Still Super

By David Lazarus

| UPDATA

| Still Super

Spam Cartel?

Reback's Epilog

<p>LAugust ("<a hking Big</a>age 94), we told you that Malaysia's hyperambitious prime minister, Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad, is focused on something called Vision 2020, a greet-the-future scheme intended to turn the country into a fully developed, "knowledge-rich" nation within two decades. Since Vision 2020 was launched last year, however, Asian financial markets have collapsed, and many of the region's megaprojects have been put on hold until the dust settles.</p>

Tlargest undertaking is Malaysia's Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC), a US$20 billion high tech swath intended to link Kuala Lumpur with a new international airport 30 miles to the south. But is the project still on track? Or has Mahathir's dream of a Southeast Asian Silicon Valley succumbed to the sagging ringgit?</p>

"MSC is not affected by the currency crisis," insists Rodhiah Ismail, a spokesperson for the Multimedia Development Corporation, which is spearheading construction efforts. The MSC's core fiber-optic network will be in place by mid-1998, she adds, and the first phase of Cyberjaya, a state-of-the-art technology center, should be completed by year's end.</p>

Aor the MSC's other showpiece, a new administrative hub called Putrajaya, its completion is hazy. Malaysian finance minister Anwar Ibrahim said in September that the second phase of the project would be delayed as a result of the currency crunch. But a few weeks later, Mahathir declared that Putrajaya remains on schedule. In any case, the new city is slated to be partially up and running within the next three years. The new airport, meanwhile, is scheduled to open early this year.</p>

We belt-tightening is the order of the day, Malaysian authorities have adopted a damn-the-torpedoes approach to launching the MSC – and with good reason. The project is intended to spur growth by wiring Malaysia into a global info-tech economy, and in doing so make the country less susceptible to the sort of fiscal squalls that have blown through the region since last summer.</p>

Tdepreciating ringgit is a blow to local concerns such as Telekom Malaysia that suddenly find overseas equipment considerably more expensive, but it's a boon to the hundred or so foreign companies investing in the MSC. Outfits like Oracle and Sun are finding their dollars going further than before, which only sweetens an already sweet deal.</p>

Sonfident is Mahathir of his country's fiscal stamina, he has flatly refused support from the World Bank, which has already provided several billion dollars in financial assistance to neighboring Indonesia and Thailand. Representatives of participating MSC companies are wary of commenting on the record about Malaysia's economic turbulence – a touchy subject with Mahathir, who has suggested that the battering of Asian markets was instigated by currency traders and unidentified "sinister powers." Privately, however, the MSC's partnered companies remain bullish about the region and the project. Both are still expected to pay off handsomely, sooner or later.</p>

<ennifer Hillner</em

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<a hl Super</a>S

Cartel?</p>

<ck's Epilog</a>

When first met Sanford Wallace in January 1996 ("<a href=em, Will Spam</a>," p52), his start-up, CyberPromotions Inc., was sending nearly 300,000 unsolicited email ads each week. Since then, Wallace has upped the ante, now transmitting 15 million to 20 million spams a day. But his actions haven't gone unchecked. Wallace has faced at least 15 lawsuits, and he's been booted off nearly 20 ISPs. Not even Hormel Foods wants to be associated with him: the venerable luncheon meat company threatened to file a trademark suit against the self-styled "Spam King" in July to protect its infamous brand. Now, Wallace claims to be starting his own ISP and says he's negotiating with several spam shops to pool finances and start their own joint company. "This means we will give businesspeople a home where they can send advertisements over email without being shut off," says Wallace. Launching an ISP may be Wallace's only option, as no existing provider is willing to carry him.</p> <p>

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cEpilog</p> <p

n Micrft nemesis Gary Reback graced <em>Wired</e coveAugust ("<a href="httod of the Rich</a>," page , he asked whether the Justice Department would wait until Netscape was out of business to acknowledge Microsoft's antitrust practices. But since the Microsoft investigation began in October, his faith in the DOJ has been renewed. "I think it's a bold move and I think it's the right move," Reback says. To Microsoft's insistence that Internet Explorer 4.0 is an integrated part of its operating system, Reback bats back: "Once they shipped Windows with AOL bundled. Is AOL part of their operating system?" Reback also scoffs at the mention of Microsoft's claim that the government doesn't understand technology: "Microsoft has always been disdainful toward the government. Gates has commented that the only way the government will hurt him is if he falls down their stairs and hits his head." A Microsoft monopoly, Reback further warns, means a company "controlling how we do our banking, how we buy cars, how we travel, what we read, what entertainment we choose, how we live."</p>