined with the computer-book publisher O'Reilly & Associates (manufacturer of the web server software used by www.cll.wayne.edu) to promote the Linux operating system, a version of the powerful but complex Unix operating system that runs on less expensive PC hardware. Linux was originally developed by the Finnish programmer Linus Torvalds, and is now supported by an informal group of approximately 500 programmers around the world. Linux and Unix are popular operating systems for Internet and web servers. (New York Times, 10/12/99, Pg C2)

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Global Crossing Limited, headquartered in Bermuda, outbid Energis P.L.C. for Racal Electronics P.L.C. of England, agreeing to pay $1.65 billion. Global Crossing is attempting to build a worldwide fiber optic network, to compete with the one owned by MCI/Worldcom, and this acquisition gives it a presence in Europe. Global Crossing recently bought the American company Frontier Corporation, which provides long-distance and local telephone service. (New York Times, 10/12/99, Pg C4)

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Brazil is often a battleground in the international communications business. MCI/Worldcom recently bought out Sprint, but the two companies are direct competitors in Brazil. (New York Times, 10/12/99, Pg C4)

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AT&T, the largest U.S. phone company, and Britain's largest, British Telecommunications P.L.C., agreed to invest an additional $3 billion in their Concert joint venture, which will build a high-speed network using Internet technology to transmit voice, video and data among 60 cities by the end of next year. (New York Times, 10/12/99, Pg C4)

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Peoplesoft, a manufacturer of eCommerce software agreed to buy Vantive Corporation for $433 million. Vantive makes software for managing customer relationships. (New York Times, 10/12/99, Pg C4)

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The wireless telephone company Phone.com agreed to buy the wireless telephone business Apion Limited, based in Belfast, Northern Ireland, for $239 million. (New York Times, 10/12/99, Pg C4)

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The Agile Software Corporation, which manufactures "product content management" software, agreed to buy Digital Market Inc, which manufactures business procurement software. (New York Times, 10/12/99, Pg C4)

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Ballantyne of Omaha, Inc., which is developing digital movie projections equipment, is looking for a buyer, perhaps to finance this development. Digital projectors are expected to replace film in the near future. (New York Times, 10/12/99, Pg C4) (See the Metafilmics item below.)

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Online travel sites are becoming more popular. Users can more easily get complete information for all airlines on flights, available seating and prices. Sometimes, however, the booked flight later turns out not to be available, and alternate flights are offered at higher prices, which could be, depending on the precise circumstances, the illegal "bait and switch" advertising tactic. Most online customers, however, are satisfied. Large online travel sites are merging (see story below from New York Times, 10/5/99, Pg C7), with the hope of being able to negotiate for lower prices from the airlines, and offering better online and airport services, such as last-minute gambling at the airport on flights home from Las Vegas. (NPR, locally WSU's WDET at 101.9, 10/11/99)

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During World War II, Navajo "Code Talkers" encrypted military communications using a code based on their native language. While code-breaking was crucial for both sides in the war, and many codes were broken, the Navajo code never was. (New York Times, 10/11/99, Pg A14)

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For the first time, a communications satellite was successfully launched from a converted oil drilling rig located on the equator. The location on the equator makes the most of the "slingshot" effect from the earth's rotation, decreasing energy requirements and hence costs. The communications satellite is owned by DirecTV. The launch site and vehicle were supplied by Sea the Launch Company, a multinational company owned by Boeing Company from the U.S., the Norwegian ship builder Kvaerner Maritime, and Russian and Ukranian rocket builders, which built the rockets for the launch. The launch occurred almost a year behind schedule, in part because the U.S. State Department suspended the project last year while it investigated charges of illegal sharing of information by Boeing, with foreign rocket builders. (New York Times, 10/11/99, Pg A15)

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NetAid.com is run by the United Nations Development Program as a clearinghouse for volunteers, donations and information about worldwide poverty and hunger. Last night three concerts in Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, at Wembley Stadium near London, England, and a closed concert in Palais de Nations (Palace of the Nations) in Geneva, Switzerland, to kick off the web site and publicize it. Cisco Systems, the manufacturer of networking equipment, contributed $10 million to the site, which uses Cisco equipment capable of ten times the output, compared to the previous records for online broadcasts (the Victoria's Secret broadcast and the opening for the 1998 Olympics). The site is able to broadcast video to 125 thousand users simultaneously, and handle one million connections per minute. Video clips during the concert pictured mutilations in Sierra Leone's civil war, and statistics listed 800 million people as routinely not have enough to eat. (New York Times, 10/11/99, Pg B1)

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The success of Apple Computer in returning to profitability, bringing out exciting new products, increasing sales, and a 10% market share (its largest in many years) is often attributed to Steven P. Jobs, its flamboyant acting chief executive and co-founder (he left Apple for many years between times). However, the successes are more due to its software chief, Avidis Tevanian Jr, who won a confrontation with Apple's software managers in January 1997 that cancelled the "next generation operating system" project, code-named Copeland, and forced most of the software managers out of the company. The approach of Tevanian and Jobs is to introduce innovations into a solid base, an approach that gives third-party application developers, who often determine the actual value of a computer, a better platform on which to work. (New York Times, 10/11/99, Pg C1)

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In June, 1988, the Federal Trade Commission (F.T.C.) gave the Internet industry a bad review, saying that few web sites gave consumers information about what information about them was collected, how it was used, or offered any choice about information use. Federal regulation seemed to be a realistic expectation. Christine Varney had been the Commission's Internet authority up until she left in August 1997. In April 1998, sixty industry representatives, from companies such as IBM, Hewlett Packard and Microsoft, and trade associations such as the Direct Marketing Association, met to form the Online Privacy Association, to self-regulate the industry. Christine Varney was the legal counsel and spokeswoman for the Association, and has been given a lot of credit for pushing the Association into accepting meaningful reforms. The F.T.C. has praised the group's efforts. A 1998 survey found that only 14% of web sites gave notice about how they handled personal information. A year later, 66 percent did. However, only 10% of web sites included all four aspects of privacy listed by the F.T. C.: (i) notifying users of the site's information collection practices, (ii) giving users a chance to opt out, (iii) giving users access to the information collected about them, and (iv) providing assurances that personal information was secure. These same principles are listed by the Online Privacy Alliance, but in a form that critics complain is too vague. Some critics also say that company's policies must be backed up by government enforcement. The looser U.S. approach also conflicts with the more regulatory approach adopted by Europe. European governments restrict how information about its citizens can be shared with companies from countries with looser regulations. American companies note that the Internet gives unprecedented power to consumers who feel that their privacy rights have been abused, and that this will also curb abuses by companies. A 1999 survey of 460 web users by the research firm Privacy and American Business found that t86% wanted to be able to trade their personal information with web sites, as long as they knew what would happen with the information, and received some benefit for the information. Tim Berners-Lee, the director of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), is working on a web-based method for specifying and sharing privacy information. Mr. Berners-Lee said that he did not feel that self-regulation would be sufficient. More powerful software is under development, that will aggregate information about individual consumers over time. Some call this profiling or red-lining, and the information could potentially be used to restrict access to jobs, education and housing. Others say that the information could equally be used to save time and money for consumers, and say that it is too early for regulation. (New York Times, 10/11/99, Pg C1)

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Over the weekend, the labor organization A.F.L.-C.I.O. announced a project with the Internet startup iBelong to offer low-cost services to its members. Computers will be available for under $700 and Internet access for $14.95 per month. The A.F.L.-C.I.O. foresaw being able to mobilize its members quickly and at low cost, for example to email members of Congress about pending legislation. The A.F.L.-C.I.O. has 13 million members in 68 unions. Each subscriber will enter the Internet through a union-specific portal with dedicated messages and chat rooms, but also with full Internet access. The online service will be called Workingfamilies.com. iBelong will not charge the unions, which instead expect to receive several million dollars per year from iBelong, but instead iBelong is putting up tens of millions of dollars to set up systems to direct messages to the specific user, based on union membership, and to create the portals. iBelong hopes to make profits based on advertising on the sites, and commissions from eCommerce sales by merchants given priority on the portals. Goods produced under non-union or sweatshop conditions would be identified on the site, and strict privacy regulations are promised. iBelong is not unionized, but has promised not to oppose a unionizing drive, if one materializes. (New York Times, 10/11/99, Pg C1)

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France Telecom, Deutsche Telekom A.G. and Sprint (recently bought by MIC Worldcom) are trying to dissolve their partnership in Global One, which provides voice and data services to multinational corporations. France Telecom is suggesting that it is willing to buy out the other two partners, if the price is right. (New York Times, 10/11/99, Pg C2)

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IBM has agreed to join an industry cooperative to create standards for security on PCs so that software and hardware can work together to provide better security for eCommerce. Other members of the cooperative include Compaq Computer, Hewlett Packard, Intel Corporation and Microsoft. Members felt that Dell Computer Corporation was also likely to join. (New York Times, 10/11/99, Pg C4)

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When the U.S. removed export restrictions on strong encryption software last week, a little-noticed exception says that only executable files are exempted, not the original source code in which the software is written. This places some alternate computer operating systems at a disadvantage, namely open-source operating systems such as Linux, which is developed by loose consortiums of independent programmers. It is ironic that government offices are increasingly relying on open-source systems to create secure computer environments, because the security provisions in this software have been subject to widespread testing and analysis. (New York Times, 10/11/99, Pg C5)

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Noah Samar, born in Ethiopia, while practicing as a Washington lawyer ten years ago, saw the devastation that AIDS was visiting upon Africa, and saw information as a vital resource in combating that and other disasters. But with widespread poverty and illiteracy, and a multitude of incompatible languages, providing information was difficult. Mr Samar's answer was a digital radio network. Yesterday, the Afristar satellite began broadcasting. His Worldspace Corporation also has digital receivers manufactured by Panasonic and JVC, and offered for sale with a variety of power sources, including solar panels, for about $250. Mr Samar rejected the Internet as a communication medium because of widespread illiteracy, and the ability of his digital radios to receive web pages in any case. Together with Solaria, a solar-energy equipment manufacturer, and the State of the World Forum formed by Mikhail S. Gorbachev, the three companies have started the Equal Access nonprofit organization, which seeks to provide free digital radios and basic information services for $10 per user. (New York Times, 10/11/99, Pg C5)

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iBEAM, a streaming media startup, will start operations this week. The company will broadcast media content to suitable web sites, using a satellite network, bypassing many of the bottlenecks on the Internet. iBEAM will charge the content providers for its services, which will be free to users. Analysts said this was a clever approach, but a stop gap, since more fundamental approaches will take some time to develop. (New York Times, 10/11/99, Pg C5)

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The Netpune Society, "the hottest eCommerce web site of the year", started selling cremation and related services online in California and Florida, with hopes of expanding rapidly nationwide. (New York Times, 10/11/99, Pg C5)

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In the latest in a series of agreements with manufacturers, Microsoft announced that its Windows Media Audio format would be supported by Creative Labs Nomad II portable music player. Unlike the popular MP3 format, Windows Media Audio supports copyright protection. an industry analyst noted that agreements with manufacturers of players do not amount to cornering the market, until record labels also sign on. (New York Times, 10/11/99, Pg C5)

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"There are literally dozens of features that are needed to make an eCommerce web site work well", according to Jack Staff with Zona Research. Proprietors need technologies to analyze customer traffic, analyze the effectiveness of advertisements, personalize the site, and offer customized incentives such as coupons and discounts, and confirm orders via email. then the real work of getting to know your customers can begin. Andrew Beebe, CEO of Bigstep.com, which offers eCommerce services, said that profitability and visibility are increasingly difficult to achieve as more companies open eCommerce sites. Mr Beebe said that Bigstep is not making money right now, but is instead concentrating on building its business. A competitor, Serge Wilson, CEO of Freemerchant.com, offers eCommerce web sites for free, and plans to make money by offering other merchants access to Freemerchant proprietors. Larry Erlich, founder of Domainregistry.com, which supplies consulting services to online merchants, says that many startups do not realize the expertise in the chosen field that is necessary for success. Too often, he says, people pick areas they are not familiar with, when they could be successful in what they know. An example is Rosa Simon, of Huntington Beach CA, who ran a store selling blinds and other window treatments. Last year she opened an eCommerce site with Yahoo, by filling in some online forms. But she was disappointed in the placement she got on web search pages. She upgraded her web site software several times, and hired a consultant to help her achieve higher placement on search pages. In March, results started improving, and she now says she earns more while working less. (New York Times, 10/11/99, Pg C12) (Getting good results with search engines requires knowing their criteria for placement. These include popular keywords using the web page headers.)

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One of Britain's premier newspapers, the Financial Times, currently runs a web site, staffed by separate writers creating write separate stories. Within months, the separation between the hard-copy and Internet operations will be erased, and the web site will seek to become in addition a major portal with diaries, email and search, making expanded use of the paper's columnists and reporters, by giving advanced notice of their thinking. The paper will add 100 staff and spend $70 million n the web expansion this year. This is typical of the more aggressive approach that England's press is taking towards the web. (New York Times, 10/11/99, Pg C14)

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An analysis by Felicity Barringer compared two recent news stories; (A) an apparent massacre of South Korean civilians by American troops during the Korean War at No Gun Ri, reconstructed by The Associated Press with 14 months of interviews and work by reporters, and (B) the Playboy interview with Jesse Ventura during which he said that religion was a crutch for the weak-minded, also initially reported by the Associated Press. While both stories initially received major attention, and both stories make Americans think about their values and their society, and the No Gun Ri story may be the subject of follow-ups, the Jessie Ventura story received much more coverage during its second week. Why? The writer's conclusion is that mixing controversy and celebrity sells, and news that receives high Nielsen ratings is what lasts. (New York Times, 10/11/99, Pg C14)

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U.S. digital TV standards are being challenged. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (F.C.C.), after consulting with broadcasters and manufacturers, set standards for digital TV in December 1996.  Under the standards, digital TV sets went on sale in August 1998, and by November 1 1999, all network affiliates in the 30 largest cities are supposed to be broadcasting digital signals on their second channel, awarded by the F.C.C., along with their standard analog TV signals over their first channel. Within the next decade, conventional analog broadcasting is supposed to stop, leaving only digital TV broadcasting in place. Approximately 50,000 consumers have already bought digital TV sets, although later purchases of digital tuners will be necessary. Sinclair Broadcasting, which owns or operates 59 TV stations nationally, last week posted on its web site the results of side-by-side tests, in which the European digital TV system significantly outperformed the American system. The European signals were able to be received, while the American signals required virtually perfect circumstances for a viewable picture. Three hundred of the 1600 U.S. TV stations filed a petition with the F.C.C. on Friday, requesting reconsideration of the U.S. Standard, and allowing broadcasters to choose either the European or the American system. The F.C.C. staff has recommended against reconsideration of the standard, but this is not binding on the Commissioners themselves. Microsoft also supported the petition, perhaps partially motivated by the fact that the European standard works better for small handheld devices such as Microsoft is trying to advance. Manufacturers, retailers, and executives with other TV stations, angrily oppose any reconsideration, saying that this would confuse consumers and delay the technology. One argument is that second-generation digital TV sets are already on the market with enhanced performance, but this is apparently still inferior to the European system. Craig Tanner, head of the Advanced Television Systems Committee, an industry group, said that , "The solution to this problem is months away. I don't know if it's 4 months, 6, 8 or 13 months." Other members of this Committee were less optimistic. (New York Times, 10/11/99, Pg C18)

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The Federal Communications Commission (F.C.C.) announced changes in its rules for concentration in the cable industry, that would let companies own up to 36% of the cable TV industry, and higher percentages for local telephone service over cable. The rules changes make it possible for AT&T to keep more of the items in its acquisition of Mediaone, which would otherwise have put AT&T over the F.C.C. limits. AT&T had made multiple requests for the rules changes, but some of its competitors and some consumer groups complained that the rules changes would reduce cable competition. The F.C.C. said that, on balance, the increased competition for local phone service, through cable TV lines, would more than make up for any loss of competition in cable TV. (New York Times, 10/9/99, Pg A1)

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A researcher at the Intel Corporation, the largest manufacturer of microprocessors, wrote that after the next generation of these chips, there may be fundamental scientific limits. The current generation has wires as small as 0.18 microns thick, about 1/500 of the diameter of a human hair. The next generation, already preparing for production in Japan next year, will reduce this to 0.13 microns. The step after that would be to 0.10 microns, and that is the step that may be impossible. The problem cited is that the number of atoms per transistor, estimated at 100, will be so small that manufacturing and operation will be unreliable. Statistical variations scale with the square root of the number of atoms, so there would be approximately 10% variations at 0.10 microns. Other scientists have said that they are confident at being able to deal with this problem, and still others said that the issue cited applied only to the current CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductors) technology, and that other technologies would not be subject to this problem. For decades, microprocessors have followed Moore's Law, a rule of thumb which states that microprocessor capacities double every 18 months. (New York Times, 10/9/99, Pg A1)

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Xerox Corporation, which describes itself as "the document company", is facing falling stock prices and declining sales. It's recent purchase of the Tektronix line of color printers is being interpreted as a sign of failure in developing its own color printer, and the price is limiting its options for repurchasing stock and other traditional financial remedies. It is also facing an increasingly competitive market for color printers. It recently laid off 6,000 workers, and its work force is stretched thin, so major layoffs are not a cost-cutting option either. (New York Times, 10/9/99, Pg B1)

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The IBM PC division lost almost $1 billion last year. The company will consolidate its marketing units and lay off 5% to 10% of its PC division staff, mostly in marketing, although some will be offered jobs in other units. (New York Times, 10/9/99, Pg B3)

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Based on rumors that it would be acquired by its large rival Doubleclick.com, stock of the Internet advertising company 24/7 Media Inc rose sharply. 24/7 Media's 150 web sites would be added to Doubleclick's 1,300 web sites. Analysts felt that the acquisition would cost about $1.5 billion. (New York Times, 10/9/99, Pg B3)

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Universities are increasingly at the core of high-technology concentrations around the county. The basic reasons are: (i) innovative ideas and concepts from Universities form the basis of many high-tech businesses, and the businesses can call on faculty for advice and expertise, (ii) a steady stream of well-trained graduates staff the companies, and (iii) many Universities are turning to businesses for financial support as government support, especially for research, declines. These days, examples of this development can be found in every regions of the U.S., not just in the "traditional" areas of Silicon Valley and Boston. (New York Times, 10/8/99, Pg A1)

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Norway, Sweden and Finland are emerging as variations on or alternatives to the U.S.-Britain example of a prosperous economy founded on private enterprise with a minimal government. In Sweden, the government controls 60% of the economy directly, and health care and education are guaranteed for all citizens. It is very difficult to lay off employees, short of going out of business. One key to the economic success has been strong or even cutthroat competition in the private sector. Unemployment rates seem to be coming down, although they are still higher than in the U.S., and the economy employs fewer people than it did in 1970. Sweden has loosened job rules so that companies can employ temporary workers who, unlike full-time workers, can be laid off at will. Businesses have moved aggressively into the new information economy, and invests a larger portion of its gross domestic economy in knowledge -- research, development, education and training -- than any other country in the world. (New York Times, 10/8/99, Pg A1)

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The world's largest stock broker, Merrill Lynch & Company, announced in June will start an online low-cost stock web site in about two months from now, offering trades for $29.95, the same price that Schwab, the leading online discount broker, offers. Yesterday, Merrill announced an ambitious plan to become a leading eCommerce business, banding users of its Visa debit cards together in groups to get discounts on general merchandise. Merrill will also offer rebates for these purchases. Merrill executives speak of managing "the total financial relationship" with its customers. (New York Times, 10/8/99, Pg C1)

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The online grocery company Webvan delayed selling stock in itself (Initial Public Offering or IPO) because it gave out unpublished information in a conference call with potential investors. It is acceptable to clarify information in the public prospectus, but not to give out new information. The new information included statements that (i) each of Webvan's distribution centers would generate $300 million, (ii) it planned to expand into Chicago and Seattle next year, and (iii) its operating margin would be 12% instead of the industry norm of 4%. Under securities law, companies must register with the Securities and Exchange Commission (S.E.C.) and disclose all material information, so that potential investors have an equal information basis on which to make judgements. Also common are voluntary "quiet periods" before and after an IPO, during which company executives do not publicly discuss estimates of financial performance. Webvan said it would institute a "cooling off" quiet period by agreement with the S.E.C. (New York Times, 10/9/99, Pg C2) (Webvan has already been making online grocery sales and deliveries as a privately-held company.)

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Bell Atlantic (one of the Baby Bells formed in the break-up of AT&T) will buy a 9.9% share in Metromedia, an optical fiber data transmission company. Bell Atlantic will also pay Metromedia $550 million for the right to use the Metromedia nationwide fiber optic network for 20 years. (New York Times, 10/8/99, Pg C2)

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Intuit, the leading manufacturer of personal-finance software, agreed to buy Rock Financial Corporation using Intuit stock valued at $370 million. Intuit will combine Rock Financial's online loan business at rockfinancial.com with Intuit's online loan business. (New York Times, 10/8/99, Pg C4)

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Macromedia, which sells software for building web sites, will buy Andromedia, which sells software to analyze web traffic on eCommerce sites, and to personalize web pages for users. The purchase was for stock valued at $280 million, and $5 million in cash. (New York Times, 10/8/99, Pg C4)

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Ebay, the leading online auction house, protested when Auctionwatch.com continued to provide listings of items for sale on the Ebay web site, despite Ebay's earlier demands that "auction aggregators" such as Auctionwatch stop listing Ebay items. Auctionwatch said that the popularity of the Auctionwatch web site proved that this was a valuable and needed service. (New York Times, 10/8/99. Pg C6)

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The online stock brokers DLJ Direct and Fidelity Investments' Powerstreet became the latest to offer after-hours trading. The trading services will be through the electronic network Redibook, in which both firms own shares. (New York Times, 10/8/99, Pg C9)

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The women's web site iVillage (www.ivillage.com) went public (sold stock in itself through an Initial Public Offering or IPO) on March 19, 1999, and instantly became valued at over $2 billion, making its two founders, Candice Carpenter and Nancy Evans, multimillionaires, at least on paper. This sudden ascent to the Internet start-up hall of fame, for two forty-somethings with communications backgrounds but no technical expertise, has made them the target both of adulation, envy, praise and criticism, all simultaneously. They did, however, "get it" in Internet-speak, which means that they saw the Internet as creating rapid and fundamental changes in all areas of society, on the scale of the changes brought about by the industrial revolution, changes that are only just beginning, and that it is time to get on board and build customer market share and loyalty. They also thought that, even though women are not participating in the Internet at rates comparable to men, the women's market would grow and become important. They were also good at constructing a narrative about how their web site could grow and become stable and profitable, and at promoting that narrative. (At the time of the IPO, their web site, like many online businesses, was losing lots of money, had high employee burnout rates, had little in the way of physical assets, and had serious competitors coming online.) (The New Yorker (magazine), 10/11/99, Pg 76)

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The Federal Communications Commission (F.C.C.), faced with an unprecedented wave of telecommunications mergers, has begun setting the standards it will require to approve recent mergers, including the takeover of Ameritech by SBC communications, the takeover of the cable company Mediaone by AT&T, and the takeover of Sprint by MCI Worldcom (the full list is considerably longer). The F.C.C. said it would be balancing the advantages of economies of scales Vs the disadvantages of consolidation and a possible loss of competition. One particular F.C.C. concern is the lack of competition in much of the local telephone service market. Traditionally, antitrust objections to mergers result in a requirement that if there are units in the merger that compete directly, one of the units be sold off to retain the competition. (New York Times, 10/7/99, Pp A1 and C1)

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Metabolife, which produces dietary supplements, agreed to an interview with ABC News. Questions persist about the safety and effectiveness of Metabolife supplements and others. As is common with corporate interviews, Metabolife taped the interview for its own records. Fearing that the interview as edited by ABC and broadcast (the date has not yet been announced) will be unfair, Metabolife has put the entire unedited copy of its videotape on the web (www.newsinterview.com)  and taken out ads to invite the public to compare the full videotape with the edited interview when it is broadcast. ABC News and other news organizations saw this as interference with their editorial judgement and possibly a threat to reduce the audience for the broadcast. (New York Times, 10/7/99, Pg A20)

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With all of the marketing going on, consumers are increasingly tuning it out. This has led to "guerilla marketing" which uses unconventional and direct approaches to consumers. One example is Cornerstone Promotions in New York city. At a recent concert, Cornerstone send employees to the ticket line to pass out tapes for a competing band. Now Cornerstone and other guerilla marketing firms are going mainstream, with clients such as Coca-Cola, Nike and the NFL. (New York Times, 10/7/99, Pg C1)

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The Lehigh Valley region in Pennsylvania is trying to make a comeback after its former reliance on Big Steel, by encouraging to technology companies. In the last five years, 65 high-technology companies have either established operations or even been founded there. Unemployment has fallen from 7.7% four years ago to 3.7% today, below the national average. (new York Times, 10/7/99, Pg C1)

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Media Metrix Inc, which measures the popularity of web sites, will buy Adrelevance Inc, which monitors online advertising. The deal is valued at up to $65.7 million dollars, despite the fact that Adrelevance has only 32 employees. (New York Times, 10/7/99, Pg C4)

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The CVS Corporation, the largest U.S. pharmacy chain, and Merck & Company, the largest U.S. drug manufacturer, said that they would cooperate to sell medications over the Internet for the 51 million members of Merck's pharmacy benefit company, Merck-Medco. CVS will have the exclusive ability to accept Merck-Medco prescriptions over the Internet, and will offer choice of picking up orders at a brick-and-mortar CVS pharmacy, or receiving the prescription by mail. (New York Times, 10/7/99, Pg C4)

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The Barnes and Noble bookstore chain will buy Babbage's Etc., the software retail chain, and expand the offerings in video games and entertainment software. Babbage's runs stores with the names Babbage's, Software Etc and Game Stop, as well as the gamestop.com eCommerce software site. The deal is valued at $215 million. (New York Times, 10/7/99, Pg C4)

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Advanced Micro Devices, which offers the highest-speed microprocessor (see story below from New York Times, 10/4/99, Pg C6) lost less money than expected last quarter. Sales of its high-speed chip are increasing, and computers using the chip are already on the market. The recent earthquake in Taiwan is disrupting production of complete chipsets and motherboards, introducing some uncertainty in the near term.

In another story, Advanced Micro Devices announced that the investment banking firm Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette would help it spin off its operation that makes integrated circuits for telecommunications and computer networking.

(New York Times, 10/7/99, Pg C6)

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America OnLine (AOL) announced that it would the Lycos web site share instant messages with AOL users, which will help Lycos compete with Microsoft and Yahoo. AOL wants Microsoft and Yahoo to pay for the sharing rights. (New York Times, 10/7/99, Pg C6)

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AT&T has been planning to expand into local phone service and high-speed Internet service using cable TV wiring that it owns through mergers. It is providing Internet Service through Excite@Home under an exclusive agreement that it inherited when it bought the cable provider Tele-Communications Inc. Other Internet Service Providers (ISPs), primarily using the telephone wiring network, have been complaining about the exclusive agreement. On Tuesday 10/5/99, faced with mounting criticism and the possibility of regulation, AT&T announced that it would open its cable systems to other ISPs besides Excite, after the exclusive agreement ends in the year 2002. (New York Times, 10/6/99, Pg C1) On Wednesday 10/6/99, AT&T announced that the former President of Tele-Communications, Leo J. Hindery Jr, who was also running AT&Ts cable operations, would leave the company. Speculation centered on a conflict of personal styles between the blunt anti-bureaucratic style of Mr Hindery and the more reserved style of AT&T, despite agreement on specific actions. (New York Times, 10/7/99, Pg C1)

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Jeffrey A. Citron agreed to resign as the chairman and chief executive of the online stock brokerage Datek Online Holdings. Citron had worked his way up through the ranks and transformed Datek into a leading online company, but had been the target of numerous investigations about money laundering, insider trading and other areas. While some investigations have been dropped and none of the charges have been proven, investors wanted the resignation so that the company would not have to deal with the continuing questions any longer. (New York Times, 10/7/99, Pg C1)

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America OnLine, the leading U.S. Internet Service Provider (ISP) announced the latest version of its software, AOL 5. The new software is supposed to improve speed and reliability, and offers some new features, such as personal online calendars, which would be available from any computer with an Internet connection, as opposed to traditional computer calendar software, for which the user's calendar is only available from computers on which the software has been installed. AOL announced plans to make these calendars available on wireless handheld devices in the future. (New York Times, 10/7/99, Pg D1)

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Nuance, a voice recognition company, has announced Voyager, a voice-based web browser for use on handheld wireless devices. The user would control the browser by speaking to it, and the browser output would be converted to voice. Nuance is now working with web site representatives so that they can make their sites compatible. (New York Times, 10/7/99, Pg D8)

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The Whitney Museum in New York City went to online auctions to acquire items to include in its forthcoming show, American Century: Art and Culture 1900-2000. The Museum's guest curator for the show said that half of the staff became addicted to Ebay. The acquisition took much less time than it would have using traditional methods. Among the items acquired over the Internet were banned books such as a copy of a 1957 edition of Tropic of Capricorn with the censor's mark on the back cover, and a special Las Vegas Holiday issue of Playgirl magazine from January 1975. (New York Times, 10/7/99, Pg D4)

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In an ad, bidder's edge told customers of the online auction house Ebay that, even though Ebay will not allow its online bids to be registered automatically at the bidder's edge web site (www.biddersedge.com), bidder's edge had set up a system that would let Ebay auctioneers easily register their Ebay auctions on the bidder's edge web site. Bidder's edge cross-lists auctions from other online auction houses, so registration would give Ebay customers a wider audience for their auctions. (ad in New York Times, 10/7/99, Pg D6)

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"Genetic algorithms" is a computer field in which computers are provided with description of simple elements, rules for altering a combination of the elements, and a function that gives the value of any given combination, and then asked to find the best combination. The rules for altering combinations are based on the natural rules for combining genes through inheritance and mutation. Such computer systems have proven adept at finding optimum solutions. One of the latest is a system for designing architectural structures to be constructed from Lego blocks. This system, at the Center for Complex Systems at Brandeis University, described in an article in the journal Artificial Life, designed bridges, tables and cranes. (New York Times, 10/7/99, Pg D7)

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There are special Internet search sites for children. Examples are Yahooligans (www.yahooligans.com), AOL NetFind/Kids Only, and Searchopolis (www.searchopolis.com). These sites offer simplified searching, topics that interest kids, and they screen out inappropriate content. A review of the sites by some of the target audience found that the sites were easy to use and provided interesting, relevant content. (New York Times, 10/7/99, Pg D8)

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The web site www.voluntech.org puts techies who a looking for volunteer activities in touch with volunteer organization that need technical help. Activities have included troubleshooting, setting up web sites and databases, and teaching technical classes. The organizations appreciate the help, and the volunteers get to stretch and improve their skills. (New York Times, 10/7/99, Pg D11)

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William Kennard, chair of the Federal Communications Commission (F.C.C.), yesterday said that the planned purchase of Sprint by MCI Worldcom had a long way to go in convincing him that it would not inhibit competition and therefore not benefit consumers. Mr Kennard told reporters, "American consumers are enjoying the lowest long-distance rates in history and the lowest Internet rates in the world for one reason: competition. ... Competition has produced a price war in the long-distance market. The merger appears to be a surrender. How can this be good for consumers. The parties will bear a heavy burden to show how consumers would be better off." The merger would reduce the number of major players from the current three (AT&T, MCI Worldcom and Sprint) to two. The two companies said that they were confidant that they could show that competition would not suffer. There was considerable speculation over what the F.C.C. might require the two companies to do to improve competition as a condition for approving the merger. (New York Times, 10/6/99, Pg A1)

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Apple computer announced a new line of its popular iMac computers today, one of which was priced below $1,000. The new computers include built-in video editing, which Apple's President, Steven Jobs, said would be "the next big thing." Jobs also announced a new level of the operating system, OS9, which would include an updated Sherlock search tool, built-in voice-print identification, file encryption and the ability to sort multiple passwords for use at the appropriate time. (New York Times, 10/6/99, Pg C2)

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After a decline last year, attributed to the Asian economic crisis, sales of industrial robots are increasing sharply, except in Asia, according to an annual survey by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. Strong auto manufacturing was the primary reason for the current growth, which ranged as high as 200% in some sectors. The Commission expects sales to increase through 2002 as robots start to be used for tasks such as lawn mowing and vacuuming. (New York Times, 10/6/99, Pg C4)

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Intel, the manufacturer of microprocessors, will purchase Ipivot, which manufactures hardware for managing Internet traffic, for $500 million. The move will increase Intel's competitive position in this market, which is driven by the strong growth of eCommerce. (New York Times, 10/6/99, Pg C4)

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Adelphia, a major cable company, will buy a stake in Century Communications Corporation, which is owned by Citizens Utilities, which sells gas, water, electricity and telecommunications in 22 states. (New York Times, 10/6/99, Pg C4)

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IXL Enterprises, and Internet Services Provider, will buy Tessera Enterprise Systems, which provides customer-relationship managing systems for $120 million. (New York Times, 10/6/99, Pg C4)

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Y2K concerns have caused many travelers to cancel or avoid travel on December 31 1999 and January 1 2000. Consequently, many airlines are cutting back or canceling flights at that time. (New York Times, 10/6/99, Pg C8)

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The need to take risks and move quickly in order to remain competitive is often attributed to "Internet time", the increased pace of business in the Internet era. This in turn has led to more opportunities for managers who have failed. The reasoning is that they have demonstrated that they will take risks, and also that they must have learned something from the failure. (New York Times, 10/6/99, Pg C12)

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CBS introduced its own web portal yesterday, Iwon.com. (Web portals seek to attract many users by being a convenient way to organize and locate content.) Since most of its major competitors (Walt Disney, General Electric, AT&T etc.) already operate their own portals, Iwon will give away cash prizes on a daily basis for its users. In order to be eligible for the prizes, users will have to identify themselves and give personal information such as names, addresses, phone numbers and birthdays, which will allow Iwon to market its user database more effectively. (New York Times, 10/6/99, Pg C14)

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Quote from an ad: "It takes powerful software to understand the needs of a single customer among millions. That's the software IBM makes." (New York Times, 10/6/99, Pg C15) (See story below about IBM's software advertising campaign from 10/4/99 on New York Times Pg C1)

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In an area that is sometimes counted as part of the intellectual property issue, Monsanto Company, a leading biotechnology company, said that it would not conduct further research or market "Terminator" seeds; seeds which grow plants which are themselves infertile, meaning that the plants produce no seeds, forcing farmers to buy the seeds again for the next crop. Monsanto said that the deciding factor was the disruption that this would bring to third-world agricultural patterns, where farmers holding back seeds for next year is the norm. Other companies doing such research said that they would continue. Terminator seeds, it is said, would let biotechnology companies with major advances in seeds, earn back their development costs. (New York Times, 10/5/99, Pg A1)

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MCI Worldcom, either the largest or second-largest U.S. long-distance company, agreed to buy Sprint Corporation, the third-largest U.S. long-distance company, for approximately $110 billion, mostly in stock. This price makes this the biggest industrial merger in U.S. history. However, the two companies combined will have less revenue than AT&T. MCI Worldcom was formed when Worldcom bought MCI in October 1997. BellSouth, one of the "Baby Bells" formed when AT&T was broken up, also bid for Sprint but lost out. Industry analysts attribute the rash of communications mergers to the need that companies feel for being able to offer a full package of long-distance, local, wireless and Internet services across the country (and often across the globe), in order to be competitive in the communications market emerging after the Communications Act of 1996. (New York Times, 10/5/99, Pg A1)

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A survey of Web pharmacies shows that prices are often higher than they are in brick-and-mortar stores, and sometimes four or five times higher. The survey by a pharmacy faculty member and graduate students at the University of Pennsylvania reviewed 46 web sites. Another significant finding is that those sites that offer prescriptions based on filling out a web form, do not reveal who their pharmacist is, or what his/her qualifications are. Most doctors feel that a physical examination is necessary before many drugs can be safely prescribed. (New York Times, 10/5/99, Pg D7) (Should consumers be allowed to make their own choices about which drugs to take, or do consumers need to be protected from unwise or unsafe choices by experts? This same question arises in many fields today.)

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Clear Channel Communication, the nation's largest owner of radio stations, will buy AMFM Inc, the second-largest. Clear channel will have sell of about 125 stations to overcome anti-trust objections. The result will be the first radio conglomerate with a national reach, outside of major radio networks. (New York Times, 10/5/99, Pg C1)

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Microsoft and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)  have formed I-Campus, a project to develop educational technology. While the potential benefits of the project are clear, critics said that MIT is not known for its online courses or its research in education, that open standards rather than proprietary standards will bring the greatest benefit, and that Microsoft has not been active in education technology. For research carried out at MIT, even with Microsoft funding, MIT will own the rights although Microsoft will be able to license the results without paying additional fees. For research carried out jointly, Microsoft will have the first patent rights. I-Campus is initially funded with $25 million from Microsoft. (New York Times, 10/5/99, Pg C11)

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Craig O. McCaw, a pioneer in cellular phones, seems to be preparing to make a major investment in Iridium L.L.C. Iridium is a company focussed on voice communication via satellite, that filed for bankruptcy in August 1999 after failing to develop a large customer base. Mr. McCaw is also a major investment in Teledesic, along with Microsoft, Motorola and Boeing. Teledesic is sometimes called "Internet in the sky" for its plan to transport data and Internet traffic via satellite. (New York Times, 10/5/99, Pg C2)

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Psion, a British manufacturer of hand-held computers, said that it will bring out the Revo this month. The Revo will make wireless connections to the Internet via mobile phone or wireless modem, linked to a free Internet Service Provider (ISP). The Revo is expected to sell for about $500. (New York Times, 10/5/99, Pg C4)

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France Telecom S.A. will buy a 17.2% stake in E-Plus Mobilfunk G.m.b.H., a German wireless communications company. Germany is Europe's largest wireless market. The French share was bought from Vodafone Airtouch (formed when the English Vodafone bought Airtouch). France Telecom will seek to buy the rest of E-Plus from its other shareholders. (New York Times, 10/5/99, Pg C4)

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Texas Instruments Inc will buy Power Trends, a manufacturer of computer circuit boards, for $145 million. (New York Times, 10/5/99, Pg C4)

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JDS Uniphase, a manufacturer of fiber optical components, will buy Epitaxx, also a manufacturer of fiber optical components, to increase its range of products. The sale was for $400 million in stock. (New York Times, 10/5/99, Pg C4)

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Concentric Network Corporation will buy the Internet hosting company 9 Net Avenue for $70 million in stock, to increase the number of distribution channels for its electronic business products. (New York Times, 10/5/99, Pg C4)

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Intraware Inc, which provides software research and buying support via the Internet, will buy Bitsource Inc and Internet Image Inc to offer a fuller range of services. Bitsource has systems to manage software licenses online while Internet Image systems distribute upgraded software. The deals totaled $54 million, cash and stock. (New York Times, 10/5/99, Pg C4)

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Glenayre Technologies, which makes equipment for paging networks, will sell its microwave radio business to two venture capital companies for approximately $38 million. (New York Times, 10/5/99, Pg C4)

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Travelocity, an online travel service, will buy another online travel service, Preview Travel, and thus become large than Expedia, the Microsoft online travel service. The move will also let Travelocity spin off from the Sabre Group, owned by the parent company of American Airlines, AMR Corporation. The spinoff will be low-cost because Preview Travel is already publicly owned. Several other brick-and-mortar companies have sold off their Internet startups recently. This trend is growing, apparently because the Internet startup siphons investment off from the brick-an-mortar operation, but does not earn profits. (New York Times, 10/5/99, Pg C7)

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A Wall Street analyst, Henry Blodget, has sold the rights to a book he is planning to write about the economic impact of the Internet. Mr Blodget does not have a description, outline, or title of the book yet. Blodget became well known when, as an analyst at Merrill Lynch, he predicted that Amazon.com's stock would increase from $240 at the time to $400 or more. Merrill's main Internet analyst predicted the stock would fall below $50. Blodget was right, and took over. (New York Times, 10/5/99, Pg C7)

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International Business Machines (IBM) announced a major new microprocessor aimed at the growing market for high-performance computers for use as Internet and web servers. Intel's entry in this market, code-named Merced, is a more complex approach than IBM's, and includes a fundamental new type of microprocessor, along with myriad on-chip devices to move data quickly. In contrast, IBM's design relies on careful balancing of resources, and removal of internal barriers to rapid data movement. While not discounting Intel's products, industry analysts said they were impressed with the IBM approach as a very careful and thorough approach. (New York Times, 10/5/99, Pg C7)

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Deutsche Telekom of Germany was involved at several levels with the recent purchase of Sprint by MCI Worldcom. Telekom owned 10% of Sprint, but apparently could not afford to enter the bidding war. Together with France Telecom, Deutsche Telekom and Sprint are partners in Global One, a joint venture that provides services to multinational companies. But when Deutsche Telekom bid on Telecom Italia during summer 1999, France Telecom soured on their relationship, leading to a stalemate over Sprint. Under their agreement, each company needs the other's permission before buying more of Sprint. France Telecom's plans, announced today, to purchase a stake in the Germany communications company E-Plus, technically violates its agreement with Deutsche Telekom, and may allow the German company to dissolve the agreements. Deutsche Telekom stands to get approximately $7 billion for its stake in Sprint, if the MCI deal goes through, but it is unclear what Deutsche Telekom would do with this money. (New York Times, 10/5/99, Pg C7)

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A bidding war appears to be developing for Sprint, the third-largest U.S. long-distance telephone carrier. MCI and BellSouth have made the competing bids. This is only the latest in a continuing series of mergers and acquisitions in the communications industry, as reactions to the increased competition foreseen in the Telecommunication Act of 1996. (New York Times, 10/4/99, Pg A1) (This act seeks to put into practice the saying of Nicholas Negroponte of MIT, who wrote in his book, Being Digital, that "bits are bits." That is, once you are carrying one form of digital information, such as telephone conversations, it is no different to carry another form, such as Internet traffic or movies online or business information. In turn, this means that the winners are guaranteed to be BIG winners.)

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In the first generation of ads for online stock brokers, the online brokerages compared themselves to brick-and-mortar brokerages. Now, with competition intensifying, online brokerages are saying how much better they are than other online brokerages. (New York Times, 10/4/99, Pg C1)

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IBM is the second-largest software manufacturer, after Microsoft, but it software unit is growing far more slowly than Microsoft, and it s products are not well known. IBM's original software business made software only for IBM computers, but now it s software runs on major business platforms. IBM will start to promote its software more aggressively. Its two other "engines of growth", according to IBM chairman Louis Gerstner, are computer services and selling computer technology to other companies. (New York Times, 10/4/99, Pg C1)

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The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (F.C.C.) is expected to approve the merger of SBC Communications and Ameritech, to create what will temporarily be the largest local phone company. (New York Times, 10/4/99, Pg C2)

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E-Planet, a Silicon Valley spinoff, has not found financing for its machine-vision technology, and will shut down. (New York Times, 10/4/99, Pg C2)

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Both job-seekers and companies seeking to hire have contributed to the growth of online job sites such as Monster.com and HeadHunter.net. Companies can post job notices and job-seekers can post resumes, and can respond to the other. Now, some employers say that this is contributing to job-hopping, as employers put up their resumes to see what will happen, and quickly get attractive offers. Software developers, for example, typically hop jobs every six months or so. Such new employees result in higher training costs. Companies have started to look for signs of job-hopping, for example having many short assignments on their resumes, and having resumes on ten or twelve sites, instead of one or two. (New York Times, 10/4/99, Pg C5)

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The music recording industry is introducing new methods to prevent pirating music in digital form, using computers. Examples are new "watermarking" technologies, with ID information being included along with the digital music data, and players that will not accept files that show signs of having been pirated. These methods will require extra effort on the part of consumers, and it is not clear that consumers will accept these methods. (New York Times, 10/4/99, Pg C4)

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Andale Inc is a start-up eCommerce company that wants to make setting up and administering online auctions easier for large-scale auctioneers. Online auction houses, such as Ebay, are set up to make selling a few things easy for sellers to manage. But most online auction sales are actually generated by a relatively few large users, for whom setting up the individual sales is burdensome. Andale will automate this process for them. (New York Times, 10/4/99, Pg C4)

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Intel is the largest manufacturer of microprocessor chips, the "brains" of the personal computer. It has long had the fastest, most advanced chips. Its competitors have been forced to compete at the low end of the market, microprocessors that are slower and less powerful than the latest versions. Now, one of the competitors, Advanced Micro Devices, has announced a 700 MHz chip, faster than Intel's current speed champ, a 600 MHz Pentium III. Intel is expected to announce faster chips soon, however. (New York Times, 10/4/99, Pg C6)

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IBM has announced a new record for the number of bits that can be stored on a square inch hard drive surface space. The new record is 35 billion bits per square inch, far surpassing the previous record of approximately 20 billion bits per square inch. These are laboratory results, not yet available in commercial hard drives, but that is expected to follow soon. The current commercial record is 10 billion bits per square inch, or a little higher, depending on the manufacturer. The new laboratory record is regarded a significant for two reasons; (i) it comes from an IBM center not previously known for this type of achievement, emphasizing the technological depth of  IBM, and (ii) it indicates that it may be possible to bypass a limitation at around 40 billion bits per square inch, that was previously felt to be impossible to beat. The disk drive industry is currently in a period of intense competitive pressure, which technologists can feel is fun, but makes investors very nervous. (New York Times, 10/4/99, Pg C6)

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Online publishers of magazines are having a hard time figuring out how to make money. Customers have exhibited great reluctance to pay for online content that they feel may be available free elsewhere. One new model is the literature site, that offers original works in an online format. These sites require special software to be downloaded, which does not provide copying. Online authors post their own works, and receive a 50% commission on each sale. Fatbrain.com will offer works by William Ury, a popular business author, and Richard Bach, author of the wildly popular Jonathon Livingston Seagull. Two successful online magazine publishers are Consumer Reports Online, which offers laboratory-based product reviews, and Wall Street Journal Interactive. The New York Times and Forbes both charge on a pay-for-view basis for archived articles, but neither has sizable revenues from these efforts. The entire online publishing industry is waiting for its first large-scale success. (New York Times, 10/4/99, Pg C14)

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David Haddad, a successful manager at Mattel Inc, has left to head an Internet startup, EParties, which seeks to provide services and goods via the Internet, for people who are planning parties (not including weddings and funerals). While at Mattel, Mr Haddad, headed the division responsible for CD-ROM products such as Barbie Fashion Designer, and Barbie Photo Designer Digital Camera and CD-ROM, both of which were leaders in the children's software market sector. Eparties is one of the first spinoffs of Ecompanies, a business created in June to create new Internet companies. (New York Times, 10/4/99, Pg C14)

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A patent has been awarded to Taxnet Systems Inc for a method of collecting online taxes. The method charges taxes based on the customer's location. Currently available software is used for calculating the tax rate. The actual taxes are separated from the product charges by the credit card company, then accumulated and paid periodically to the collecting jurisdictions, relieving the merchant from collecting and separating the tax payments. A separate mechanism is provided for those paying by cash or check. (New York Times, 10/4/99, Pg C18) (Consumer advisors recommend using credit cards for online purchases, because other methods do not allow the consumer to retain control of the money while resolving disputes.)

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eCommerce is growing rapidly in percentage terms, from an estimated $20 billion for 1999 to $185 billion for 2004, or over 50% growth per year. For example, 30% of the new computers purchased by American households in the last six months were bought online, up 50% from the last six months. However, this year's $20 billion in online commerce is just 0.2% of the overall $8.5 trillion U.S. economy (that percentage is also growing, though). One commentator (Kevin Kelly, editor of Wired magazine), the new electronic retail market will add to or build on top of the brick-and-mortar economy, and eventually also transform its methods. One example is the new Gateway Country retail outlets. Gateway is expanding the number of these from the current 180 to a planned 400. However, these outlets are mainly for people to try Gateway computers out; they are not traditional retail stores, since they have no stock and customers do not walk out with their purchases. Instead, they are delivered a few days later, through the same process as buying online. (New York Times, 10/3/99, Business Section Pg 4)

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A survey of home computer use by the accounting firm Price Waterhouse Coopers found that 48% of U.S. households now have Internet access, up 50% from last year. The average use is 5 hours per week. Internet access doubled in Europe, but the U.S. is still far in the lead here. The major uses for home Internet users were (not in order):

• Research health care issues
• Communication (this year's #1 use, last year's was research)
• Sample vacation spots
• Pay bills
• Buy merchandise
• Research investments
• Listen to music (new on the list)

About half of the music listeners said they had not stopped buying recordings in stores, but apparently are using the Internet to sample music that they would not normally listen to. The other half of the music listeners bought less music in stores, as a result of listening on the Internet. (National Public Radio, NPR, locally WSU's WDET at 101.9, Morning Edition, 10/1/99))