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Net's Future May Look Like QVC - TV merchants like the Home Shopping Network and ValueVision International could become the biggest online retailing powerhouses because of their massive databases, order-processing capabilities, and reach, the Boston Globe reported. Home Shopping Network alone -- one of the USA Networks' properties that will be merged into Lycos as part of a complex merger agreement -- has the names and credit card numbers of 20 million customers, more than triple the number of Amazon.com. Like it or not, Internet investors will probably have to accept that portals will adopt the business models of the home shopping channels. [Wired News]
NetSol Spams Name Holders - From Wired News: The company in charge of all things dot com, dot net, and dot org emails an unsolicited marketing message to thousands of domain-name holders. Network admins cry spam. [Wired News]
Netscape Deal About to Close - America Online's acquisition of Netscape Communications, approved by the US Department of Justice and valued at nearly US$9 billion, could create tough competition for Microsoft, The Seattle Times reported. Microsoft said the combination could help it in its antitrust case, because the combination of AOL with Netscape, the software company that sought the government's help, would show how fast competition changes in the computer industry. But backers of the lawsuit said the acquisition does not diminish Microsoft's monopoly. [Wired News]
Not Enough Visas For High-Tech - Computer-related companies, which make up nine of the 10 top employers hiring foreigners, are hiring more foreign nationals than their 115,000 yearly cap allows them, the Seattle Times reported. Although Congress has lifted the cap from 65,000 to 115,000 after Microsoft urged the increase, the yearly allotment probably won't be enough. With the visa cap expected to drop to 107,500 in 2001 and back to 65,000 in 2002, the high-tech industry will need to start training more Americans and depend less on hiring foreign nationals. [Wired News]
Now, Worries About Y2K Scams - US bankers and law-enforcement officials are on alert for scams and schemes that seek to profit from people's concerns about the Y2K computer problem, The New York Times reported. Frost National Bank in San Antonio, for example, sent a warning to other banks last week that a man had received a call in which he was told his money would have to be moved to a special bond account to protect him from Y2K-related glitches, and the caller asked for sensitive account information. Other scams artists are calling Visa credit card holders and asking them for their card information, saying the credit card company is doing Y2K-related testing and verification. [Wired News]
One World, One Cell Phone - From Wired News: International regulators have finally agreed on a standard that will let mobile phone users make and receive calls from anywhere in the world. Now all they need is a catchier name. [Wired News]
OneMain.com IPO Doubles - From Wired News: Yet another huge Internet initial public offering for the week. OneMain, an ISP serving the boonies, raises US$187 million. [Wired News]
Online Brokers Going Broke - While there are dozens of online brokers offering flat-rate commissions, only a few large, established investment service providers will remain, The Wall Street Journal reported. Expensive technology upgrades, higher bills for stock market data, and higher compliance costs arising from regulatory scrutiny are driving companies out of the online brokerage business. Investors may continue using online services, but they'll expect service that is more personalized -- and, therefore, more expensive -- which only a consolidated market can profit from. (The Wall Street Journal Interactive requires a subscription.) [Wired News]
PC Free Gets Compaq's Backing - From Wired News: If you buy Net access from PC Free, it will toss in a fully rigged computer. It's a whole new paradigm, says the CEO. Compaq computer apparently agrees. [Wired News]
PC Sales Have Peaked - Big computer makers like Dell, Compaq, and IBM are experiencing falling revenues from PC sales because of price competition, the Los Angeles Times reported. With the average price for home PCs only US$947, computer companies are looking at opportunities in the specialized home-devices market, corporate and foreign sales, and consulting services. Some are finding additional profits by teaming up with Internet services to offer e-commerce packages. [Wired News]
Paul Allen's Charter May Go IPO - Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft, plans to sell US$2 to $3 billion of stock in his Charter Communications cable company to the public, USA Today reported. The intensely private billionaire is betting that cable-TV wire is going to be the conduit for high-speed Internet access and digital television in the near future, and Charter, the seventh-largest US cable system, is well-positioned. Charter could go public as early as the second half of the year, a spokeswoman said. [Wired News]
Qualcomm Keeps Quiet - Qualcomm is trying to reduce unauthorized leaks to analysts and the media, The San Diego Tribune reported. Jeffrey Belk, vice president of marketing, sent a memo to employees this week warning that reporters and others are trying to infiltrate the company. Analysts say Qualcomm has become increasingly tight-lipped over the past year. [Wired News]
RSA Lands on British Shores - From Wired News: Three months after opening an Australian development house to bypass crypto export regs, RSA Data Security opens a European office to sell the fruits from Down Under. [Wired News]
SEC Wants Even Disclosure - The US Securities and Exchange Commission is considering tightening rules on forcing companies to announce news to all investors -- big and small -- at the same time, The New York Times reported. The regulators are concerned that companies are giving analysts and institutional investors key information first, giving the big boys on Wall Street a chance to make a profit first. But the SEC will proceed slowly, because the commission doesn't want to scare companies into releasing even less information to the public. [Wired News]
Siemens Purchases Redstone - Today Siemens AG is expected to announce its purchase of Redstone Communications, which makes high-speed switching devices, for a half-billion dollars, The Boston Globe reported. The German telecommunications giant is more aggressive than Ericcson and Alcatel, its two European competitors, and is scrambling to catch up with the technological advances that US companies Lucent, Cisco, Northern Telecom, and 3Com have already made in the data networking market. By keeping up with the new technology, the European companies can easily recoup their heavy investments in switching technology, by taking on foreign markets, in which they have a major advantage over their US counterparts. [Wired News]
Small Computer Shops Thriving - Small computer retailers are surviving an industry shakeout because they keep their overhead low, specialize in their wares, and hire employees with strong product knowledge, the Seattle Times reported. Medium-sized computer retailers, however, are being forced out of the industry because they can't find a niche market like their smaller competitors, and can't afford to lose money like the big chains. Filling the void left by their demise are computer makers who sell by mail, as well as online computer retailers. [Wired News]
Sony Playstation II Big Step - Sony's Playstation II is creating a stir in the computer world because it uses a microprocessor that delivers graphics that until now could only be produced by supercomputers, The New York Times reported. For the time being, the Playstation II will provide competition for Sega's Dreamcast machine, but analysts predict that the power of the Sony's Emotion Engine chip -- greater than that of Intel's Pentium III -- could soon bring the Playstation into competition with personal computer hardware and software companies. Besides its microprocessor, the Playstation II incorporates ports for the fastest communications channels available today and is equipped with slots for peripherals like modems, network cards, hard drives, and flash memory to laptop computers. (The New York Times of the Web requires registration.) [Wired News]
Stock Fraud Tougher to Stop - Online stock fraud is growing so big that regulators and law-enforcement officials are going to have a tough time keeping pace, a study commissioned by Congress has found. The General Accounting Office study cited many kinds of fraud, including emails sent to millions of users that improperly tout stocks, false information spread by anonymous chat-room participants, and sophisticated forgeries of legitimate brokerage Web sites, The Wall Street Journal reported. It's hard to track down the con artists, but commercial sites could come up with standardized seals of approval, and brokerages could screen out investors who may be susceptible to fraud. (The Wall Street Journal Interactive requires a subscription.) [Wired News]
Sweeping UK Net Libel Decision - From Wired News: A British court rules that Internet service providers can be held responsible for libelous messages posted on their servers, casting a pall over the industry. [Wired News]
Tech Giants Lobby Congress - Some of the biggest names in the computer industry have formed the Computer Coalition for Responsible Exports in an effort to stop Congress from tightening export restrictions on personal computers, The San Jose Mercury News reported. Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Sun Microsystems, Apple, IBM, and Compaq have all joined the coalition. The group points out that the current export regulations -- designed to stop the export of machines that could be used for weapons research -- are far too stringent. New business computers operate at speeds higher than 2,000 MTOPS, the maximum speed level currently allowed without special export approval from the Commerce Department. Coalition members hope to allay fears in Congress that have been spurred by the discovery of recent technology leaks to China, and argue that too much control would hurt US companies. [Wired News]
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