Trustbuster
One of Microsoft's most dogged opponents in Silicon Valley is moving to Washington, and Bill Gates can't wait. Lawyer Susan Creighton and Gary Reback's 1996 white paper jump-started the Feds' case against the software giant. But while Creighton will now oversee litigation for the FTC's Bureau of Competition as a deputy director, her new gig is an odd boon for Redmond: Because Gates' case is being handled by the DOJ, Creighton must now steer clear. Active in the GOP, Creighton thinks that tech markets - where the same companies are often partners as well as competitors - behave differently than traditional ones. Budding monopolists, however, shouldn't expect any slack. "I believe antitrust rules still relate," Creighton says, "and are appropriate means to enforce the laws for new economy companies."
Bear Marketing
Vinnie Falco is author of the world's most popular Gnutella-based file-swapping program, BearShare. So you might expect him to trumpet all the latest tweaks to his software juggernaut, which boasts more than 5 million users. And you might not be surprised if he were to say a nasty word or two about the Man and his pesky copyright laws. But no - Falco takes his coding prowess for granted and sees free file sharing as inevitable. What he really wants to talk about is business. "Of all the file-swapping companies out there, we're the only one that's self-sufficient," he says of BearShare's five-person parent company, Free Peers, in Miami Beach, Florida. The price he's paid? Pop-under windows. While the ads have earned Falco the wrath of some, he remains unapologetic: "Look, the basic premise is that we're developing this free software, but we'd like you to look at a few words from our sponsors."
CPU Powermonger
Computer scientist Ian Foster wants to bring SETI@home-style processing power to all the people of Earth. As cofounder of the Global Grid Forum, an international crew working toward one massively cohesive computing scheme, Foster envisions practically unlimited CPU cycles for everyone. The immediate obstacle to such distributed computation, he says, is balkanized networks across the globe - not unlike electricity in 1910, before disparate distribution systems were linked. His latest strategy: Fold the tech industry into the mix. Sun, IBM, and Microsoft have already offered up research and funding, with other corporations soon to follow. "I always had a strong belief that science was an international endeavor," says Foster, who splits his days between Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Chicago.
Fasten Your Seat Belt
PC manufacturing isn't the only industry suffering from surplus hardware these days. Military outfits worldwide are finding it tough to keep all of their aging jets airworthy. But former Royal Air Force engineer Nick Costin sees opportunity in the slowdown. Operating from Sydney, Costin flies civilian passengers aboard Strikemaster attack jets. He bought the birds in the early '90s from the Singapore and New Zealand air forces. He'll take just about anybody with a strong stomach and US$1,000 to spare on a half-hour simulated bombing run over the nearby Blue Mountains. Similar thrill rides are available in Moscow and Cape Town, but they're a no-no in the States, where the FAA claims the aircraft are experimental and unsuitable for commercial travel. Though Costin nets only a few hundred dollars per flight, the rides help him maintain the machines - his big money comes from dealing the secondhand planes.
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