STReport Headline News LATE BREAKING WORLD-WIDE NEWS Weekly Happenings about & affecting the Computer World

JURY DELIBERATES OVER MICROSOFT BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) - A jury deliberated for a second day Thursday without reaching a verdict in an antitrust case filed against Microsoft Corp. by a small Danbury software company. Deliberations were scheduled to resume Friday morning. Bristol Technology Inc. claimed during a six-week civil trial that Microsoft cut off its access to Windows source code - software blueprints - hampering its ability to do business. Bristol makes a product called Wind/U, which allows programs such as word processors and spreadsheets written to work with Windows to be converted to run on computers with different operating systems such as Unix. The two companies had a three-year contract in which Microsoft gave Bristol access to source code it needed to create Wind/U. CONGRESS E-MAILS BILL TO CLINTON WASHINGTON (AP) - Legislation has never traveled so quickly down Pennsylvania Avenue. For the first time in history, Congress e-mailed the president a bill Wednesday to sign into law. A traditional signed parchment copy of the Y2K legal reform bill was hand-delivered afterward, just in case. Since Clinton can't enact a law in cyberspace yet, he is expected to sign the parchment copy the old-fashioned way. The bill, a compromise between House and Senate versions, could save American businesses billions of dollars in legal costs from Y2K-related lawsuits. It passed the House July 1 by 404-24 and the Senate 81-18. Clinton has said he will sign it. SILICON VALLEY TEENS PROGRAMMING SAN MATEO, Calif. (AP) - Most teens working this summer across the country will be making minimum wage flipping burgers, but Silicon Valley teen-ager Roddy Knight is writing computer code for $20 an hour plus stock options. Working at Keynote Systems in San Mateo, Knight's first project was to write a computer program that will help e-commerce companies test their Web sites. "He may be a kid, but he's got a lot of skills," said Keynote's chief executive, Umang Gupta. "Our attitude is really simple: We pay based on performance, not age or other factors." That attitude, prevalent among Silicon Valley employers, is paying off for teens. NANCY KERRIGAN SUES INTERNET SITE BOSTON (AP) - Figure skater Nancy Kerrigan filed a lawsuit Thursday against a company she says is using her name to sell sexually explicit pictures over the Internet. In a suit filed in Essex Superior Court, Kerrigan accuses FSX Network Communications Corp., of Staten Island, N.Y., of inserting her name 32 times into a 22-line text page in an effort to get search engines to point to the site whenever a computer user requests information on Kerrigan. The text page links to three pages where sexually explicit pictures are for sale. The suit also names Bill Tay of Staten Island as a principal of FSX and Linda Zoker as the owner of the company's telephone lines. Four other companies believed to be associated with the sites are named as well. AMD PRESIDENT QUITS AFTER LOSS SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - Computer chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. announced a second-quarter loss, stemming from tough competition from Intel Corp. and low sales of a benchmark chip. The earnings report released Wednesday was followed by the resignation of company president and chief operating officer S. Atiq Raza. But Raza cited personal reasons for his resignation and said his departure was not related to the company's financial problems. Raza's unexpected announcement came as AMD reported a loss of $162 million, or $1.10 per share, for the three months ended June 27. The loss was less than the $1.26 predicted by industry analysts surveyed by First Call. FUNCTIONS OF PC PUT ON SINGLE CHIP SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) - National Semiconductor Corp. Thursday unveiled a new computer chip that puts most of the functions of a PC on a single chip, a move that will bring more power and functionality to small information devices. The new Geode SC1400 chip will do the work of what would normally require six different chips, a company spokeswoman said. National Semiconductor is targeting the chip for use in "information appliances" such as television set-top boxes, hand-held information devices such as the Palm Pilot, and, eventually, car navigation systems. RUSSIA STRUGGLES WITH LAGGARD Y2K PROGRAM New York City (STR) - Russia is in deep trouble with its Y2K preparations and could be facing economic chaos as a result. The country has neither the time nor money to make the appropriate fixes in either the public or private sector. Vivek Wadwha, CEO of Relativity Technologies and Russian Y2K millennium expert, said: "Russia is in so much trouble. There is a lot of work to be done and very few people to do it." NEXTCARD SUES PROVIDIAN OVER WEB AD SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Web-based credit company NextCard sued credit giant Providian for copyright infringement in a case that could set a precedent for how the law applies to Internet advertising. In the suit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, NextCard accused Providian of copying a Web banner ad that features a descending thermometer to represent falling interest rates. NextCard said the ad is its most effective, with about 680,000 Web users clicking on it. NextCard said Providian's ad infringed on its copyrights and trademarks, and represents unfair competition. NextCard asked the court to force Providian to stop running the ad and pay unspecified damages. POSTAL SERVICE TESTS ONLINE SALES LOS ANGELES (AP) - The U.S. Postal Service plans to allow customers to buy stamps over the Internet and print them directly onto envelopes and mailing labels in a campaign to increase sales among small businesses. PC Postage marks the Postal Service's first big step into electronic commerce. The program is being tested by a select number of small businesses in California and the Washington, D.C., area. It could be available nationwide by the end of summer, Patricia Gibert, the agency's vice president for retail sales, said during a demonstration Wednesday. The systems require customers to purchase stamps in advance using a credit card or debit card. Service fees are expected to run about 10%. Customers can use their own printer to create a postmark and bar code in the envelope's upper right-hand corner. AMAZON.COM BUYS INTO SPORTS COMPANY SEATTLE (AP) - Internet retailer Amazon.com is moving in yet another direction, revealing Wednesday that it holds a 49% stake in an online discount sporting-goods retailer. Amazon.com sells books, music, videos and other products and has invested in online pharmacy drugstore.com, Internet pet shop Pets.com and cyber supermarket HomeGrocer.com. Its varied investments will help it develop a massive online shopping presence, said Jupiter Communications analyst Fiona Swerdlow. "They're incredibly well-capitalized, and if their goal is to become the online retailer of choice, then they need to be making these acquisitions now because the window of opportunity is not always going to be open," said Swerdlow. MANY CITIES STILL WORKING ON Y2K BUG WASHINGTON (AP) - Nearly half the nation's 21 largest cities won't complete work on coping with the Y2K computer bug until the final quarter of the year, according to a congressional report. Two cities, Dallas and Boston, have finished their preparations to ensure their computers will continue to function on Jan. 1, 2000. Nine others expect to be fully ready by Sept. 30, and 10 cities say they will be ready between Oct. 1 and the end of the year. The survey by the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, is to be released at a hearing Thursday of the Senate's special committee on the Y2K problem. APPLE'S EARNINGS BEAT EXPECTATIONS NEW YORK (AP) - Apple Computer Inc.'s profits and revenues are riding a wave of consumer demand for the unusual-looking iMac desktop computer. The company reported Wednesday that its profits doubled in the recent quarter, topping Wall Street expectations. Apple, based in Cupertino, Calif., credited a 40% rise in unit sales of computers. Apple's share of retail desktop sales was 6.7% in May, double that of a year ago, according to ZD Infobeads research firm. Apple's profit in its fiscal third quarter rose to $203 million, or $1.20 a share. That was up from a profit of $101 million, or 65 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter. BANK OF AMERICA TO GO WIRELESS CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Bank of America customers will be able to do their banking with mobile phones, electronic organizers and other handheld, Internet-connected, wireless devices. Charlotte-based Bank of America announced a deal Wednesday with Toronto-based 724 Solutions Inc. The technology company will provide software to let Bank of America's 30 million U.S. customers accomplish banking transactions with wireless communication devices, including cellular phones, hand-held organizers and "smart phones," which are a hybrid of the two. Bank of America says it will be the first major U.S. financial institution to offer wireless banking. |

INTERNET 'VOYEUR DORM' LOSES RULING

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - The city is cracking down on Voyeur Dorm, a house where young women are filmed day and night by a battery of live Internet cameras. The city's Variance Review Board ruled Tuesday that the house is not a home, but a business in the same category as strip clubs and requires an adult occupational license to continue its activities. "These women are basically taking their clothes off for profit," review board member Ana Wallrapp said. Web surfers pay $34 per month to view the site, which provides images from more than 30 cameras. The college students receive free room and board, tuition and a stipend in return for living in the house, but are not required to perform for the cameras.

U.S. MILITARY CONDUCTS HUGE Y2K TEST

FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) - The Pentagon is conducting what is believed to be the largest-ever simultaneous test of computer systems to make sure Year 2000 problems won't prevent delivery of everything from bullets to toilet paper to American troops. With only one day remaining in the week-long test, the Pentagon said Tuesday it had identified and fixed three minor glitches in its enormously complex computerized logistics network. Technical experts built a duplicate network, called a "parallel processing environment," then rolled those computer clocks forward to simulate the week following Feb. 28, 2000. The Defense Department needs to watch how its systems behaved during the date rollover from 1999 to 2000, and it needs to make sure computers will recognize the next leap year.

HIGH-TECH GROWTH SHIFTS TO WEST

LOS ANGELES (AP) - America's high-tech industry is heading west, according to a study released Tuesday that puts San Jose, Calif., Dallas and Los Angeles at the top of a list of cities that appear to be thriving in the new economy. The pattern of westward migration since 1978 was revealed in a Milken Institute study analyzing the impact of high-tech industries on economic growth in major metropolitan areas. The study concluded that communities that fail to attract high-technology companies risk being left behind as the dominance of industries such as biotechnology, telecommunications and the Internet grows. Western cities hold four of the top five positions in a study ranking 50 cities on the basis of their concentration of high-technology jobs and the revenues they produce.

BOOKSELLER URGED TO AMEND AD SLOGAN

NEW YORK (AP) - Challenging Barnesandnoble.com's claim that "If we don't have your book nobody does," a division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus has called for the online bookseller to discontinue or modify the slogan. "If you were to interpret the slogan literally, it would discourage searches from other sources," Nicholas Vianna, advertising review specialist with the group's National Advertising Division, said Tuesday. "In the book industry there are private books, local publishers, all kinds of books. Some of the independent sellers make their livelihood on that special niche market."

INTEL'S 2ND-QTR PROFIT JUMPS

SAN JOSE (AP) - Intel Corp. reported Tuesday its second-quarter profit rose 49%, but the results failed to meet Wall Street expectations amid a shift in company sales to less expensive computer chips. Intel, the world's largest maker of microprocessor chips, said it earned $1.75 billion, or 51 cents a share, two cents below Wall Street expectations. That compared to a profit of $1.17 billion, or 33 cents a share, in the second quarter of 1998. Revenue rose 14% to $6.75 billion from $5.93 billion. Intel released its earnings after the markets closed. Intel shares were trading at $65.25 in after-hours trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market, after slipping 6 cents during the regular trading session to close at $65.37.

AMAZON.COM ADDS TOYS, ELECTRONICS

NEW YORK (AP) - Amazon.com's online superstore will get even bigger Tuesday as the Internet retailing powerhouse adds thousands of toys and electronics to its Web site. The company announced that it has started to sell everything from Barbie dolls and Pokemon trading cards to DVD players and electronic organizers on its site. It's the latest move by Amazon.com to become a massive online shopping hub, where consumers can find a vast array of merchandise at the click of a mouse. While Amazon.com has yet to turn a profit in its four years in business, the company hasn't stopped spending money to make itself into a more diversified online retailer and expand its customer base.

EXCITE TO BUY IMALL, IN DEAL WITH FDC

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (Reuters) - Internet access provider ExciteHome Corp. said Tuesday it would buy online shopping company iMall Inc. in a $425 million stock swap. The company also said it had entered an agreement with First Data Corp.'s First Data Merchant Services letting merchants set up online storefronts and have access to Excite clients. Excite said it had signed a definitive agreement for the purchase of iMall. In the merger, Excite will issue about 8.3 million shares having a value of about $425 million. Excite also will assume iMall's outstanding options and warrants. First Data Merchant Services, which processes and settles more than 5 billion credit and debit card transactions annually, has an 11% ownership stake in iMALL.

DOUBLECLICK TO BUY NETGRAVITY

NEW YORK (AP) - The Internet advertising company DoubleClick Inc. announced Tuesday it will acquire rival NetGravity Inc. in a deal valued at $530 million. DoubleClick sells advertising on a network of more than 1,500 Web sites. NetGravity sells and maintains a computer software system that allows Web publishers to manage the advertising displayed on their sites. They are the two largest Internet advertising solutions companies. The combined company will be named DoubleClick and will be based in New York.

HACKERS LAUNCH NEW INVASION TOOL

LAS VEGAS (AP) - Computer security companies updated their virus-detection software Sunday after the in-your-face launch at a hackers convention of a new tool designed for stealth invasions of networks operated by Microsoft Windows. Despite the rapid response, however, any defense against the hacking program may prove fleeting thanks to some aggressive tactics taken by the tool's authors, an irreverent group named Cult of the Dead Cow, or CDC. The hacking tool, called "BO2K," can enable someone to gain control of a computer or network from a remote location. BO2K is an abbreviation for a slightly profane variation of "Back Office," the name of a program in Microsoft's Office 2000 suite of business software.

BANKS ASSURE CUSTOMERS OVER Y2K

NEW YORK (AP) - No novice to online banking, Andrea Kovar zooms money around daily from her personal computer. But because she depends heavily on electronic funds transfers, she worries about the millennium bug. Kovar is one of 100 million consumers, including most Social Security recipients, who have their paycheck or government benefits deposited electronically. Some 4 million people pay bills by computer. Because online bankers could be especially inconvenienced when the calendar rolls over Jan. 1, banks and the federal government are testing and retesting their systems to make sure the year 2000 arrives without hassles.

TELEDESIC GETS CONTRACTS

BELLEVUE, Wash. (AP) - Teledesic LLC, which plans a network of low-orbit satellites to conduct a range of telecommunications services, announced Friday it has signed a major launch contract with Lockheed Martin and an agreement with Motorola to build the satellite communications network. Lockheed Martin will use Proton M and Atlas V boosters to launch a significant portion of Teledesic's planned 288 satellites. The contract calls for three Proton launches and three Atlas launches, with options for five additional launches on each. Each launch vehicle will carry multiple Teledesic satellites. In the other agreement, Motorola will engineer and build the Teledesic Network, a telecommunications grid designed to provide high-speed data connections to businesses, institutions and individuals worldwide.

INFONAUTICS TO SPIN OFF PART OF BIZ

WAYNE, Pa. (AP) - Infonautics Inc. is spinning off the largest portion of its business, the online Electric Library, into a new joint venture with Bell & Howell Co. of Skokie, Ill. Infonautics will get $22 million in cash from Bell & Howell and will own 27% of the new venture. About 120 of Infonautics' 170 employees will move to the new venture, which will be located in Wayne. Electric Library is an online research service used by schools and libraries. Bell & Howell will contribute its Internet-based ProQuest K-12 to the new venture.

INTERNET EXECS DOMINATE SPOTLIGHT

SUN VALLEY, Idaho (AP) - High rollers from Hollywood to Wall Street to Silicon Valley converged in this resort town for the 17th annual media and technology conference organized by investment banker Herbert Allen Jr. While stars like Oprah Winfrey and Candice Bergen were on hand, the real spotlight this year was on top executives of companies like Amazon.com, America Online, and Yahoo! The Internet is changing the media and entertainment landscape, and nowhere was that more evident than at this year's conference. Indeed, missing from this year's list of attendees were Time Warner chairman Gerald Levin, Seagram's chief executive Edgar Bronfman Jr. and Walt Disney's chairman Michael Eisner.

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