Volume 9, Issue 43 Atari Online News, Etc. October 26, 2007
Published and Copyright (c) 1999 - 2007
All Rights Reserved
Atari Online News, Etc.
A-ONE Online Magazine
Dana P. Jacobson, Publisher/Managing Editor
Joseph Mirando, Managing Editor
Rob Mahlert, Associate Editor
Atari Online News, Etc. Staff
Dana P. Jacobson -- Editor
Joe Mirando -- "People Are Talking"
Michael Burkley -- "Unabashed Atariophile"
Albert Dayes -- "CC: Classic Chips"
Rob Mahlert -- Web site
Thomas J. Andrews -- "Keeper of the Flame"
With Contributions by:
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=~=~=~=
A-ONE #0943 10/26/07
~ Microsoft Bows To EU! ~ People Are Talking! ~ A Thief's Blunder!
~ Microsoft Appeals End! ~ Senate Passes Tax Ban! ~ Leopard Out Loose!
~ Storm Worm Now Squall! ~ USPS Forwards, E-Mail ~ Tramiel To Be At CHM!
-* USPS Forwards, Email Be Next? *-
-* Parents More Ambivalent About Net! *-
-* OLPC Production Delays Will Mean Shortages *-
=~=~=~=
->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
I guess that I must have blinked - it's almost Halloween time already!
Time flies by much too quickly; and I realize that I've probably said
that in this editorial many times over the years! It must be true! I
can't believe, that's all. This summer just seemed to fly by, but I do
realize that the weather is changing - trying working at a golf course,
starting at sun-up, and see just how cold it can be at this time of year!
So, it being October, that means World Series time! I'm not usually a
big fan of the World Series any more unless a team I like is playing.
Since my Cubs are out of it and my Tigers crapped out late in the season,
I had to look at other options for support. Yes, I live in Red Sox
nation, so they were a logical choice. And the Tribe knocked off those
despicable Yankees ("The Evil Empire"), much to my glee!
Okay, so it's not necessarily the Red Sox and the Colorado Rockies being
in the Series that I'm interested in for this week's editorial. You just
know that I have to find something "newsworthy" to tie it all in! Y'see,
Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City and now Republican
candidate for president (well, maybe some of you haven't opened up a
newspaper in months!), was in Boston the other day doing some campaign
appearances. Someone in the press corps asked him a question about the
Yankees not being in the Series, or something along that line. His
response was that he was rooting for the Red Sox; and that he wasn't just
saying that because he was in Massachusetts. His rationale was that he
was supporting the American League team.
Now we all know that Giuliani is an avid New Yorker. And as such, I have
to say that Rudy is full of it. No, this has nothing to do with his
politics or his candidacy. But please, don't go there Rudy! You're from
New York. The Yankees are in your veins. Yankees fans do not support the
Red Sox, and vice versa. It's just not done - it's heresy (of sorts)!
Boston fans don't buy it, and certainly New York fans don't believe it
(how many "Traitor" headlines made New York papers?!?!
I mean, that's like Jack Tramiel (remember him??) stating for the record,
that since Atari was gone, he supported Commodore rather than opting for
the Mac or PC! It just ain't gonna happen! So Rudy, just forget about
trying to play politician and supporting the Sox while politicking in
Red Sox nation! Show no fear, and say you want to see the Rockies beat
the Sox (it ain't gonna happen, but you can say it!) because your beloved
Yankees are out playing golf somewhere warm! Go Sox!
Until next time...
=~=~=~=
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
compiled by Joe Mirando
joe@atarinews.org
Hidi ho friends and neighbors. Another week has come and gone, and I'm
wondering about what topic I should talk about this week.
There are so many things going on in the world at large going on today,
and so few things going on in the Atari world. Okay, how about 'Human
Nature'?
Have you ever noticed that, no matter what subject you pick, be it
sports or politics or what car to buy, there are always at least two
distinct groups?
I mean, in politics there are always at least 2 'camps'. Both are sure
that they're right. Both are sure that the other side is dead wrong.
And yet we find a way to make it work. Sure, there are always those who
see the impending doom of civilization because someone else's
philosophies are getting an airing, but by and large, things go on.
If you've been watching the World Series... or more accurately watching
the people watching the Series... you'll see what I mean too. There are
Sox fans, and there are Rockies fans. Although in this part of the
country, there are far fewer Rockies fans. Then there are those who
just want to watch a good baseball game. Usually this is the smallest
group.
This past week it became evident that my wife was going to need a new
car quickly. Her old car... and I DO mean old (a 1992 Ford Escort)...
was on it's last legs... wheels, actually, since everything to do with
the steering and suspension systems needed replacing.
So, as word slowly circulated through both her family and mine that we
were car shopping, we started getting calls. "Make sure you get an
American car", "Be smart and get a Japanese car", "Take a look at the
new Scion", "My cousin loves his Subaru", "Get an SUV this time", "What
about a hybrid?", "Have you looked at the new 'crossovers'?".
Oy. It's enough to make you crazy. Now, I'm not what you'd consider a
'car guy'. To me, a vehicle is something to get you from point A to
point B. Period. I've never seen cars as a status symbol or a sign of
virility (but I'm not into my mid-life crisis yet), so most of what I
see advertised is fluff... eye candy.
I DID mention to my wife that she might want to look at some of the new,
smaller SUVs. Neither of us like SUVs, and we really don't need one,
but the added height would enable her to see around the inconsiderate
morons who feel that they do need one while at a stop light or trying
to pull out of a parking space. If you've ever tried to back out of a
parking space with an SUV on either side of you, you know what I'm
talking about. And why do these SUV drivers feel the need to creep out
into the intersection while waiting for the light to change? I've seen
several that have crept out far enough that they couldn't see the light
when it did change. And their damned cell phones! PUT THE DAMNED THINGS
DOWN WHEN YOU'RE DRIVING, WILL YA?
Oops. Was that out loud? Sorry. [grin]
Anyway, I mentioned it to my wife, and she dismissed the idea out of
hand. Why? I don't know. She didn't like the idea of an SUV, and she's
the one who's going to be driving it. Even though I took the dismissal
of my suggestion in stride, most of the people who've checked back to
see what she ended up buying think she made the wrong choice.
For the record, she just bought a 2007 Ford Focus liftback. She's happy,
so I'm happy. But everyone else seems to feel that they know better and
keep arguing for the hybrid or the SUV or whatever. Well, I hope they
let me know when THEY are about to go car shopping. [grin]
It kind of reminds me of the old days when, if you wanted an affordable
home computer that could do graphics, there was the Atari ST and the
Amiga. The Mac doesn't count... remember that I said "affordable"?
Of course, I chose the Atari. The Amiga was more expensive, and while it
did have better graphics capabilities, it wasn't something that
bothered me... who could possibly need more than 256 colors in 300X200
resolution?? AND the Amiga's OS was loaded from disk. Obviously an
inferior option when compared to an OS that was simply 'there' when you
turned on the machine.
Then there were 'the others'. Those who chose the Amiga. They had their
reasons too. Better resolution, more colors, expandability, etc.
So, everyone was happy, right? Well, not so much. I can clearly remember
walking into my local Post Office one day wearing an ICD tee-shirt.
"Oh," said a young guy standing next to me, "You must have an Amiga".
"No," I replied.
"So... you gonna get one?" He asked.
"No thanks," I replied, "I've already got a doorstop."
I saw nothing wrong with this at the time. I'd chosen the computer that
gave me the most bang for the buck, sure that it'd hold me in good
stead for years without having to worry about upgrades to the OS and
hardware. Upgrading would only result in incompatibilities with things
that I was already using and really liked. Plus, I knew I wasn't going
to have buckets full of money to put into upgrades for a while.
Well, the Amiga went on to become the basis of the Video Toaster and
other cool things, and I started to think that maybe these poor,
misguided Amiga users might have a point or two. Of course, then the
MegaSTE, TT and Falcon030 came out and I was happy again. Even though I
didn't intend to purchase any of them, I was warmed by the idea that
'my side' was making strides.
Today I'm content using what I want to use, and helping those who are
misguided and using what they want to use. Oops. Okay, so I'm not as
evolved as I'd thought.
I want to take a minute and mention those horrible, horrible wildfires
out in California. The devastation and heartbreak are unimaginable to
me. I try not to interject my religious beliefs here in this column,
but if you're a mind to, say a prayer for those out there dealing with
this. Not only those who are finding themselves back at square one and
having to rebuild their homes and their lives, but those firefighters
doing battle with one of the true primeval forces of nature. Whether
the fires were set or whether they were due to the dry, hot conditions
and overgrown vegetation, the loss is going to be enormous on many
levels.
Okay, on with the reason for this column; the news, hints, tips and info
from the UseNet.
From the comp.sys.atari.st NewsGroup
====================================
Paul Matthews asks about where to find Atari apps:
"I am looking for full copies of the following Atari applications in
English please with manuals etc.
Kobold 3.5
NVDI 5 (Upgrade is fine as I already have version 4)
Jinee 2.5 or Ease 5
MagiC 6.2
ImageCopy 4CD
Positive Image 2
View II
Thats Write 3
Protext 6 "
Greg Goodwin tells Paul:
"You can have my copy of Positive Image 2 for the cost of the shipping
box and postage. I fear that I had much instability with that program
on my Falcon. Your experience may differ. Email me your worldly
location with Atari somewhere in the heading, and I'll reply."
Dave Wade jumps in and puts in his wish-list:
"I'd also like to upgrade my NVDI to V5. Any idea where I can do that
any one?"
Fidel-Sebastian Hunrichse-Lara tells Dave:
"Try this: "
Robert Bernardo posts this amazing tidbit:
"Gigantic surprise! Former CEO of Commodore Business
Machines and of Atari Corp., Jack Tramiel, will be making a
rare public appearance! Yesterday I received a message on
the answering machine from Karen Tucker, CMO/VP of Public
Programs for the Computer History Museum in Mountain
View (San Jose area), California. Here is part of what she
said:
... I thought you might be happy to know that the museum is
going to have a celebration of the impact of the Commodore 64
on December 10. It's kind of a 25th anniversary celebration,
and Jack Tramiel will speak as well as Steve Wozniak and
William C. Lowe, the father of the IBM PC, and Adam Chulaniak
(sp?) who was the Amiga guy at Commodore, and we're still
settling on the moderator. But I thought that if you are still
part of the Fresno Commodore User Group... that you guys
might want to make the trip down to Mountain View for this
event on December 10.
All day today I've been playing phone tag with Karen in
order to get more details and received another message
saying that the exact title of that night's program is "The
Impact of the Commodore 64: A 25-Year Celebration". More
details to come when I find out more.
The Computer History Museum is located at 1401 N. Shoreline Blvd.,
Mountain View, California 94043. The website is
http://www.computerhistory.org
I am so there for this event!"
Well folks, that's it for this week. Tune in again next week, same time,
same station, and be ready to listen to what they are saying when...
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
=~=~=~=
->In This Week's Gaming Section - Neverwinter Nights 2 Adventure Pack!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" "Mass Effect" Aims To Evoke Emotion!
Wii Sports Sweeps Board!
And more!
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News - The Latest Gaming News!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Atari Announces Neverwinter Nights 2 Adventure Pack
Atari, Inc. announced the development of the first Neverwinter Nights2
Adventure Pack to be available exclusively by digital download. Created
by Atari and some of the most prominent members of the Neverwinter
Nights 2 communities, Neverwinter Nights 2: Mysteries of Westgate
provides hours of additional entertainment with all new engrossing
storylines, professional voice acting, enchanting musical scores, new
in-game content, and much more. Neverwinter Nights 2 is set in the
Dungeons & Dragons Forgotten Realms universe created by Wizards of the
Coast, a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. Dungeons & Dragons is under license
from HPG, the licensing division of Hasbro.
Developed by Ossian Studios, Neverwinter Nights 2: Mysteries of Westgate
is the first full featured Adventure Pack available from Atari. Set in
the infamous Forgotten Realms city of Westgate, players find themselves
in possession of a powerful but cursed treasure that threatens to destroy
them. Linked to the underworld organization known as the Night Masks, the
treasure will draw players into a city-spanning clash between warring
factions. Players must choose their allegiance in order to break the
curse and ultimately uncover a plot that threatens Westgate itself.
"Our premium module program for the original Neverwinter Nights was an
enormous success due to the sheer amount of new, high-quality content we
provided in each adventure," said Hudson Piehl, Vice President of Product
Development, Atari, Inc. "With our new Adventure Packs, such as the
upcoming Neverwinter Nights 2: Mysteries of Westgate, we are evolving the
premium module: fans can expect higher production values, deep
storylines, and lengthy new campaigns they've come to associate with
Neverwinter Nights."
From the creators of the critically-acclaimed Neverwinter Nights module,
Darkness over Daggerford, Neverwinter Nights 2: Mysteries of Westgate
will feature a non-linear, open-ended single-player campaign with
numerous side quests covering more than 15 hours of game play. Atari's
new Adventure Pack will also feature 3 new companions; an entirely new
underground sewers tile set themed after the seedy underbelly of
Westgate; a host of new monsters to do battle with, including some truly
epic foes; an exciting new and original musical score; as well as
thousands of new lines of professionally recorded dialogue.
The Neverwinter Nights franchise has sold more than three million copies
worldwide, is translated into 10 languages, sold in more than 40 countries
and features one of the largest and most active fan communities in all of
gaming. To date, fans of the franchise, which includes Neverwinter Nights,
Neverwinter Nights: Shadows of Undrentide, Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of
the Underdark and Neverwinter Nights 2, have created more than 5,000
modifications to the original game using the award-winning toolset
included with the full game that allows players to create their own
universes, quests and storylines.
Neverwinter Nights 2: Mysteries of Westgate is scheduled for release in
fall 2007. The new Mysteries of Westgate, as well as future adventure
packs, require the original game and will be made available for purchase
and download directly from Atari. More information about Neverwinter
Nights 2 can be found at www.nwn2.com , which
includes user forums, project news, development updates and more.
"Mass Effect" Space Epic Aims To Evoke Emotion
Saving the galaxy from annihilation has to be emotional, according to a
Canadian video game developer who wants players of action role playing
title "Mass Effect" to weigh their choices carefully as they fight for the
future.
BioWare Corp, the Canadian game house being bought by Electronic Arts Inc,
is giving players a big swath of outer space to explore and defend with
its upcoming Xbox 360 title "Mass Effect."
But with some of the most realistic and best looking digital actors
available in any video game to date, BioWare is also out to prove it can
make players feel passionately about the characters in the story.
"These characters are living people, I mean they have personalities and
you literally interact with them in the way that you'd have real-life
conversations," Casey Hudson, the Mass Effect project director at BioWare,
said in an interview.
"You get to know them, you start to care about them."
Players are cast as Commander Shepard, an elite agent of the human
military, and tasked with saving the galaxy from an ancient race of
machines which wipe out all advanced organic life every 50,000 years.
To accomplish the mission, players are handed their own spaceship, a map
of the galaxy and a mandate to - in BioWare's words - "act without
remorse, without hesitation, and outside the limits of the law."
Players also have the say over everything from Shepard's appearance and
gender to his or her background story and abilities, as well as which
non-player characters emerge.
Voices in the game include actor Seth Green and Marina Sirtis, famous for
her role as Deanna Troi on the sci-fi TV show "Star Trek: The Next
Generation."
The title's customization options mesh with combat, exploration and
dialogue to create what BioWare says will be a trilogy over the lifespan
of the Xbox 360.
"The net effect of it is you really feel like it's a seamless,
emotionally compelling experience, where you're both the actor on the
stage and you're also the director of the entire movie, of this
interactive fiction," said BioWare chief executive officer Ray Muzyka.
The game hits shelves next month, but already a review in Game Informer
magazine gave it a score of 9.75 out of 10.
"Every demo that we've seen has shown substantial development of what
they've promised," said Jennifer Tsao, managing editor, Electronic Gaming
Monthly magazine. "There's every reason to expect that it will be an
award-winning game."
Muzyka dismissed fan concerns that the Electronic Arts takeover, announced
earlier in October, will impact on the quality of BioWare's games.
"We're not going to sacrifice quality because our fans deserve the best
and we're going to make sure that we continue to deliver that, each and
every game we make," Muzyka said.
EA Delays "Army of Two" To Early 2008
Electronic Arts Inc said on Monday it will delay "Army of Two" to early
next year, saying it needed more time to polish the military combat game.
"Army of Two," in which players play as one of a pair of mercenaries
carrying out missions, was originally slated to be released on
November 13 for Microsoft Corp's Xbox 360 and Sony Corp's PlayStation 3
consoles.
"'Army of Two' has potential to become a lasting EA franchise - so
getting the first title right is essential," Frank Gibeau, head of EA
Games, said in a statement.
Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter said he had expected the game to
do about $54 million in revenue in EA's fiscal third quarter, which runs
through December and was expected to bring the company revenue of $1.6
billion, according to Reuters Estimates.
"It's an important game for them if they hope to establish it as a
franchise," Pachter said. "It shouldn't have much of an impact, but the
market always seems to assume the worst about the company."
Wii Sports Sweeps Board At Game Awards
A Nintendo computer game that allows players to practice their golf swing
or fine-tune their tennis stroke in their living room has won six Bafta
awards.
The Japanese company's top-selling title "Wii Sports" swept the board at
the British Academy Video Games Awards in central London.
It was named best sports game and picked up five other awards, including
best gameplay, innovation and strategy.
Unlike most consoles, Nintendo's Wii uses a wireless, motion-sensitive
controller that can be used like a golf club, tennis racket or baseball
bat.
Wii Sports lost out in one of the main categories, beaten to the best game
prize by "BioShock," an acclaimed "first-person shooter" set in a
dystopian underwater city.
Two other games both picked up two prizes: organized crime thriller
"Crackdown" (action and adventure; use of audio) and the Greek mythology
game "God of War 2" (story and character; technical achievement).
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is best known for its
annual film awards, sometimes referred to as the "British Oscars." It has
awarded prizes to the year's best video games since 1997.
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE Gaming Online - Online Users Growl & Purr!
"""""""""""""""""""
Jack Tramiel at CHM!!!
Gigantic surprise! Former CEO of Commodore Business Machines and of Atari
Corp., Jack Tramiel, will be making a rare public appearance! Yesterday I
received a message on the answering machine from Karen Tucker, CMO/VP of
Public Programs for the Computer History Museum in Mountain View (San Jose
area), California. Here is part of what she said:
... I thought you might be happy to know that the museum is going to have
a celebration of the impact of the Commodore 64 on December 10. It's kind
of a 25th anniversary celebration, and Jack Tramiel will speak as well as
Steve Wozniak and William C. Lowe, the father of the IBM PC, and Adam
Chulaniak (sp?) who was the Amiga guy at Commodore, and we're still
settling on the moderator. But I thought that if you are still part of
the Fresno Commodore User Group... that you guys might want to make the
trip down to Mountain View for this event on December 10.
All day today I've been playing phone tag with Karen in order to get more
details and received another message saying that the exact title of that
night's program is "The Impact of the Commodore 64: A 25-Year
Celebration". More details to come when I find out more.
The Computer History Museum is located at 1401 N. Shoreline Blvd.,
Mountain View, California 94043. The website is
http://www.computerhistory.org
I am so there for this event!
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
The Other Group of Amigoids
http://www.calweb.com/~rabel1/
Update On Jack Tramiel At CHM
Today I was able to make phone contact with Karen Tucker of the Computer
History Museum and question her on the details for the event, "The Impact
of the Commodore 64: A 25-Year Celebration". Here are the specifics:
Location: Computer History Museum, 1401 N. Shoreline Blvd, (exit from the
101 Freeway) Mountain View, California 94043 Phone: 650 810-1010
Time and format of the event: Monday, Dec. 10
6 pm - 7 pm -- Museum member's reception with the guests.
Beer, wine, and hors' doeuvres served.
7 pm - 8:30 or 9 pm -- First words/speech by Jack Tramiel,
panel discussion, question-and-answer session
Afterwards, informal chit-chat and possible autographs
Admission -- for the reception, free to museum members ($65 membership)
for the event, free general admission ($10 donation requested)
Seating capacity -- 400
Webpage -- Karen remarks that they are "stupidly slow" at updating the
events' page at http://www.computerhistory.org/events/ but assures that
the event "is really going to happen... definitely".
Guests to speak/appear (updated) -- Jack Tramiel (pronounced /tra mel/,
Karen tells), former CEO of Commodore Business Machines
Steve Wozniak of Apple fame
William C. Lowe, father of the IBM PC
Adam Chowaniec, former vice-president of technology for Amiga at
Commodore Business Machines
John Markoff, moderator of the panel discussion and New York Times
reporter and author of the computer history book, "What the Dormouse"
Leonard Tramiel, former vice-president of software development and v.p.
of advanced technology at Atari Corporation
Jeri Ellsworth, engineer behind the CommodoreOne and the C64 DTV
Media recording - photography (no flash), videography, and audio-taping
permitted. Possible webcast from Liquid Computing of Canada
(Chowaniec's current company), which is sponsoring the event.
Some items are still in flux; when I have further updates, I will post
them.
Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
The Other Group of Amigoids
http://www.calweb.com/~rabel1/
=~=~=~=
A-ONE's Headline News
The Latest in Computer Technology News
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
Senate Approves Extension Of Internet Tax Ban
The Senate has approved legislation extending a moratorium on state
Internet access taxes for seven years.
With only days left before the Internet tax ban was set to expire, the
Senate reached a compromise between lawmakers who proposed a shorter
extension and those who insisted it should be made permanent.
"By keeping the Internet tax-free and affordable, Congress can encourage
Internet use for distance learning, telemedicine, commerce and other
important services," Sen. Ted Stevens, of Alaska, said in a statement on
Thursday night.
The vote came about two weeks after the House of Representatives approved
a four-year extension of the Internet tax ban.
The two chambers must work out their differences on the bill before a
final version can be approved and signed by President George W. Bush.
On Friday, Bush listed the Internet tax ban extension among a list of
tasks that Congress had failed to accomplish.
"I urge Congress to keep the Internet tax-free - and to get a bill to my
desk that I can sign," Bush said.
The state tax ban has been in place since 1998. It was last renewed by
Congress in 2004 for three years. It is scheduled to expire on
November 1.
Internet service providers say the price of Internet access could rise by
as much as 17 percent if the moratorium on state taxes were allowed to
expire.
Some senators, including many Republicans, had argued that a permanent
ban on Internet taxes is needed to spur more investment by broadband
service providers. They complained that Senate Democratic leaders had
blocked a vote on a permanent moratorium.
Apple Sets Leopard Operating Software Loose
Apple's upgraded Leopard operating system goes on sale Friday as
trend-setting iPods and iPhones cause the ranks of Macintosh computer
lovers to swell.
Eagerly-awaited by Apple's notoriously cultish followers, Leopard's
release was delayed so the company's engineers could devote their time to
getting iPhones to market in the United States in June.
Leopard features include playful "iChat" video-conferencing and a "Time
Machine" that resurrects lost data.
Time Machine was inspired by a survey that indicated only 26 percent of
Macintosh users regularly backed up information on their machines to avoid
losing it forever in system crashes.
The feature automatically copies music, pictures, applications, files and
"absolutely everything" a person puts on their Macintosh, according to
Apple vice president of platform experience Scott Forstall.
The operating system enables people to remotely search for files on all
computers connected to their network.
Leopard also has simple tools for people to create "widget" applications
that stream feeds such as news or syndicated cartoons from websites onto
small windows on computer screens.
It includes improved text-reading, Braille support, and closed-captioning
for people with disabilities.
Modifications to iChat allow people linked via web cameras to share slide
show presentations, playfully distort their pictures or insert fake
backdrops.
Rival Microsoft, whose software powers 90 percent of the world's
computers, released its own new operating system, Vista, in January.
Apple has been leveraging the popularity of its market-dominating iPod MP3
players and innovative iPhones to build on its following of Macintosh
users, according to industry analysts.
Microsoft Finally Bows To EU Antitrust Measures
Microsoft Corp ended three years of resistance on Monday, finally agreeing
to comply with a landmark 2004 antitrust decision by the European
Commission.
The defeated software giant announced it would not appeal against a
decisive European Union court ruling two months ago that backed the bloc's
executive Commission.
"The repercussions of these changes will start now and will continue for
years to come," Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes told a news
conference, adding that Microsoft's agreement would have "profound
effects" on the software industry.
"It is a victory for the consumer," she said.
Microsoft, which was fined nearly half a billion euros in 2004 and a
further 280.5 million euros ($400.6 million) in 2006 for non-compliance,
faced the prospect of steep new fines if it did not accommodate the
Commission.
"As from today Microsoft has established compliance, no doubt about
that," Kroes said. "There is no reason to impose further penalties on
Microsoft as of this day."
But Microsoft still faces fines for lack of compliance between 2006 and
now, potentially reaching hundreds of millions of euros.
Among other reversals, Microsoft will make available to so-called "open
source" software developers information they need to make their programs
work smoothly with Microsoft's Windows operating system for personal
computers.
Microsoft also slashed high royalties that commercial firms would pay for
that interoperability information.
Microsoft suffered a major legal defeat in September when the EU's
second-highest court backed the Commission on all major points, ruling the
world's largest software maker abused its dominant market position to
crush rivals.
Microsoft's Windows runs on 95 percent of the world's personal computers.
The Court of First Instance said Microsoft must give rival makers of
server software information they need to connect smoothly to Windows
desktop software.
Office desktop PCs use work group server software made by Microsoft and
others to sign on to, print and access files.
Microsoft drastically altered its royalty program on the interconnection
information as part of its agreement.
Open source software developers, such as Samba, will be able to access
and use the interoperability information and Microsoft will assert no
patent rights against them.
Commercial developers such as IBM or Red Hat must pay a license fee of 0.4
percent of revenues to Microsoft when they redistribute that software, to
protect against patent challenges.
That is far less than the 5.95 percent Microsoft had demanded, but it was
unclear whether it would meet Samba's General Public License prohibiting
any royalties.
"We will have to wait and see what the actual documents are," said Carlo
Piana, a lawyer for Samba in Milan.
Those who do not need interconnnect information on which Microsoft claims
patents can make a one-off payment of 10,000 euros for a license.
As Microsoft updates its software or adds new software that, too, will be
covered by the decision. Disagreements will be settled in London's High
Court.
Microsoft said its discussions with the Commission were constructive and
it "will continue to work closely with the Commission and the industry to
ensure a flourishing and competitive environment for information
technology."
The non-profit European Committee of Interoperable Systems expressed
satisfaction with the commission's pursuit of Microsoft.
"As always, it is essential that the commission continues vigorously to
monitor Microsoft's compliance," the organization said in a statement.
Microsoft's new stance was signaled earlier this month, when the company
withdrew from an appeal against a South Korean antitrust ruling. It had
appealed to the Seoul High Court.
Kroes personally negotiated with Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer
in conversations and over a meal at a restaurant near her hometown of
Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, she said.
"I paid for the dinner," she told the news conference.
Microsoft Formally Withdraws Remaining EU Appeals
Microsoft Corp said on Wednesday it had formally withdrawn two remaining
appeals before the European Union's Court of First Instance against
European Commission antitrust decisions.
On Monday, the company had dropped appeals against a separate Court of
First Instance decision. That decision, announced in December, backed the
Commission's 2004 antitrust ruling against the software company.
"Microsoft formally discontinued its appeal" seeking to annul a 280.5
million euro ($399 million) fine imposed by the Commission for
non-compliance with a remedy, it said on Wednesday.
That remedy, part of the 2004 decision, had required the company to
provide some software information to rivals.
Microsoft also on Wednesday dropped an appeal against a Commission
decision that the company said required it to license trade secrets on an
open source basis. That, too, grew out of the 2004 ruling.
U.S. Won't Extend Microsoft Antitrust Sanctions
The U.S. Department of Justice said it will not seek to extend the
restrictions placed on Microsoft Corp.'s business practices following its
antitrust settlement with the U.S. government in 2002.
Many of the restrictions are due to expire Nov. 12, and last week several
U.S. states filed motions in favor of extending them for a further five
years. Four of those states - New York, Maryland, Louisiana and Florida -
had previously said they opposed an extension.
The DOJ had also opposed the extension, and on Friday it made it clear
that it would not be making a turnabout like the four U.S. states.
"The United States will not file a motion to extend its Final Judgment as
it does not believe that the standard for such an extension has been met,"
the DOJ said in a court filing with the U.S. District Court, District of
Columbia.
The restrictions were part of the 2002 "consent decree" that settled the
U.S. government's case against Microsoft. They prohibit Microsoft from
retaliating against PC makers that install its competitors' software, or
licensing its software to them on unequal terms.
Another requirement - that Microsoft license its APIs (application
programming interfaces) to let rival products interoperate with Windows -
has already been extended for two years.
The DOJ didn't explain its decision Friday. In August it said it felt the
judgment had been successful in preventing Microsoft from continuing its
exclusionary behavior.
The states who favor an extension disagree. They say operating systems
haven't evolved as quickly as people thought they would in 2002, and that
Microsoft could still use the dominance of Internet Explorer to choke
competitors in the emerging Web 2.0 world.
A status hearing that will likely address extending the restrictions is
scheduled for Nov. 6 with District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly.
The other states pushing for an extension are California, Connecticut,
Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Massachusetts and the District of Columbia.
Separately last month the DOJ raised hackles in Europe by criticizing the
European Union's decision to reject Microsoft's appeal of its antitrust
decision there.
Laptop Foundation Production Delay Means Shortage
A non-profit group developing a low-cost laptop for poor children said
that a production delay would cause a shortage of computers available in
the United States and Canada as part of a holiday giving program.
The $188 string-pulley-charged XO laptop was scheduled to go into
production at a Chinese factory in October, but it is now slated to begin
by November 12, said Mary Lou Jepsen, chief technology officer for the
One Laptop per Child Foundation.
"We had some last-minute bugs. We've resolved them," she said in a recent
interview, adding that the group expected to produce 100,000 laptops this
year.
An October launch would have given the group time to produce and ship
tens of thousands of laptops to Peru and Uruguay, the first two countries
to order the laptops.
It would now be tough to get those laptops to South America by December,
in time for kids to use them over their summer vacation, and also meet
orders for the foundation's Give 1 Get 1 scheme for people in the United
States and Canada, she said.
For $400, Give 1 Get 1 provides buyers with a laptop of their own plus a
second machine to a poor child overseas.
The laptop features a string-pulley to charge its battery, a keyboard
that switches between languages, a digital video camera, wireless
connectivity and Linux open-source operating software tailored for remote
regions.
The display switches from color to black-and-white for viewing in direct
sunlight - a feature unavailable in laptops at least 10 times more
expensive.
It needs just 2 watts of power compared with a typical laptop's 30 to 40
watts, and does away with hard drives, relying instead on flash memory
and 4 USB ports to add memory devices. The group is experimenting with a
device that uses cows to generate power to charge its battery.
The fourth quarter is the busiest time of the year at computer plants in
China, which produce the bulk of PCs from companies such as
Hewlett-Packard Co, Dell Inc and Apple Inc.
Jepsen said some laptop customers in the United States and Canada would
be able to get their PCs before the holidays, but they would be shipped
on a first-come, first-served basis.
"Order early," she said.
The foundation will accept orders on its Web site,
http://www.laptopgiving.org/, from November 12.
Storm Worm Now Just a Squall
The Storm Worm's days may be numbered, according to a University of
California researcher.
Brandon Enright, a network security analyst at UC San Diego, has been
tracking Storm since July and said that, despite the intense publicity
that the network of infected computers has received, it's actually been
shrinking steadily and is presently a shadow of its former self. On
Saturday, he presented his findings at the Toorcon hacker conference in
San Diego.
Storm is not really a computer worm. It's a network of computers that have
been infected via malicious e-mail messages, and are centrally controlled
via the Overnet P-to-P protocol. Enright said he has developed software
that crawls through the Storm network and he thinks that he has a pretty
accurate estimate of how big Storm really is.
Some estimates have put Storm at 50 million computers, a number that would
give its controllers access to more processing power than the world's most
powerful supercomputer. But Enright said that the real story is
significantly less terrifying. In July, for example, he said that Storm
appeared to have infected about 1.5 million PCs, about 200,000 of which
were accessible at any given time.
Enright guessed that a total of about 15 million PCs have been infected by
Storm in the nine months it has been around, although the vast majority of
those have been cleaned up and are no longer part of the Storm network.
Since July, it's been downhill for Storm. That's when antivirus vendors
began stepping up their tracking of Storm variants and got a lot better at
identifying and cleaning up infected computers, Enright said.
Then on September 11, Microsoftadded Storm detection (Microsoft's name for
Storm's components is Win32/Nuwar) into its Malicious Software Removal
tool, which ships with every Windows system. Overnight, Storm infections
dropped by another 20 percent.
Today, Enright said that Storm is about one-tenth of its former size. His
most recent data counts 20,000 infected PCs available at any one time, out
of a total network of about 160,000 computers. "The size of the network
has been falling pretty rapidly and pretty consistently," he said.
Still, Storm has had a remarkably successful run. It's called Storm
because it first popped up in mid-January in spam e-mails that offered
late-breaking information on powerful storms that had been battering
Europe. Users who clicked on the "Full Story.exe" or "Video.exe"
attachments that accompanied the spam were infected by malicious
software, making them part of the Storm network.
These machines were then used to send out more spam and launch attacks
against other computers. The recent MP3 stock spam that was first spotted
earlier this week was sent out by the Storm network, Enright said.
Storm was effective because its creators were really good at creating
messages that victims would feel compelled to click, Enright said. In its
first few days, it managed to infect more than 300,000 computers, making
it the worst malware outbreak since 2005. Its creators have since been
masters at creating timely messages for their spam and have also had
success getting victims to click on fake e-greeting cards.
The Storm network itself is constantly changing, and has used a variety of
technologies that have made it an interesting phenomenon to study. In
addition to the peer to peer network, it has used rootkit software to
disguise its presence on the PC and a server-switching technique called
"fast-flux," which makes the Storm servers harder to find on the network.
It's also developed some interesting ways of keeping researchers like
Enright at bay. "If you're a researcher and you hit the pages hosting the
malware too much... there is an automated process that automatically
launches a denial of service [attack] against you," he said. This attack,
which floods the victim's computer with a deluge of Internet traffic,
knocked part of the UC San Diego network offline when it first struck.
Lately Storm has been responsible for a large quantity of "pump and dump"
spam, which tries to temporarily boost the price of penny stocks. But one
area that does not seem to be of interest to Storm's creators is identity
theft. "Believe it or not, credit card numbers aren't worth that much
money," Enright said. "It's much better to make money... via pump and
dump."
Parents More Ambivalent About Net
Parents have become more ambivalent about the Internet, with a new study
finding fewer of them considering it good for their children.
The Pew Internet and American Life Project said Wednesday that about 59
percent of Americans with children ages 12-17 consider the Internet a
positive influence on their kids. That is based on a 2006 survey, the
latest available on the topic, and represents a drop from 67 percent in
2004.
Meanwhile, those who do not believe the Internet has had an effect one way
or the other increased to 30 percent, from 25 percent.
"The Internet for a lot of parents is now a mature technology," said
Amanda Lenhart, senior research specialist at Pew. "They are not in a
honeymoon period with the Internet anymore. They are realizing the
Internet is something with good and bad things."
In both years, only a small percentage consider the Internet bad. Although
parents are hearing about sexual predators and other dangers online,
Lenhart said, they also see the Internet's benefits for homework.
"Parents are seeing both sides of the coin," she said.
The study found parents more concerned about content than time spent
online. Sixty-eight percent said they have rules about sites their
children can or cannot visit, while only 55 percent control the amount of
time they can spend online.
"Time use is seen as problematic for reasons related to obesity, but
parents are more concerned about keeping their children sheltered and safe
from a lot of the images and things that come through the content on the
Internet," Lenhart said.
Parents were more likely than their children to own desktop computers,
laptops, cell phones and personal digital assistants, but the kids were
more likely to have Apple Inc.'s iPods and other digital music players;
51 percent of children vs. 29 percent of parents.
Children were more likely than parents to consider computers and gadgets
helpful to their lives. Among parents, mothers were more likely than
fathers to praise technology.
The study of 935 sets of U.S. parents and children was conducted by
telephone Oct. 23-Nov. 19, 2006. It has a margin of sampling error of
plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
Post Office Forwards. Is E-mail Next?
The post office forwards letters when a person moves, and telephone
companies likewise forward calls. Should Internet companies be required to
forward e-mails to customers who switch providers?
There is no mandate governing e-mail forwarding, and industry officials
say imposing one would be costly and unnecessary. But federal regulators
are looking at the issue more closely following a complaint from a former
America Online customer who claims an abrupt termination of service
devastated her business.
Gail Mortenson, a Washington-based freelance editor, in July filed a
six-page petition with the Federal Communications Commission, which opened
a 30-day public comment period that ends Oct. 26, followed by another
30-day period for replies.
Mortenson said in her complaint that she lost potential clients because
they couldn't reach her, and she requested that Internet service
providers, such as Time Warner Inc.'s AOL LLC, be required to forward
e-mail traffic from a closed account to a new e-mail address designated
by customers for at least six months.
FCC spokesman Clyde Ensslin said he wasn't aware of previous petitions
regarding e-mail address forwarding or portability.
While mainstream consumer groups have not taken up the cause, it is
starting to gain some attention in Congress.
Mortenson said a representative from the House Oversight and Government
Reform Committee, chaired by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., contacted her
Monday to say they were watching to see how FCC handles her complaint.
Messages left for the committee on Tuesday were not immediately returned.
Internet providers, including Time Warner Cable Inc., Comcast Corp. and
Verizon Communications Inc., as well as Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc., which
provide e-mail services, declined to comment. Several said it's the first
time they've heard about the issue.
Kate Dean, executive director of the U.S. Internet Service Provider
Association - a trade group whose members include AOL, Verizon and Comcast
- said it will respond to Mortenson's petition, but declined to make any
comments until then.
Some companies, such as Yahoo and Google, allow their e-mail users to
forward incoming mail to another address. There are other companies, such
as Pobox.com, that also provide an e-mail forwarding service.
Richi Jennings, an analyst with San Francisco-based Ferris Research, said
he imagines the FCC could mandate that companies provide a free e-mail
forwarding service, but doubts that it would
"Such a forwarding service would cost the service providers money in
network bandwidth, server utilization and operational overhead," he wrote
in an e-mail. "Service providers typically operate with low margins,
relying on volume to make acceptable profit."
Art Brodsky, spokesman for Public Knowledge, a public interest group,
said there's ample consumer competition in the market and doesn't think
the FCC will do anything further.
The company closed Mortenson's account last December soon after the
company learned it was actually opened by her son several years earlier
when he was a young teenager. The account was still in his name although
Mortenson was paying for it.
AOL spokeswoman Anne Bentley wrote in an e-mail to the Associated Press
that AOL is still investigating the facts of Mortenson's petition, but
said it has "strict policies to prevent minors from creating paid AOL
member accounts."
She also said the company doesn't believe circumstances related to
Mortenson's account "present any issue of public policy."
Mortenson said she wasn't given any warning and lost personal and
professional e-mails, documents, contact information and other materials
associated with her AOL screen name. She said the action hurt her
business at the time and is considering a civil lawsuit against the
Dulles, Va.-based company.
Mortenson, who now has two e-mail accounts from different companies, said
she complained numerous times to the company before filing the petition
with the FCC.
"Many people think it's a very stupid idea," she said. "My reason for
doing this is to get AOL's attention. They didn't care about the adverse
effects this was going to have on me."
After Theft, Tech Support Call Lands Man In Jail
Here's a tip: If you steal a printer used to print driver's licenses,
don't call the manufacturer asking for driver software.
It's a lesson that Timothy Scott Short learned all too well this month,
when he got arrested after placing a couple of calls to Digimarc's tech
support line.
Short, 33, is facing felony charges for possession of "document-making
implements" in connection with the theft of a Digimarc printer used by
the state of Missouri to manufacture driver's licenses.
The printer, along with a PC, were stolen on the evening of Oct. 5 from
the St. Charles contract office of the Missouri Department of Revenue,
said Trish Vincent, director of the department. These offices are run by
individuals who are subcontracted by the department to issue driver's
licenses, Vincent said. The pilfered printer could be used to produce a
license, Vincent said.
The PC, however, was locked with a key, and because the key was stored
in a secure location, the PC was unusable to the thief, said Vincent.
So what do you do when you have a stolen driver's license printer, but
can't use the PC that goes with it? Enter Digimarc's tech support line.
According to a sworn statement by Secret Service Special Agent John
Bush, someone who identified himself as "Scott" called Digimarc two days
later and asked if he could buy printer drivers for the model of printer
that had been swiped from the St. Charles office.
The Secret Service agent later listened to a recording of this call and
recognized Short's voice from a prior investigation, Bush said. The
caller also gave Digimarc the same phone number Short had used in an
unrelated identity theft case, Bush said.
Short was charged on Oct. 11, and is facing 10 years in prison and a
$250,000 fine, according to court filings.
"The stolen equipment contains the identifying information and
photographs of between 200 to 500 Missouri residents," Bush said in the
statement. "The only use of the equipment is the manufacture of state
identification documents."
The state has sent notification letters to those affected by the theft,
Vincent said. The computer contained name, address, and date of birth
data, but not Social Security numbers, she added.
Digimarc declined to explain how the Secret Service ended up listening
to its customer support calls. "Because of a confidentiality agreement
with our customer and because this is a criminal matter, we are not
able to comment on the incident," said Digimarc spokeswoman Leslie
Constans.
=~=~=~=
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