Electronic Commerce
NYT: For Popular Categories, Online Sales Rise Sharply
NYT: Proposal Aims to Level Internet Playing Field
WSJ: Open Market Inc. Says It Will Receive Patents for
Internet-Commerce Software
Long-Distance
WSJ: Inside AT&T, A Crackdown On 'Slamming'
Antitrust
NYT: Microsoft Chairman Visits Senators on Eve of Testimony
WP: Gates Fears Curb on Innovation
WP: Microsoft In Senate's Focus
WSJ: Gates Answers To Criticism Of Microsoft
WSJ: Beware High-Tech Monopolies
Arts
NYT: Leading Art Site Suspended
Merger
NYT: Sale Weighed As Takeover Fight Goes On
NYT: Olivetti Sells Computer Services Unit to Wang
** Electronic Commerce **
Title: For Popular Categories, Online Sales Rise Sharply
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/03/cyber/articles/03survey.html
Author: Lisa Napoli
Issue: Electronic Commerce
Description: The market research group ( at )plan,based in Stamford, CT, release
a report yesterday that shows 24 percent of active Internet users shop
online. The buying trends are up considerably from July 1997, when ( at )plan
released its first report. The five Categories that show the most
significant growth were: airline ticket reservations, up 301 percent; stocks
and mutual funds, up 291 percent; computer hardware, up 111 percent; car
rentals, up 105 percent; and books, up 94 percent. "People are getting
increasingly comfortable with shopping on the Internet," said Mark Wright,
chairman and chief executive of ( at )plan. "Industries are springing up
overnight. Consumer fraud fears on the Web are diminishing. Online consumers
are increasingly willing to conduct sizable dollar transactions on the Web."
Title: Proposal Aims to Level Internet Playing Field
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes/Eurobytes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/yr/mo/cyber/eurobytes/03euro.html
Author: Bruno Giussani
Issue: Electronic Commerce
Description: Although the information available through the Internet may be
vast, the user's "mind space" remains limited and quite unyielding. "Surveys
suggest that users routinely tend to enter the Internet through the same
portals and list no more than three or four dozen different Web sites on
their bookmarks files." Given this information, recent rumors and deals in
both the U.S. and Europe confirm a trend towards consolidating the Internet
market and the emergence of a short list of dominant players. Among the ones
at the top of the list are those that entered the field of electronic
commerce early in the game, like Amazon.com bookstore, and thus have already
established their cyber-brand name on the user's mental cyberspace map. The
list also includes large companies with brand recognition and enough
financial backing to push aside smaller would-be competitors. A recent study
on electronic trading, published by Demos, a liberal British think tank,
said that based on current trends, we are heading for "an inefficient online
marketplace where the big players will progressively maximize their
advantage." The study advocates the creation of "guaranteed electronic
markets" (GEMs), a new design for electronic commerce systems in which
"central computers guarantee each transaction by verifying that buyers and
sellers can trust each other." Wingham Rowan, the report's author, says that
without such a system, electronic markets "promise little not already
offered on the advertising cards displayed in corner-shop windows." Rowan
writes that such guaranteed markets "encourage both dependable sellers and
cooperative buyers, while penalizing the unreliable" and compensating the
victim.
Title: Open Market Inc. Says It Will Receive Patents for Internet-Commerce
Software
Source: Wall Street Journal (B6)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Jon G. Auerbach
Issue: Internet Commerce
Description: Software maker Open Market plans to announce today it has won
three patents covering widely used technologies for Internet commerce and
marketing and it will seek licensing fees from companies using them, company
officials say. The most significant patent covers current Internet
technologies that let people pay for goods on-line and receive instant
credit-card verification. A Patent Office spokesman said the office doesn't
comment on possible patents, but confirmed its new patent announcements are
made on Tuesdays.
** Long-Distance **
Title: Inside AT&T, A Crackdown On 'Slamming'
Source: Wall Street Journal (B1)
http://wsj.com/
Author: John J. Keller
Issue: Long-Distance
Description: Stung by complaints that long-distance customers are routinely
"slammed" -- their accounts switched to a new provider without their
permission -- AT&T is taking action. It is cracking down on outside sales
agents that sell its long-distance service and will propose sweeping changes
to regulators for policing the industry. Slamming is rising at an alarming
rate, and it is bound to get worse as new markets such as local phone
service open to competition. The FCC, which is planning its own crackdown,
recorded over 44,000 slamming complaints against companies that sell
long-distance service in 1997. Concerned about blunting charges that AT&T is
a slammer itself, C. Michael Armstrong put two of AT&T's outside sales
agents under review for possible dismissal.
** Antitrust **
Title: Microsoft Chairman Visits Senators on Eve of Testimony
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/03/cyber/articles/03microsoft.html
Author: Jeri Clausing
Issue: Antitrust
Description: Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft, was in the nation's capitol
Monday denying that his company's decision to allow Internet service
providers to promote Internet browser software made by other companies was
prompted by the mood in Washington. Gates also said that the release of
Windows 98 would not be delayed by Justice Department investigators. In
comments made to reporters at the Capitol, Gates said: "There's really only
one principle at stake here, which is our ability to innovate in our
products. We've been in this business a long time, and that freedom to
innovate is very important to us. And so we are quite confident that that
principle, which has always been supported, that that principle will
prevail." Gates will appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee today for
their hearing on "Market Power and Structural Change in the Software Industry."
Title: Gates Fears Curb on Innovation
Source: Washington Post (A1,A10)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-03/03/047l-030398-idx.html
Author: Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Issue: Antitrust
Description: Bill Gates, chairman of the Microsoft Corp., said yesterday
that if the Justice Department prevails in its efforts to block Microsoft's
ability to add new features to its windows software, the company "will be
replaced" as a leader in the field of technology industry. In an interview
with Washington Post editors and reporters, Gates said: "It's hard to say
that you're going to compromise on your ability to innovate in Windows. If I
can't put Internet support in Windows, then Windows will fail. If I can't
put speech recognition into Windows, Windows will fail. You know, our path
is to make Windows better. If we can't innovate our products, then you know
we will be replaced."
Title: Microsoft In Senate's Focus
Source: Washington Post (C1,C6)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-03/03/109l-030398-idx.html
Author: Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Issue: Antitrust
Description: Although the hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee
today is titled "Market Power and Structural Change in the Software
Industry," it is really about one company, the Microsoft Corp. The hearing,
called by committee chairman Orrin G. Hatch (R-UT), is part of a longer-term
effort by Hatch to examine current antitrust laws, initially written in the
age of railroads and petroleum monopolies, to determine whether they are
still suited to today's fast-changing economic world. Experts say that "by
voicing public skepticism of Microsoft, Hatch can urge the department to
pursue a vigorous antitrust investigation." At the same time, by holding
public hearings, "Hatch and other senators can indicate to the department
that there is political support for what would be a highly controversial
case." William E. Kovacic, a law professor at George Mason Univ. and a
former Federal Trade Commission attorney, said that the hearing "has both
possibilities." Kovacic said,"No antitrust agency can afford to outrun a
political consensus, and to the extent that this kind of hearing signals the
willingness of Congress to accept further inquiry into the software
industry, that's an important signal for the Justice Department."
Title: Gates Answers To Criticism Of Microsoft
Source: Wall Street Journal (A3)
http://wsj.com/
Author: John R. Wilke & David Bank
Issue: Antitrust
Description: Bill Gates plans to tell Congress that "it is not, nor has it
ever been, the intention of my company to turn the information superhighway
into a toll road." In response to the government's antitrust challenge and
criticism of Microsoft's tactics, Mr. Gates says in draft testimony that "it
is preposterous to think that any one company could ever control access to
the Internet." Microsoft also offered a key concession to its critics over
the weekend, changing contract terms with Internet service providers
world-wide that favor Microsoft's Internet software over that of rival
Netscape Comm. While Microsoft said the change would have little impact,
Internet companies say the contract terms have prompted a sharp drop in
their distribution of Netscape software.
Title: Beware High-Tech Monopolies
Source: Wall Street Journal (Op-eds, A18)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Orrin G. Hatch
Issue: Antitrust
Description: The future development of the Internet and the digital economy
will be shaped by structural changes in today's marketplace. With respect to
such technological paradigm shifts, healthy competition and effective
antitrust policy are particularly important. Many economists believe that a
positive "feedback cycle" in high-tech markets often allows individual
firms, such as Microsoft, Intel or Oracle, to garner unusually large market
shares. Such dominance reduces competition, typically leading to higher
prices, less innovation and fewer consumer choices.
** Arts **
Title: Leading Art Site Suspended
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/03/cyber/articles/03adaweb.html
Author: Matthew Mirapaul
Issue: Arts
Description: The Web site which is one of the most premier destinations for
original Web-based art, ada'web, is being suspended. Co-founder, Benjamin
Weil, said the reason was that ada'web's publisher, Digital City Inc., had
canceled the Web site's financing. Skeptics had anticipate its closing since
the selling of ada'web's founding company, WP Studio, to Digital City, owned
primarily by America Online and the Tribune Company, 13 months ago. They
were unable to "reconcile the site's high-minded mission with the
mass-market orientation of other sites, and given the often- challenging
nature of the material, commercial sponsorship was not a likely option. Weil
agreed, saying: "For one year, it's been very difficult. We've been trying
to find ways for our corporate parent to understand that there was value in
this for them. It seemed like the message didn't really get through. And
then we tried to go non-profit to remain online, but we realized there was
very little funding available." Weil is now seeking a permanent home for
ada'web's archives so pre-published artwork can remain accessible.
** Merger **
Title: Sale Weighed As Takeover Fight Goes On
Source: New York Times (D1,D8)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/03/biztech/articles/03merger.html
Author: Saul Hansell
Issue: Merger
Description: In further efforts to fend off a takeover by Computer
Associates International Inc., Computer Sciences Corp. said yesterday that
it would go as far as to sell itself to another company. In a filing with
the Securities and Exchange Commission, Computer Sciences said it expected
"to engage in discussions and may engage in negotiations with other parties
regarding strategic alternatives, including a possible merger of the company."
Title: Olivetti Sells Computer Services Unit to Wang
Source: New York Times (D4)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/yr/mo/biztech/articles/03wang.html
Author: John Tagliabue
Issue: Merger/International
Description: At a joint news conference Monday, Olivetti SpA, the Italian
electronics company that has been selling its assets to focus on
telecommunications, announced that it will sell its computer services
subsidiary to Wang Laboratories Inc. for cash and securities totaling more
than $395 million. The subsidiary, Olsy SpA, designs and installs computer
systems for banks and public institutions across Europe.
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