Silicon Times Report The Original Independent OnLine Magazine" (Since 1987) August 02, 1996 No.1231 Silicon Times Report International OnLine Magazine Post Office Box 6672 Jacksonville, Florida 32221-6155 STR Electronic Publishing Inc. A subsidiary of STR Worldwide CompNews Inc. R.F. Mariano, Editor Voice: 1-904-292-9222 10am-5pm EST STReport WebSite http://www.streport.com STR Publishing Support BBS THE BOUNTY INTERNATIONAL BBS Featuring: * 5.0GB * of File Libraries Mustang Software's WILDCAT! 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RIP STReport International OnLine Magazine Featuring Weekly "Accurate UP-TO-DATE News and Information" Current Events, Original Articles, Tips, Rumors, and Information Hardware - Software - Corporate - R & D - Imports STReport's BBS - The Bounty International BBS, invites all BBS systems, worldwide, to participate in the ITC, Fido, Internet, PROWL, USENET, USPOLNet, NEST, F-Net, Mail Networks. You may also call The Bounty BBS direct @ 1-904-268-4116. Enjoy the wonder and excitement of exchanging all types of useful information relative to all computer types, worldwide, through the use of excellent International Networking Systems. SysOps and users alike worldwide, are welcome to join STReport's International Conferences. ITC Node is 85:881/250, The Fido Node is 1:112/35, Crossnet Code is #34813, and the "Lead Node" is #620. All computer enthusiasts, hobbyist or commercial, on all platforms and BBS systems are invited to participate. WEB SITE: http//www.streport.com CIS ~ PRODIGY ~ DELPHI ~ GENIE ~ BIX ~ FIDO ~ ITC ~ NEST ~ EURONET ~ CIX ~ USENET USPOLNET CLEVELAND FREE-NET ~ INTERNET ~ PROWL ~ FNET ~ AOL IMPORTANT NOTICE STReport, with its policy of not accepting any input relative to content from paid advertisers, has over the years developed the reputation of "saying it like it really is". When it comes to our editorials, product evaluations, reviews and over-views, we shall always keep our readers interests first and foremost. With the user in mind, STReport further pledges to maintain the reader confidence that has been developed over the years and to continue "living up to such". All we ask is that our readers make certain the manufacturers, publishers etc., know exactly where the information about their products appeared. In closing, we shall arduously endeavor to meet and further develop the high standards of straight forwardness our readers have come to expect in each and every issue. The Publisher, Staff & Editors Florida Lotto - LottoMan v1.35 Results: 7/21/96: 3 of 6 numbers, no matches From the Editor's Desk... On the political scene. Dole is busy "wooing & romancing" Hollywood but a scant six months ago he was very busy crucifying Tinsel Town. over the types of movies they were producing. Its amazing what a little campaign money can accomplish. Its sad that they still lock up legit prostitutes. Perhaps the Prostitute Laws should be expanded to campaigning politicians. Dole has yet to name a running mate. I hope he does name Connie Mack R-FL, that's a certain boat anchor for Dole. On the computing front there is good news for the serious minded computerists. Windows NT 4.0 and NT Server 4.0 went retail this past week. This is the muscle twins of the computing world. NT is, by far, the most secure and sure footed of MS offerings for the business community. Just imagine what its going to be like when the great meeting takes place in Cairo. We're just getting bits and pieces of a big shakeup at CompuServe. NISA - HMI it's all gone. Stay tuned we'll have all the particulars next week. Additionally, there's a bit of internal cattiness and silly censorship having between two forums. Its seems that some folks get a title added to their name and it goes straight to their heads. Must be an "Old World Trait" or, so it would seem. Unbelievably, the "informed" new leaders at CIS feel WOW is a success and the familiar CIS is "on the wane". Additionally, the "new deal" for CIS has the idea that instead of an account exec.. an "editor" overseeing the "content" of each forum. For the record this reporter feels all WOW can offer at this time is "eye candy and a "Peter Pan & Mary Poppins like atmosphere". This is a success??? Its a joke and a bad one at that. If they stay on their present course.. CompuServe as we all know it will be no more by year's end. Obviously, those in charge there are more interested in catering to the teen and young adult segment. Think its a bit premature?? Ask around about how many substantial CIS contract holders are already shopping around. Stay tuned. This one is going to get interesting. Also for next week. expect a report on building a powerhouse computer on a budget. From the first turn of the screwdriver to the flipping of the switch, we'll take you on a step by step journey. Hopefully, we'll be able to steer a few good folks away from the gouge artists out there by giving some good information and sources. Ralph... Of Special Note: http//www.streport.com STReport is now ready to offer much more in the way of serving the Networks, Online Services and Internet's vast, fast growing site list and userbase. We now have our very own WEB/NewsGroup/FTP Site and although its in its early stages of construction, do stop by and have a look see. Since We've received numerous requests to receive STReport from a wide variety of Internet addressees, we were compelled to put together an Internet distribution/mailing list for those who wished to receive STReport on a regular basis, the file is ZIPPED, then UUENCODED. Unfortunately, we've also received a number of opinions that the UUENCODING was a real pain to deal with. So, as of October 01,1995, you'll be able to download STReport directly from our very own SERVER & WEB Site. While there, be sure to join our STR list. STReport's managing editors DEDICATED TO SERVING YOU! Ralph F. Mariano, Publisher - Editor Dana P. Jacobson, Editor, Current Affairs Section Editors PC Section Mac Section Atari Section R.F. Mariano J. Deegan D. P.Jacobson Portable Computers & Entertainment Kid's Computing Corner Marty Mankins Frank Sereno STReport Staff Editors Michael Arthur John Deegan Brad Martin John Szczepanik Paul Guillot Joseph Mirando Doyle Helms John Duckworth Jeff Coe Steve Keipe Victor Mariano Melanie Bell Jay Levy Jeff Kovach Marty Mankins Carl Prehn Paul Charchian Vincent P. O'Hara Contributing Correspondents Dominick J. Fontana Norman Boucher Daniel Stidham David H. Mann Angelo Marasco Donna Lines Ed Westhusing Glenwood Drake Vernon W.Smith Bruno Puglia Paul Haris Kevin Miller Craig Harris Allen Chang Tim Holt Ron Satchwill Leonard Worzala Tom Sherwin Please submit ALL letters, rebuttals, articles, reviews, etc... via E-Mail to: CompuServe 70007,4454 Prodigy CZGJ44A Delphi RMARIANO BIX RMARIANO FIDONET 1:112/35 ITC NET 85:881/253 AOL STReport Internet rmariano@streport.com Internet CZGJ44A@prodigy.com Internet 70007.4454.compuserve.com Internet STReport@AOL.Com WORLD WIDE WEB http://www.streport.com STReport Headline News LATE BREAKING INDUSTRY-WIDE NEWS Weekly Happenings in the Computer World Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson Lawmakers Weigh Encryption A U.S. Senate panel considering legislation to ease U.S. restrictions on the export of encryption software will hear testimony from FBI Director Louis Freeh. As noted earlier, Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Montana, has introduced legislation that would ease limits on export of data-scrambling technology. Earlier, a Commerce subcommittee heard extensive testimony from the computer industry, which argues that current U.S. policy threatens its status a global technology leader. Now the panel will hear from Freeh as well as William Reinsch, undersecretary of the Commerce Department's Bureau of Export Administration, and William Crowell, deputy director of the National Security Agency. Anticipating tomorrow's testimony, the Dow Jones news service quotes a statement from Burns as saying, "This is the first time the administration has been asked to defend its outdated encryption policies in front of the Senate. This hearing could play a major role in determining the fate of the Pro-Code bill." DJ notes Pro-Code refers to the title of the legislation, the "Promotion of Commerce Online in the Digital Era Act of 1996." Says the wire service, "Supporters of the bill include GOP presidential hopeful Robert Dole; Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Larry Pressler, R-South Dakota; Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont; and Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona." The senators also will hear testimony from James Barksdale, president/CEO of Netscape Communications Corp. and a vocal critic of current U.S. encryption policy, as well as Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, and Roel Pieper, president/CEO of Tandem Computers Inc. Freeh Fears Free Encryption FBI Director Louis Freeh has told a congressional committee he thinks eliminating U.S. export restrictions on computer encryption would gravely harm law enforcement efforts to catch criminals and terrorists. Offering the Clinton administration's case against a bipartisan proposal to relax existing export rules at a Senate Commerce Committee hearingyesterday, Freeh said, "The bills that are before the committee are remarkably devoid of even a reference to public safety or to law enforcement." As reported, use of encryption within the U.S. is unregulated, but a Cold War-era munitions statute specifies that only weak coding programs can be exported. Most of those export restrictions would be abolished under Senate bill 1726, the Promotion of Commerce Online in the Digital Era Act of 1996. Such encryption uses mathematical formulas to scramble information and render it unreadable without a password or software "key," and Freeh and the administration support an alternative approach backed by the administration, and barred by bill 1726, known as key escrow. Associated Press writer Curt Anderson says Freeh told the senators a man charged with plotting to blow up 11 U.S. airliners used computer security codes so powerful the FBI hasn't been able to crack them. The sophisticated encryption codes were used by Ramzi Yousef, an Islamic militant who is being tried in New York and also faces charges as the alleged mastermind of the World Trade Center bombing, Freeh said. Added Freeh, "Encryption products used unchecked by criminals and terrorists for their illegal activities pose an extremely serious and, I believe, unacceptable threat." Meanwhile, Aaron Pressman of the Reuter News Service quotes Freeh as adding, "The danger results in criminals and terrorists being able to encrypt telephone calls that cannot be deciphered and to encrypt computer files in ways that are unbreakable," Freeh said. "But the technology that makes encryption possible has also produced an answer to the problem in providing a balance. It is called key escrow, key recovery or trusted third party system." At the same hearing, representatives of U.S. computer companies said they are losing sales to foreign companies willing to sell robust encryption programs without key escrow. Netscape Communications Corp. president James Barksdale said his company will lose $40 million in sales this year o competitors in Europe and around the globe. Barksdale testified, "Just as U.S. consumers bought fuel-efficient cars from Japan during the energy crisis of the 1970s, consumers are turning to security-proficient software products from non-U.S. firms during the Internet explosion of the 1990s." Barksdale and others argued that criminals would evade any U.S. scheme for key escrow encryption by using foreign or homemade coding products. Reuters notes Japan, where wiretaps are prohibited, has shown little interest in key escrow, former U.S. ambassador to Venezuela Michael Skol testified. Japan's Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. is selling a complex encryption computer chip for about $100. On this point, Freeh conceded, "If a few countries, particularly key countries, don't adopt this, that's a great vulnerability in the system." However, so far, he said, encryption is not widely used in the United States or abroad. Only about 5 percent of specimens submitted to the FBI computer analysis lab show incidences of encryption which are troubling, Freeh said. "We do not yet have in the United States an encryption crisis," Freeh said, but broad export of encryption by U.S. companies would make unbreakable coded messages "routine" in the future. "What I'm very fearful of, and what I think everybody in this room needs to be fearful of," said Freeh, "is a situation where as a matter of policy the United States has promoted and exported robust, unaccessible encryption ... that builds up infrastructures where this capability is so routine." N.Y. Judges Reject Net Curbs Saying the measure bans constitutionally protected speech between adults, New York federal judges have blocked enforcement of a new law aimed at regulating indecent material on the Internet. Judges from the Southern District of New York granted an injunction sought by the editor of The American Reporter, an online newspaper, who argued that the law was too broad. This ruling comes on the heels of last month's judge by a Philadelphia panel that also found a key part of the law to be unconstitutional. Law correspondent Gail Appleson of United Press International notes the previous ruling went farther than the one issued in New York by finding the law too vague as well as too broad. At issue here is the controversial Computer Decency Act of 1996, passed overwhelmingly by Congress as part of the broader Telecommunications Act of 1996 and signed by President Bill Clinton on Feb. 8. As noted, because lawmakers expected immediate constitutional challenges, they included provisions allowing swift appeals first through special panels and then directly to the U.S. Supreme Court. Part of the law, known as 223(d), makes it a crime to make indecent material available on computer systems that are accessible to children and provides for prison terms of two years and an $250,000 fine if indecent material is transmitted to minors. However, the New York panel said government attempts to limit offensive material to children also would place unacceptable restrictions on adults. It said the section not only regulates how pornographic material is sold and advertised, but "how private individuals who choose to exchange certain constitutionally protected communications with one another can do so." Says the New York ruling, "The question presented is whether our Constitution tolerates this level of governmental intrusion into how adults speak to one another ... We reach the inescapable conclusion that 223(d) will serve to chill protected speech." UPI says the panel -- comprised Jose Cabranes of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals and District Judges Leonard Sand and Denise Cote -- discussed software designed to enable parents to limit children's exposure to inappropriate material, saying, "Indecent content on the Internet ordinarily does not assault a user without warning: a child cannot gain access to Internet content with the touch of a remote control and while accidental viewing of indecent content is possible, there is no evidence in this record to suggest that it is likely." Appleson quotes the ruling as adding that while parents can take steps to restrict access by their children, content providers have no way of guaranteeing that indecent material will not reach a minor. The wire service reports, "The judges said that the only way a content provider would comply with the section would be to refrain from sending out the objectionable material." Said the panel, "Because adults would lack means of engaging in constitutionally protected indecent communications over the Internet without fear of criminal liability, the statute would unquestionably be unconstitutional." AT&T, Microsoft Ink Pact An agreement to jointly promote and distribute each other's Internet products has been signed by AT&T Corp. and Microsoft Corp. Reporting from Microsoft's Redmond, Washington, headquarters, United Press International says AT&T's WorldNet Service, which provides access to the Internet, will distribute Microsoft Internet Explorer software starting in the early fall. Additionally, the AT&T access service will be included with Micrsoft Windows 95 software. "Microsoft has been scrambling," UPI comments, "to form such alliances in order to set itself up as the leading player for software for Internet and for internal corporate networks, known as Intranets. However, it has fallen well behind Netscape Communications Corp. in the key category of browser software." Meanwhile, AT&T has been actively pushing its Internet access service, after announcing Feb. 27 that it would offer its 80 million residential customers a year of free trial access to the global computer network of five hours per month. "We are pleased to offer the browser many of our customers have been asking for, Microsoft Internet Explorer," AT&T Vice President Tom Evslin told the wire service. NEC, Ipsilon Make Net Tie-up A tie-up with U.S.-based Ipsilon Networks to market switching systems that allow fast data transmission on the Internet and on internal corporate communications networks called intranets has been announced by Japanese electronics giant NEC Corp. Reporting from Tokyo, The Associated Press says the switching systems, developed by Ipsilon, will cost up to $200,000 each. NEC officials told the wire service the companies expect annual sales of the systems in Japan to rise to $360 million by 2001. The companies also plan to sell the systems jointly outside Japan, but don't have concrete plans yet. AP says Ipsilon will provide Internet protocol software for the systems, while NEC will provide asynchronous transfer mode hardware. Hirokazu Otsuka, head of NEC's data transmission department, told AP the systems process information 100 times faster than present data-routing technology and can handle larger amounts of information. Caldera Alleges Microsoft Unfair A small software firm backed by Novell Inc. founder Ray Noorda has sued Microsoft Corp., alleging the software giant willfully maintains a monopoly over its operating software through unlawful pricing, programming and licensing. Salt Lake City-based Caldera, seeking an unspecified amount of damages, filed the antitrust suit Tuesday in U.S. District Court here, a day before it acquired the DR-DOS operating system from Novell, according to The Associated Press. AP quotes Caldera attorney Stephen D. Susman as saying the company is pursuing the matter to "open the market to Microsoft competitors." And Caldera CEO Bryan Sparks told the wire service, "This is a landmark case in our industry. We're in a unique position (to sue Microsoft) because as a company we sell a product and we're not reliant on Microsoft for technology exchange." Adds Susman, "It is our intention to finish the job the Justice Department left unfinished when it settled its antitrust complaint through consent decree." The Caldera suit comes two years after Microsoft settled an antitrus case brought by the U.S. Justice Department over its base operating system product. Microsoft was forced to change contracts with personal computer manufacturers that purportedly shut out competing operating system software. As reported, in that agreement, Microsoft neither admitted or denied guilt. Meanwhile, Microsoft spokesman Mark Murray told AP, "We have not yet seen the complaint but based on the press release, this appears to be simply a rehash of tired old allegations that are completely without merit. It's ironic given all of the new competition and innovation that's going on in the software industry today that Caldera is filing a lawsuit about outdated technology that the market has long left behind." DR DOS, an operating system developed by Digital Research Inc. to rival MS-DOS, was purchased by Novell in 1991 and discontinued in 1994. AP says Caldera plans to reintroduce the full line of DR DOS products and offer additional product features. "Among the allegations," says AP, "Caldera accuses Microsoft of advertising in May 1990 a comparable product to DR DOS 5.0 well before the product was released in June 1991. The practice is known in the industry as 'vaporware.' When the software was released, 'it did not offer the features Microsoft had promised,' according to the suit." In addition, Caldera questions Microsoft's contract and licensing agreements. The suit says PC manufacturers "were required to pay Microsoft a royalty on every PC they sold regardless of whether it contains Microsoft's MS-DOS, some other software developer's DOS software or no operating system software." And the complaint adds, "Microsoft also informed certain PC manufactures that they could not obtain Windows or be given access to essential information, product support and service if they did not purchase and ship MS-DOS, to the exclusion of DR DOS." AP says Caldera was founded in 1994 by Sparks with funding from Noorda. The company is making a commercial version of the Linux operating system for workstations and advanced personal computers. Netscape Challenges Microsoft In what is being seen as the latest development in an ongoing battle with Microsoft Corp., Netscape Communications Corp. has released details of technical standards software developers can use to make sure their programs can work together over private computer networks. Reporting from Netscape's Mountain View, Calif., headquarters, The Associated Press quotes Netscape also as saying 21 companies have agreed to include Netscape Open Network Environment standards in their software tools products. "Such tools," says AP, "will let programmers dice their programs into parts. The parts should be able to accomplish their task in the original program or in another one. The idea is similar to the construction of recent office productivity programs, in which a spreadsheet can be run inside a word processing program." Microsoft and Netscape are trying to incorporate the same functionality into Web documents. As reported earlier, Microsoft has agreed to transfer control of its similar technology to an independent standards body. That technology, called ActiveX, has evolved from one called Object Linking and Embedding, which the company previously promoted for office productivity applications. "By giving ActiveX to an independent organization," says AP, "Microsoft hopes to demonstrate it is an 'open' technical idea, able to work with information created or received on any kind of computer and not just those that run Microsoft operating programs." Cray Says NEC Dumps Supercomputers Cray Research today filed an antidumping petition charging NEC Corp. with underpricing supercomputers in an illegal effort to gain U.S. market share and drive competition from the market. In a filing with the U.S. Department of Commerce and the International Trade Commission, Cray said NEC was taking an estimated $65 million loss to supply vector supercomputers to the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado. Cray also said the proposed price was significantly less than that charged by NEC on recent major sales in Japan. On May 20, NCAR tentatively agreed to purchase four NEC vector supercomputer systems as part of a five-year $35.25- million contract with the Federal Computing Corp. The National Science Foundation, the primary funding agency for NCAR, had told NCAR that acquisition of the NEC supercomputers was contingent on NCAR demonstrating that the computers were not dumped. NCAR also received bids from Cray and Fujitsu. Cray says it met all NCAR requirements, but that the center opted for the NEC bid, which offered more hardware -- but at a price substantially and illegally below the cost of production. Cray's petition estimates that NEC will lose a minimum of $65 million on the proposed sale. Cray calculates that the systems will cost NEC more than $80 million to prodce versus about $15 million in NEC revenue on the transaction. "Cray Research favors open competition based on performance and fair pricing," says Cray President and chief operating officer Robert Ewald. "NEC's behavior undermines open competition and could permanently distort pricing in the supercomputer market. Behavior like this, if not checked, can lead to less competition and higher prices in the long term." NEC Disputes Cray Charges Japanese electronics giant NEC Corp. contends U.S. supercomputer maker Cray Research Inc. is using incorrect figures in lodging an anti-dumping petition against it over its sales of supercomputers in the United States. As reported, Cray accuses NEC of underpricing supercomputers in an illegal effort to gain U.S. market share and drive competition from the market. In Tokyo today, the Reuter News Service quotes NEC Vice President Masao Toka as saying Cray's charge that NEC would lose $65 million in selling supercomputers to the National Center for Atmospheric Research was a total fabrication. Toka said Cray vastly overstated NEC's research and development costs, while underestimating NEC's revenues. Says Reuters, "Cray charged on Monday that NEC was taking an estimated $65 million loss to supply supercomputers to the U.S. organization. This was assuming revenue from the deal of $15 million and costs of $80 million. Toka said NEC's revenue from the deal would be $30 million, but declined to disclose costs." Cray also alleged NEC sold supercomputers in Japan at a much higher price than in the U.S., but, says Reuters, "Toka said such a comparison was meaningless, because NEC's sales costs to Japanese institutions, cited by Cray, included charges for maintenance, system integration and other services." Toka said that if Cray's lawyers and executives were found to have signed the anti-dumping petition with the knowledge that Cray used wrong figures in calculations of NEC's deal with the U.S. center, NEC would take legal action against them. Corel, Packard Bell Set Deal Corel Corp. reports that it has reached a new bundling agreement with PC maker Packard Bell Inc. that will result in the preinstallation of Corel WordPerfect Suite 7 on all Packard Bell PCs distributed worldwide. The deal's terms weren't disclosed. Corel WordPerfect Suite 7 includes Corel WordPerfect 7, Corel Quattro Pro 7, Corel Presentations 7, CorelFLOW 3, 150 fonts and 10,000 clip art images. Each PC will also ship with a copy of the suite on CD-ROM. "This agreement represents a huge leap forward in our efforts to increase our share of the productivity applications market," says Michael Cowpland, Corel's president and CEO. "Packard Bell has offered us an incredible opportunity to showcase our new offering." Corel says the new relationship will enable Corel to take advantage of Packard Bell's vast, worldwide marketing channel, as well as to participate with the computer giant at upcoming trade shows. Hitachi, Robotics Make Pact A partnership has been launched under which Hitachi PC Corp.'s notebook computers will be equipped with U.S. Robotics Corp.'s modems. Reporting from Palo Alto, California, the Reuter News Service says financial terms were not disclosed, but the agreement marks the launch of a major effort to expand the U.S. Robotics brand name, adding the Hitachi products will bear the Robotics label alongside its own. "U.S. Robotics said the deal was not exclusive and could lead to further branding arrangements for its products with other personal computer makers," the wire service adds. Hitachi Vice President Mark Yahiro said the modems would be integrated into the Hitachi line of notebook machines within the next 60 days. Broderbund to Buy T/Maker Broderbund Software Inc. says it has signed a definitive agreement to purchase T/Maker Co. from its parent company, Deluxe Corp. T/Maker, based in Mountain View, Calif., publishes the ClickArt line of clip art software for desktop and Internet publishing. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Novato, California-based Broderbund says it currently anticipates that T/Maker, which has approximately 40 employees, will continue to operate in Mountain View as a wholly-owned Broderbund subsidiary. The acquisition awaits government approval. "We see T/Maker as a natural addition to our product line, particularly to expand the content in our leading Print Shop family with T/Maker's ClickArt products," says Broderbund President Bill McDonagh. "This acquisition gives Broderbund's product line another evergreen product that complements and increases our existing portflio. Combined with the talented development team at T/Maker, we believe that this is an excellent addition to our business, both domestically and worldwide." Lexmark Launches Awareness Effort Printer maker Lexmark International Inc. is hoping that a new brand awareness campaign will raise its corporate profile. The multimillion dollar deal with Grey Advertising and Goldberg Moser O'Neill is Lexmark's first global, comprehensive branding campaign since it spun off from IBM Corp. in 1991. "The advertising campaign clearly articulates Lexmark as the value and performance leader in PC-based printing," says Susan Gauff, Lexmark's vice president of corporate communications. "To enhance our position, we want consumers to understand that Lexmark is a fully integrated technology leader that has consistently led the market with innovations in printer hardware and software at competitive prices." The campaign, which features a "Print Lexmark" theme, will primarily be focused on print advertising before expanding into broadcast in 1997. Lexmark says the campaign will be integrated into all aspects of its marketing efforts worldwide, including public relations and packaging. Apple Releases New Mac QuickTime Apple Computer Inc. has announced the availability of QuickTime 2.5 for Macintosh, an enhanced version of its software standard for storing, editing and playing synchronized video, sound, music, graphics and text. Apple says QuickTime 2.5 addresses the needs of content creators for broadcast, music, film and the Internet. QuickTime 2.5's new features include an enhanced music architecture, multiprocessor compatibility, support for 3-D objects; a graphic importer and support for Closed-Caption technology. "Digital technology is blurring the lines between traditional media markets, professional film and video producers, consumer multimedia developers, and Internet content creators," says Carlos Montalvo, director of products and technologies for Apple's interactive media group. "This has created a significan challenge for the creative world." "QuickTime makes it easy for broadcast professionals, CD- ROM developers and Internet content creators to manage and repurpose their content for new markets, thereby receiving a greater return on their investments," comments Ellen Hancock, Apple's chief technology officer and executive vice president of research and development. QuickTime 2.5 for Macintosh is available, free of charge, through Apple's QuickTime home page on the World Wide Web (http://www.quicktime.apple.com). Toshiba to Launch DVD Player In what The Wall Street Journal characterizes as "a daring move designed to force Hollywood's hand," Japanese computer giant Toshiba Corp. has set an autumn launch for the first player for digital video disks (DVDs). "Even though the movie industry still hasn't agreed to support the controversial format," writes Journal reporter Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg this morning, "people familiar with Toshiba's plans say that the company hopes to create so much public interest in DVD that the Hollywood studios will feel compelled to speed up the tangled negotiations that have so far delayed the players' introduction." But there is a danger, adds the paper, that Toshiba's plans will backfire, creating "frustration among consumers, as there will be few, if any, titles available this October," says Trachtenberg. The Journal notes that for more than a year, the consumer electronics industry has talked of the five-inch digital videodisk as the next major improvement in digital home entertainment. Each disk holds more than seven times the amount of information contained on a conventional compact disk, and can easily store a full-length Hollywood movie. "In addition," says the Journal, "the disks are expected to spawn a new generation of richer, more exciting computer multimedia titles because of their increased data capacity." The paper detected surprise among Hollywood executives when they heard of Toshiba's plans. "Hollywood is worried," says Trachtenberg, "that it will be too easy to copy the disks onto other disks or videotape. The studios also want to design the disks with special coding that will keep them from being played in parts of the world where the disks haven't yet been released." Enhanced StuffIt Ships Aladdin Systems Inc., developer and publisher of the StuffIt Macintosh compression standard, says it is shipping an enhanced version of its StuffIt SpaceSaver 4.0 software. The company says StuffIt SpaceSaver 4.0 includes icon tagging for esier identification of SpaceSaver-compressed files, a revised and simpler interface, faster compression and several other enhancements. "The release of SpaceSaver 4.0 should be a welcome upgrade because each improvement was specifically asked for by our current users," says Jon Kahn, Aladdin's sales and marketing director. StuffIt SpaceSaver 4.0 is priced at $79.95. Allen Out as Egghead Director Egghead Inc. has announced that Paul G. Allen, the Microsoft Corp. co-founder and a long time Egghead investor, will be replaced on the company's board of directors by Eric Robison, an employee of Vulcan Ventures Inc., a private investment firm founded by Allen and for which Allen serves as chairman. In a statement, Allen noted that, "My many other commitments, both public and private, compel me to make this decision." Allen has served on Egghead's board of directors for over nine years. Robison will step into Allen's unexpired term immediately. The company has also announced that Mel Wilmore, president and chief operating officer of Ross Stores Inc., has agreed to serve on the board. A statement issued by Egghead notes that Wilmore will bring "great depth of experience in retail operations to Egghead." Egghead, a retailer of computer software, hardware and accessories, has had a difficult time prospering in a market dominated by computer superstores. The firm is located in Spokane, Washington. Prodigy's New Chief Takes Command The new owner of the Prodigy online service has reorganized the company and installed new management as it completed its acquisition yesterday. As reported earlier, International Wireless Inc. a Cambridge, Massachusetts, firm that invests in cellular and Internet technology abroad, last May led the $250 million buyout of Prodigy from its former owners, IBM and Sears, Roebuck & Co. Writing in The Wall Street Journal this morning, reporter Jared Sandberg says the buyer now has merged its operations with Prodigy's, renamed the combined companies Prodigy Inc. and installed two Interntional Wireless executives as chairman/CEO. "Prodigy, which has one million members and almost no growth, has been falling far behind rivals," Sandberg says. Ed Bennett, the former Viacom Inc. executive who was hired last year to pull the ailing on-line service out of its funk, "was forced to scrap his turnaround effort when Sears clamped down on new investments and began shopping its half of the service last November," he adds. Now, though, Bennett, who was Prodigy's CEO, "will exercise a far smaller role, though one near to his heart. He will head a new venture-capital division, dubbed Prodigy Ventures Inc., which will invest in new technology and media, not necessarily for the online service." The Journal quotes one official as saying Bennett will have as much as $50 million to invest in a new concerns, noting that last year Bennett started a similar strategy, his so-called Wildflower initiative, to invest in start-ups but was halted by the company's former owners. Meanwhile, the new CEO at Prodigy is Paul DeLacey, who had been International Wireless' chief operating officer. IW Co- Chairman Greg Carr denied reports the move was pushing Bennett aside, saying, "If I really wanted to push Ed aside, I could have just given him a bunch of stock. I wouldn't put a whole bunch of money under his control if I didn't believe in him." Meanwhile, executives at Prodigy told the paper they hope to turn the service around by leveraging existing partnerships of International Wireless and Prodigy's shift to the Internet. Bennett said much of Prodigy's electronic fare is already compatible with the Internet and that new software based on Internet technology will be shipped this fall. Study Offers Cyberspace Snapshot A new study from IntelliQuest Information Group Inc. offers yet another cyberspace snapshot. The Austin, Texas-based market research firm reports that the U.S. Internet/online population consists of approximately 35 million adults (age 16 and above), with only two and a half million people using the Internet and online services more than 20 hours per week. The study also finds that the Internet and worldwide online services are growing rapidly, with 9 million people -- 26 percent of the total user base -- first accessing the Internet in the first quarter of 1996. Among the study's other findings: ú Eighteen million users primarily access cyberspace at home, versus 9 million people who access from work and 5 million from school ú Over 21 million non-users indicated they intended to begin using the Internet or an online service in the next twelve months (as of the start of 1996's second quarter). ú Most users are very selective and focused in their use of the Internet or online services, with only 19 percent indicating that they "cruise" or "surf." ú Only 17 percent of online users find online entertainment better than television. ú Only 7 percent of users had purchased a product or information online during a one-month period measured by the study. PC Sales Growth Slows Dataquest Inc. researchers says sales of personal computers grew more slowly in the second quarter than in the first. Business writer Evan Ramstad of The Associated Press says the PC market grew 16.5 percent worldwide and 12 percent in the United States, down from 18.4 percent worldwide growth and 14.7 percent U.S. growth in the first quarter. Growth in both markets exceeded 20 percent during the second quarter of 1995. The study says Compaq Computer Corp. still leads the industry but the Houston computer maker lost ground in both worldwide and U.S. sales to second-place IBM and others. Compaq's worldwide market share was 9.7 percent and U.S. share was 12.4 percent in the second quarter. During the first quarter, Compaq had a 9.8 percent worldwide market share and 12.7 percent in the United States. A year ago, Compaq had 10.4 percent of the world market and 12.6 percent of the U.S. market. Meanwhile, IBM's worldwide PC market share jumped to 8.8 percent from 7.2 percent in the first quarter and its U.S. share jumped to 9.0 percent from 6.1 percent in the first quarter. A year ago, IBM had 7.7 percent of the world PC market and the U.S. market. AP notes IBM was the No. 1 PC seller for many years until it was unseated by Compaq in 1994. Compaq's growth was 8.5 percent worldwide and 10.4 percent in the United States. IBM's growth was 33.6 percent worldwide and 31.1 percent in the United States. Still in third place worldwide is Apple Computer, though ataquest says its sales dropped nearly 17 percent. The company had 5.3 percent of the world market and 7.4 percent of the U.S. market, where it was No. 4 in sales. In the U.S. market, the third palce was held by Packard Bell, with an 8.7 percent share, though growth was a slim 3.8 percent. Its overseas operations are too small for the company to count among the five largest worldwide PC sellers, Ramstad observes. Rounding out the field were NEC as the fourth largest worldwide PC maker with 5.1 percent of the market, Hewlett-Packard next with 4.3 percent and Dell Computer Corp. as fifth in U.S. sales with a 7.2 percent market share. IDC Says U.S. PC Market Grows The U.S. PC market continued its pattern of substantial unit growth in the second quarter, dispelling lingering concerns about a possible market slowdown, says market researcher IDC. IDC notes that Compaq Computer Corp. once again led the market, despite slipping slightly in market share as it prepared for several major product transitions. IBM rejoined the firm's top five vendor list, boosted by rising portables sales and the smooth introductions of new products. The overall market grew 18 percent from the year-ago period to 5.96 million unit shipments. This compares favorably with the first quarter growth rate of 16 percent, says IDC. Sales accelerated in portables and commercial desktops, propelled by new products from major vendors and healthy economic conditions. Consumer sales were seasonally slow, notes IDC, as vendors prepared for a wave of new home PCs by clearing retailer's inventories of older systems. "Some keep predicting a major PC drought, but market conditions in the second quarter continued to produce good growth, especially for major vendors boasting complete product portfolios," says Bruce Stephen, IDC's vice president of worldwide personal systems. "We think the ingredients are in place to reap a strong second half." Net Connectivity a CD-ROM Trend New research finds that hybrid CD-ROMs -- discs that include online communications, links to expanded content and/or network game play -- are rapidly proliferating, breaking out of vertical professional and corporate markets and into the consumer mainstream. From just 311 titles in print worldwide at year end 1995, the number of hybrid CD-ROM/online titles in print worldwide is projected to more than double to 720 by the end of 1996, according to market researcher InfoTech of Woodstock, Vermont. InfoTech predicts that the hybrid CD-ROM market will surge to 3,500 titles in 1997, accounting for nearly 10 percent of all CD-ROM titles in print worldwide. Intense competition in the consumer games, entertainment, reference, and software applictions markets are spurring the growth in hybrids, says InfoTech President Julie B. Schwerin. "In certain genres, such as encyclopedias and action games, hybrids, while relatively new, are dominating retail sales. This is raising the production bar -- online connectivity is increasingly a feature that consumers expect. Consequently, publishers are rushing to upgrade existing products and outfit new ones with embedded or bundled browsers to access complimentary online content." According to InfoTech, Internet service providers and commercial online services are encouraging the hybrid trend, viewing commercial CD-ROMs as a vehicle for customer recruitment. InfoTech projects that by the end of 1996, 41 percent of hybrid titles will connect to the World Wide Web, 34 percent to private dial-up networks or bulletin boards and 25 percent to commercial online services, including online game networks. Hybrid publishers are also experimenting with online transactions, advertising and merchandise sales as well as selling premium subscription services. But Schwerin cautions that most consumer hybrid publishers are not yet generating revenue from online sources. "Most publishers view hybrids as a competitive weapon and a marketing tool -- the latest feature you need to get on the shelves and attract consumers," she says. "At the same time, most do intend to derive significant online revenues within two to three years." New Net Audio System Launched Software that promises to make voice and music received over the Internet sound as good as music-CDs is being launched by Macromedia Inc., which is calling this a breakthrough advance from typical choppy, static-filled sound of current Net audio. Writing from San Francisco for the Reuter News Service, Barbara Grady reports the new version of the product called Shockwave also vows to avoid the long download time sometimes needed to get audio from the Internet before it can be heard. Engineering Vice President Norman Meyrowitz told the wire service, "The difference between te old Shockwave and the next will be like the different between an old record and a CD. It is going to really change the nature of audio on the Web." Adds Grady, "The new version uses a technology called audio streaming, along with compression of the audio digital information. ... In streaming, digits of audio data are received in packets a little at a time -- or just enough to keep the sound coming in a normal-sounding way." This differs from regular packet transmission, which produces static filled bursts of sound that does not replicate a real voice, she adds. Since Macromedia introduced its original Shockwave seven months ago, some 10 million or more people have downloaded it off of the Internet to use on hundreds of sites developed with it. Poll Predicts Net Revenue Growth A new survey finds a majority of those in the interactive industry cautiously optimistic about growth in advertising revenues, online shopping sales and number of subscribers by the end of the year. The respondents also predict commercial online services will be need to create a new business model to ensure their future as consumers flock to the Internet and the World Wide Web. Conducted during this week's 11th annual conference of the Interactive Services Association in San Diego, California, the survey, which used 200 polling devices provided by NTN Communications, found: ú Forty-two percent of the membership believes the number of paid subscribers will remain under 20 million through 1996, with only 16 percent confident it would reach more than 30 million. ú Some 78 percent of the voters predicted ad revenues would not exceed $200 million and 85 percent felt that online shopping would stay under $400 million, the most conservative choices. ú Thirty-two percent predict a typical World Wide Web content site will take four years to make a profit, 23 percent think it will require two years and only 3 percent one year. However, 40 percent believe that a typical site will never break even. ú The vast majority (74 percent) believe that the online services will need to create a new way to stay profitable while competing with the Internet and Web direct access facilitators, while only 14 percent anticipate that the online services will become the Net gateway of choice. Meanwhile, those polled were divided on the future of Internet appliances. Forty-eight percent said Net appliances would be valuable to consumers, but would meet with limited success, while 26 percent felt the products would fail and 20 percent indicated they believed such appliances were the answer for universal access for the populace. However, a combination of phone and Net integration is perceived as the hottest telephone application of the next five years, according to 59 percent of the members. "For those betting on the most successful areas of growth in the interactive industry," says an ISA statement, "the membership overwhelmingly predicts that the companies focusing on transactional support processes would be the most attractive stocks for institutional investors. Sixty-eight percent voted for transaction support, with 15 percent maintaining they would recommend staying out of the market and another 11 percent would propose investing in search engines." Also, noted the statement, "Interestingly, more than 71 percent believe the Internet will change the world, but only 16 percent perceive the Internet to be a source of revenue in the future." Intel Seeks PC in Every Home Chipmaker Intel Corp. is pushing ahead with its hopes of seeing a PC in every home, inviting some 1,500 content developers, entertainment writers and advertising professionals to a show of creative things that can be done using a PC and the Internet. Reporting from San Francisco, Barbara Grady of the Reuter News Service notes that in one example Intel and Sony Corp. demonstrated how the Internet could be used to bring a live performance by a musician in France into a personal computer in the United States. Intel also has launched a new program to give software designers and the people who create entertainment access to the latest technology to help them build glitzy software. Says Vice President Ron Whittier, general manager of Intel's Content Group, "We want them to develop content that is more demanding of the PC." Intel says that next year it will provide souped-up multimedia chips known as MMX technology, 3-D graphics controllers and advanced audio processing for mainstream PCs in the $2,000 price range. Reuters says the firm also is working outside its industry with disk drive makers and telecommunications companies to get non-chip technology into the market -- such as digital video disk technology, or DVD, and Internet telephones. Priest Advises Net Audience Advice in cyberspace to people with personal problems ranging from marriage to suicide is being provided by a Singapore Catholic priest. Thirty-five-year-old Father John Paul Tan tells the French Agence France-Press he receives about a dozen e-mail messages from people from all walks of life for about two hours daily, the time he had allocated for such type of social service. "Most people who message me are young adults and those studying in the universities," says Father Tan, one of four priests at the Church of St. Mary of the Angels in western Singapore island. AFP says Catholics and non-Catholics make appointments with him to discuss marriage plans, ask for advice about relationship problems, or send queries about religion and God. "His online interaction was via a computer in his room, which he checks three times a day," the wire service reports. "He takes about a week to compose replies to each message he receives." But the priest draws the line at online confessions. "Giving advice on the Internet is fine, I think," he says, but "the nature of confessions is so personal and it is not possible to convey emotions and sensitivity over the Internet." James Dean Web Sites Feuding A landmark case involving copyright law on the Internet may be growing out of a feud between wo sites on the World Wide Web, both devoted to the memory of legendary actor James Dean. According to the Reuter News Service, Curtis Management Group Worldwide, licensing agents for the James Dean Foundation, has filed suit in Marion County Superior Court in Indiana against California-based American Legends and its principals, James Pitts, Martin Pitts and Ronald Martinetti. Says Reuters, "CMG, which also represents such dead celebrities as Marilyn Monroe, Humphrey Bogart and Babe Ruth, is charging that the American Legends Internet site illegally uses Dean's signature and several photos that are protected by CMG....American Legends disputes CMG's charges." Martinetti, an attorney and author of a Dean biography, recently told Daily Variety newspaper, "We believe that the Foundation and CMG's threat to suppress our site raises some interesting issues regarding free speech and access to information on the Net." American Legends maintains a James Dean Web site at Web address http://www.americanlegends.com, while CMG's site is at http://www.cmgww.com. Engineer, Intel Feud Over Logo A Texas computer chip design engineer says he is drawing fire from chip giant Intel Corp. because of his online spoof of the company logo. Intel wants Robert Collins to stop using his version of its company logo on his site on the Internet's World Wide Web, saying Collins has "tarnished" the symbol, a valuable property it says it must protect. However, Collins contends his takeoff is legitimate. "It's a parody," he told business writer Catalina Ortiz of The Associated Press, adding there are disclaimers and marked differences between the logos, which he said ensure that viewers understand he has no connection with Intel. Meanwhile, Collins said he thought Intel might be miffed by his Web site that reveals undisclosed details of the company's computer chips. Called "Intel Secrets: What Intel Doesn't Want You To Know," Collins' site (reached at Web address http://www.x86.org) offers information on errors in Intel's industry-leading chips and gives programming tips. But Intel says the content of Collins' site is information that can be obtained legitimately from working with the chips and isn't the issue. Instead, what Collins did with Intel's logo, a distinctive arrangement of letters in the company's name, has the firm fuming. Ortiz notes, "The company's logo is the word 'Intel' in lower-case with the 'e' dipped below the other letters. Collins' 'Intel Secrets' logo uses the same typeface as Intel but reverses the letter 'e' and puts over it the word the international symbol of a red circle with a line across it. It also puts the word 'secrets' in the same typeface and dips the first 'e.'" Chuck Molloy, a spokesman for Santa Clara, California-based Intel, says Collins' argument that his logo is just a parody -- a fair use of the symbol -- doesn't work. While people can properly parody a company's name, he said, they cannot properly parody a logo, which is considered artwork. Says Molloy, "The issue here is it's just like any other piece of property. And it's our obligation to protect Intel property. And if we don't take active steps to protect it, we could lose our legal rights." AP says Intel does not intend to go after Collins for alleged trademark violation, but it does intend to fight his application to trademark his "Intel Secrets" logo. Collins, who works for Texas Instruments Inc. in Dallas, says he already has changed his logo at Intel's request, but Intel said the changes don't go far enough. (Originally Collins just used his version of the words "Intel Secrets." Says Ortiz, "He later added the red circle, the disclaimer and 'Intel Absolutely Not Inside,' a jab at the company's 'Intel Inside' phrase.") Mac Anti-Virus Software Upgraded McAfee Inc. has introduced VirusScan 2.0 for the Macintosh, an enhanced version of its anti-virus software. The product, which was originally based upon sorce code licensed by McAfee from Northwestern University, now incorporates over thirty new features. According to Santa Clara, California-based McAfee, VirusScan 2.0 for the Macintosh provides protection against all known Word Macro viruses, conventional viruses, Hypercard Stack viruses and trojan horses. "VirusScan for the Macintosh has evolved dramatically since its introduction in December 1995," says Chris Harget, anti-virus product manager at McAfee. "Today, just seven months later, we've delivered on our commitment to create an industry-leading anti-virus solution for the Macintosh. Viruses pose an increasing threat to the Macintosh user community, especially with the rapid growth in the number of multi-platform Word Macro viruses." VirusScan 2.0 for the Macintosh is scheduled to begin shipping on August 9. It will have an estimated street price of $49. 16 Charged in Net Porn Ring Sixteen men have been accused of participating in an international Internet pedophilia ring in which, authorities allege, members once chatted online while a 10-year-old girl was being molested. Thirteen of the men have been arrested, while the other three still are being sought. The San Jose, California, federal grand jury indictment handed down yesterday alleges the men belonged to a group called the "Orchid Club," a chat room in which users swapped stories about child sex and conspired to produce and exchange sexually explicit images of girls as young as 5. Says The Associated Press, "The images -- called 'privates' -- included still photographs and movie-like files created with digital video cameras." FBI spokesman George Grotz told the wire service, "Many of the subjects not only viewed this child pornography but actually took part in assembling it and producing it themselves. That's what makes this case unique." AP quotes authorities as saying people were allowed to join the club only after members recommended them. "After receiving a password to enter the chat room," says the wire service, "they were initiated by recounting a sexual experience with a child." The FBI says its investigation was sparked by the arrest of Californians Melton Lee Myers, 55, of Santa Rosa and Ronald Riva, 38, of Monterey County. AP reports, "Authorities said the two men orchestrated a video session in April with a 10-year-old Monterey County girl who was instructed to pose in sexually explicit positions at the request of members in the United States and Finland who watched the images being instantly transmitted to their computers, the indictment said." Besides California, suspects are from Oklahoma, Washington, Kansas, Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan, Mississippi, Massachusetts, Australia, Canada and Finland. The men are charged with conspiracy to possess and distribue child pornography. Six of them, including Myers and Riva, also were charged with aiding and abetting in the sexual exploitation of children. Authorities say that, if convicted, each defendant faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count of the indictment. CD-ROM Pirates Get Long Jail Terms A Singapore court has handed two convicted CD-ROM pirates the longest jail terms in Southeast Asia for copyright infringement. United Press International reports that the two men, who were sentenced to 30 months and 18 months in jail respectively, both owned and operated shops that sold counterfeit CD-ROMs. UPI adds that private investigators hired by the Alliance Against CD-ROM Theft discovered the two stores in Singapore's Sim Lim Square, a mall specializing in computer and electronics products. The investigators alerted Singapore police to the illegal activities, which led to raids of the shops and the recovery of more than 5,000 fake CD-ROMS. Adobe NewsWire STR Infofile Adobe Systems Announces Support for Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Operating System Mountain View, Calif., (July 31, 1996) (Nasdaq: ADBE)-Adobe Systems Incorporated today announced plans to deliver Microsoftr Windows NTr 4.0 compatible products that take advantage of the enhanced levels of power and ease of use offered by Microsoft Corporation's new operating system. Adobe's planned support of Windows NT 4.0 software continues its commitment to deliver 32-bit applications that maximize the robust functionality of the Windowsr platform. Adobe applications currently supporting Windows 95 include, FrameMakerr, PageMakerr, Photoshopr and Adobe Type Managerr. Adobe products expected to support Windows NT 4.0 in forthcoming releases include Adobe Acrobatr, Adobe After EffectsT, FrameMaker, Adobe Illustratorr, PageMaker, Adobe PageMillT, PhotoDeluxeT, Photoshop, Adobe Premiere and Adobe Type Manager software. Adobe offers a broad range of support for Windows 95 and Windows NT features in existing applications including OLE 2.0 support with drag and drop; context-sensitive menus; long file names; and symmetric multiprocessor support, which delivers workstation-level performance to the Windows desktop. "Adobe continues to lead the way in delivering new 32-bit applications that take maximum advantage of Windows NT and Windows 95 ," said Bryan Lamkin, director of graphics products, Adobe Systems Incorporated. "The improved performance, robustness, and ease of use offered by Windows NT 4.0 will greatly enhance the creative experience for our Windows customers in the print, video and Internet markets."For Immediate Release Press contact: Th‚rŠse M. Bruno 206 470.7568 Fax 206 470.7125 thebruno@adobe.com http://www.adobe.com Adobe Systems Announces Support for Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Operating System As a demonstration of its commitment, Adobe intends to submit a broad range of its 32-bit Windows products for compliance testing required to carry the new "Designed for Windows NT and Windows 95" logo, which will help end users easily identify applications that are compatible with both Microsoft Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0. Based in Mountain View, Calif., Adobe Systems Incorporated develops and supports products to help people express and use information in more imaginative and meaningful ways, across all print and electronic media. Founded in 1982, Adobe helped launch the desktop publishing revolution. Today, the company offers a market-leading line of application software and type products for creating and distributing visually rich communication materials; licenses its industry-standard technologies to major hardware manufacturers, software developers, and service providers; and offers integrated software solutions to businesses of all sizes. For more information, see the Adobe home page at http://www.adobe.com on the World Wide Web. Adobe, the Adobe logo, Acrobat, Adobe After Effects, FrameMaker, Adobe Illustrator, PageMaker, Adobe PageMill, PhotoDeluxe, Photoshop, Adobe Premiere and Adobe Type Manager are trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated. Microsoft, Windows and Windows NT are registered trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation. EDUPAGE STR Focus Keeping the users informed Edupage Contents Children To Get Three Hours Of "Educational" TV Anti-Terrorism Plans a Threat To Civil Liberties? Another Ruling Against CDA Netscape And Microsoft Duel Over Intranet Market Educational Software Cray Charges NEC of "Dumping" Supercomputers Toshiba Will Offer First DVD Player Copland May Emulate Windows And Unix IBM's Olympic-Sized "Element Of Risk" Japan/U.S. Chip Pact Expires Microsoft Releases Windows NT 4.0 IBM, Oracle, Next Jump On The Intranet Wagon Cellular Phone Companies Fight Cloning G7 Leaders & The Internet Canadian SP's Tackle Objectionable Material Dell Opens Up Shop On The Internet Fastest Macs Aren't Made By Apple Certified Web Sites Microsoft Wants To Be Largest Advertiser On The Net CHILDREN TO GET THREE HOURS OF "EDUCATIONAL" TV Television broadcasters have agreed to Clinton Administration requests to transmit three hours a week of educational TV for children, though there will be considerable flexibility in the definition of "educational." The agreement specifies only that the FCC "will ordinarily rely on the good faith judgment of the broadcasters" and will dispute their judgments "only as a last resort." (Atlanta Journal-Constitution 30 Jul 96 A3) CLINTON ANTI-TERRORISM PLANS CALLED THREAT TO CIVIL LIBERTIES To fight terrorism, the Clinton administration is proposing a number of measures which civil libertarians say pose a serious threat to the freedoms of innocent users of phones and computers. A spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union says: 'The president is using the bombing in Atlanta as a pretense to getting more wiretap authority. The answer to terrorism isn't to limit the freedoms of Americans. If we do that, the terrorists have already won.'' (San Jose Mercury News 30 Jul 96) ANOTHER RULING AGAINST COMMUNICATIONS DECENCY ACT Echoing a decision made last month by federal judges in Philadelphia, a three- person panel of federal judges in Manhattan rule the Communications Decency Act (part of the Telecommunications Act of 1996) to be unconstitutional. The Act makes it a felony to transmit "indecent" or "patently offensive" material over computer networks where children might have access to it. The law suit involved an Internet-based newsletter opposed to legislation banning indecent but constitutionally protected speech on the Internet. The newsletter's author says it was "laced with four-letter and multisyllabic obscenities familiar to anyone and, frankly, the day I published that article, I had some very real fears of going to prison. But I felt so deeply that our rights were violated by the law, I had an obligation to fight it." The Justice Department is appealing the Philadelphia decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. (New York Times 30 96 A7) NETSCAPE AND MICROSOFT DUEL OVER INTRANET MARKET Netscape will give away software tools that make it easier for developers to write programs for internal company "intranets" using Internet formats. The tools will be compatible with Netscape ONE -- Netscape's name for a set of proposed industry standards that includes Corba, which competes with ActiveX, the proposed standard developed by Microsoft. By giving away Corba and other software-development tools that run on any computer operating systems, Netscape is trying to draw the attention of software developers away from ActiveX, which will initially run only on Microsoft Windows operating systems when it is released some months from now. (Wall Street Journal 29 Jul 96 B4) EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE The Software Publishers Association predicts the K12 educational technology market will grow from $2.6 billion in 1993-94 to $4.5 billion by 1999. A significant increase is also expected in the development of commercial software for higher education use. Educom president Robert C. Heterick Jr. says the ways to reduce the cost of higher education (which has tripled over the last decade, largely because of teacher salaries) is through the use of information technology in the colleges and universities: "Today you're looking at a highly personal, human-mediated environment. The potential to remove the human mediation in some areas and replace it with automation -- smart, computer-based, network-based systems - is tremendous. It's gotta happen." Heterick says the likeliest candidates include courses such as basic math, English and science. (New York Times 29 Jul 96 C5) CRAY CHARGES NEC WITH "DUMPING" SUPERCOMPUTERS Cray Research filed an ''anti-dumping'' petition against NEC Corporation, claiming that the Japanese company is selling supercomputers on the American market at less than what it costs to make them. In its complaint to the Commerce Department and International Trade Commission, Cray is charging that NEC is taking an estimated $65 million loss to supply supercomputers to the National Center for Atmospheric Research. (Investor's Business Daily 30 Jul 96) TOSHIBA WILL OFFER FIRST DVD PLAYER By offering the first DVD player [Digital Video Disk or Digital Versatile Disk] this Fall even though the movie industry still hasn't agreed to support the new format, Toshiba Corporation is hoping that its launch will create so much public interest in DVD that Hollywood will be forced to speed up the multi-industry negotiations that have delayed the introduction of the players. Each DVD holds more than seven times the amount of information contained on a conventional compact disk. (Wall Street Journal 29 Jul 96 B11B) COPLAND MAY EMULATE WINDOWS AND UNIX Sources close to Apple are saying that the company's new Copland operating system, scheduled now for release next summer, will be able to emulate Windows, Windows NT, or Unix from within the Macintosh operating system, but the product manager for Copland denies that there is an effort to add Windows capabilities. (Computerworld 29 Jul 96 p1) IBM'S OLYMPIC-SIZED "ELEMENT OF RISK" IBM chief executive Lou Gerstner told shareholders last April that the Centennial Olympics would provide IBM a chance to show its best on a world stage, but admitted: "I don't need to tell you there's an element of risk in stepping onto that stage." Following the well-publicized problems with the computerized system it developed for the Olympics, IBM said this week that, "in the light of how our system performance has been perceived," it had "reconsidered some ads" that it had been planning to run in various newspapers. (New York Times 29 Jul 96 C5, 30 Jul 96 C5) JAPAN/U.S. CHIP PACT EXPIRES The Japan/U.S. semiconductor market share agreement has expired, with both sides still far apart on terms for its renewal. Japan insists that the European Union be included in the pact whereas the U.S. wants to negotiate a new bilateral agreement. Both sides believe the expiring agreement has been a useful one, and a senior U.S. official says that "the point of the agreement was not to reach an arbitrary number but to force the Japanese to look at and integrate foreign producers into their production." (Financial Times 1 Aug 96) MICROSOFT RELEASES WINDOWS NT 4.0 Windows NT 4.0 holds Microsoft's hopes of beating strong competitors like IBM, Oracle, Sun, HP, Netscape and others in the race to provide software for corporate and other large networks. Windows NT is the basis of Microsoft's Back Office software suite that generated more than $1 billion last year, which represented 11% of Microsoft's total revenue. (USA Today 31 Jul 96 2A) IBM, ORACLE, NEXT JUMP ON THE INTRANET WAGON In separate recent announcements, IBM, Oracle and Next Software all have reaffirmed their commitment to corporate intranet support, following Netscape's lead in helping companies use intranets for information- sharing, publishing and collaborative work. "Large user organizations are trying to figure out what role the strategies play relative to the technology they already have and how they can leverage both," says a manager in the strategic technology group at Coopers & Lybrand. IBM plans to provide Smooth Start Services, a turnkey package that includes intranet server planning, configuration, installation, application development and training. Oracle's strategy is based on its Oracle Web Server 3.0, which will ship later this year, and will contain a Web Request Broker that supports the ability to manage databases from intranet applications. Next has forged a partnership with Netscape to jointly market Next's WebObjects software with Netscape's SuiteSpot server software and Navigator Gold browser. (Information Week 22 Jul 96 p28) CELLULAR PHONE COMPANIES FIGHT CLONING To fight the illegal practice called "cloning," cellular telephone carriers will be adopting new "smart phone" technology intended to foil high-tech criminals by matching calls with encoded passwords. In cloning, pirates use portable scanners and computers to intercept the cellular phone user's phone and serial numbers as they are being broadcast to a transmitting tower or "cell site." The new digital phones will contain a non-clonable ''smart cards'' that encrypt the identifying information to prevent scanners from eavesdropping or cloning the customer's telephone number. (San Jose Mercury News 1 Aug 96) G7 LEADERS & THE INTERNET Experts on electronic communications said ideas presented by G7 leaders for fighting terrorism by restricting access to the Internet are "naive and probably unworkable" because there are too many ways to circumvent censorship on the Net to believe regulation could prevent terrorists from using the technology for communications. (Toronto Globe & Mail 1 Aug 96 A4) CANADIAN SERVICE PROVIDERS TACKLE OBJECTIONABLE MATERIAL Canadian access providers are developing guidelines for dealing with potentially objectionable material and have set up a code of conduct committee, with goals that include establishing guidelines members can use to determine if information stored on their servers is illegal. (Toronto Globe & Mail 1 Aug 96 B1) DELL OPENS UP SHOP ON THE INTERNET Dell Computer is taking its direct sales strategy one step further into cyberspace. Its new "virtual store" at < http://www.dell.com > allows shoppers to fill out an order form, outline their PC specifications, and submit a payment option (purchase order, corporate lease or credit card), all on the Web. The company promises the online transactions will be secure. "We're in a really good position to do this and help lead the transition" to online selling, says a Dell spokesman. (Investor's Business Daily 29 Jul 96 A6) FASTEST MACS AREN'T MADE BY APPLE The company that manufactures the fastest Macs in the land isn't headquartered in Cupertino, Calif., but rather is located just outside Austin, Texas. Power Computing, a Mac cloner, is already shipping a superfast machine based on a 225-megahertz PowerPC chip, and early this month plans to announce home Macs with speeds up to 240 Mhz -- well above Intel's 200-Mhz zenith. (Business Week 5 Aug 96 p6) CERTIFIED WEB SITES The National Computer Security Association in Carlisle, PA., will certify that a Web site meets minimum security specifications, including the presence of firewalls, use of passwords, and encryption of sensitive data transmission. Certifications costs $8500 a year and requires that the site submit to remote tests, an NCSA site visit, and random compliance audits. (Computerworld 29 Jul 96 p2) MICROSOFT WANTS TO BE LARGEST ADVERTISER ON THE NET Microsoft chief operating officer Bob Herbold says that Microsoft is using the Internet to do "real-time marketing," with the goal of becoming the largest advertiser on the Internet. Herbold cited a recent campaign in which Microsoft responded to a Netscape ad on the Web offering $66 upgrades to its Navigator program by quickly blanketing the Web with competing ads offering Microsoft's Explorer software free. 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