__ Wired News __
__ Jimmying Windows 98 __
Emboldened by widespread anti-Microsoft sentiment, a group of industry executives submitted 10 Gates-bashing proposals to federal regulators, including a plan to force the giant to divest its applications business from its OS business and disclose details of Windows 98 to outside developers. Meanwhile, Justice threatened to expand its investigation.
__ Paul's Portfolio __
Microsoft cofounder and tech tycoon Paul Allen bought Marcus Cable, the nation's 10th-largest cable TV company, for US$2.77 billion. The deal marked Allen's first move into cable - 10 months after college pal Bill Gates bought into Comcast, the fourth-largest in the business.
__ Junked Emailer __
The price of spam just went up: The Los Angeles County Superior Court awarded EarthLink, an Internet service provider, $2 million in its suit against spam king Sanford Wallace and his company, Cyber Promotions.
__ Yahoo for Ad Revenue __
The Internet Advertising Bureau reported that Net ad revenues totaled $906 million in 1997, up 240 percent from the previous year. The trend has continued into '98, with search engines leading the way.
__ World Beats __
MTV Networks and Biz Enterprises spread lip-synching eastward: They'll launch a 24-hour Russian MTV later this year. Moving Webward, Rolling Stone's Video-on-Demand went live, letting users access more than 400 videos at www.rollingstone.com/.
__ Digital Wiretrap __
Who will pay, and how much? Stumped by such prosaic questions, the DOJ asked the FCC to develop the digital wiretapping system mandated by the 1995 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act. The challenge: Build a $500 million network that can monitor 50,000 calls simultaneously - and have it up and eavesdropping by October 1998.
__ IP Telecompetition __
The long distance battle heated up on the Net front: Deutsche Telekom reached out to touch Internet telephony, saying it would spend $5 billion to gain a foothold in the business. AT&T, WorldCom/MCI, and Sprint won't be far behind.
__ Java and Sorta Java __
While Oracle announced plans to incorporate Sun's Java across its product lines, Hewlett-Packard chose to develop its own version of the language for its HP printers and terminals. Microsoft eagerly offered to license the technology. Sun boiled - and then brewed a new dual-Java strategy, with one version for set-top boxes and handhelds and another for business applications.
__ Good-bye $19.95 __
The Net's all-you-can-eat pricing model seems to be disappearing. Citing heavy use by a few customers, AT&T's WorldNet introduced new monthly charges: 99 cents per hour after the first 150 hours. America Online and IBM.net made similar moves.
__ Speed Daemon __
Access speeds jumped, along with access fees: Net-research firm Keynote Systems reported that major Internet backbone speeds increased 60 percent in the past year. But, like speed limits, download times vary widely state to state.
__ Cryptozilla __
A stunning example of the effects of Netscape's open development strategy: The Mozilla Crypto Group, an international coalition of programmers working with Communicator code, released Windows and Linux versions of the browser with 128-bit encryption - a feature banned by US crypto-export laws.
__ Triple Take __
Web entrepreneurs have months to wait before the proposed encryption standard for financial data is approved. The American National Standards Institute postponed adoption of the new triple-DES after computer scientists Eli Biham of Israel and Lars Knudsen of Norway exposed its vulnerabilities.
__ Eating Crypto __
US Commerce Secretary William Daley conceded that the Clinton administration's crypto policy had failed, stunting domestic markets and encouraging foreign competition.
__ Executive Shuffle __
Intel CEO Andy Grove passed the executive acronym to longtime second officer Craig Barrett. ... Iomega president and CEO Kim Edwards resigned in the face of mounting losses, customer lawsuits, and angry investors.... Meanwhile, Apple's "interim" CEO Steve Jobs refused to drop the modifier from his title. Call it Jobs's Law: Once CEO, twice shy.
__ Lingua Franca __
If XML is a Microsoft conspiracy, as some suggest, it's an odd one: Netscape and Sun both endorsed Extensible Markup Language as a needed improvement over HTML. In March, Firefly and Vignette Corporation introduced a protocol that will allow XML-supported sites to automatically exchange content.
__ Merger Mania __
The proposed $140 billion Citicorp/Travelers Group merger stole the title of Largest Merger in History from WorldCom/MCI - and helped push the Dow Jones Industrial Average above the 9,000 mark for the first time.
