7th May 1999 Archive
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Gates to cash another $260 million MS stock
Diversification programme goes into overdrive - does he know something we don't?
Now why would Bill Gates have sold some 7 million Microsoft shares (for more then $600 million), and be planning to sell another 3.75 million for about $260 million? Well, Microsoft spokesperson Tom Pilla said "This is part of Bill's normal programme of selling, done for purposes of diversification of his portfolio". This reason …
Business 7 May 1999, 08:58
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MS taking more slices of UK cable business
Update A chunk of Telewest follows a $500 million slice of NTL
Microsoft is taking a 29.9 per cent share in UK cable company Telewest Communications PLC (see yesterday's MS to take $5bn stake in AT&T), by an exchange of an undisclosed number of shares for the controlling stake held by cable service operator MediaOne Group, which was itself acquired earlier in the week by AT&T for $56.4 …
Business 7 May 1999, 09:00
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MS spends $5 billion to boost CE cable presence
Update But the price of a user has gone up spectacularly in the last year...
Partners Microsoft and AT&T sweetly described yesterday's $5 billion interactive cable deal as a series of agreements "to accelerate deployment of broadband services to millions of consumers" (see MS to take $5bn stake in AT&T). But from where we're sitting it looks a lot more like Microsoft using its money pile as a huge lever …
Business 7 May 1999, 09:03
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MS plays musical service packs with NT 4.0
Now you see it, now you don't. Maybe best wait for the CD...
How many service packs do you need anyway? And how many times do you need them? Windows site Windows 98 Central reports on a dizzying dance Microsoft is performing by posting and pulling the NT 4.0 Service Pack 5 over and over again. First of all the service pack got posted "by accident" and then pulled. Shortly afterwards it …
Business 7 May 1999, 09:07
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VP Allchin says MS OSes worse than Win2k beta
No really, he said it, and he said lots of other weird stuff too. (Read to the bottom for Citrix stock tip)
The 'finished' operating systems Microsoft has been shipping for all those years are less stable than the beta of Windows 2000, says Microsoft senior VP Jim Allchin. Or at least, he's been telling people that Windows 2000 "beta 3 is more solid than any OS we've ever shipped." For example: "In our stress tests, it performs better …
Business 7 May 1999, 09:10
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Universal online music plan gains AT&T, Matsushita backing
Cable and consumer electronics companies add major market opportunities
Universal's recent deals with InterTrust and fellow 'big five' music label Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) appear to have attracted the attention of AT&T and Matsushita. According to a report in today's Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed parties "close to the negotiations", both companies are on the verge of joining Universal in …
Business 7 May 1999, 10:15
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US crypto laws ‘unconstitutional’
But only as far as source code is concerned
It's official. Crypotography software -- or, more accurately, its source code -- can now be freely exported from the US, contrary to that country's government's regulations. At the end of a legal case begun back in 1995, University of Illinois maths professor Daniel Bernstein finally learned yesterday that the US court of appeal …
Business 7 May 1999, 10:35
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The gran who fell to earth
ICL in Manchester to host bizarre stunt tomorrow
A gutsy granny is looking to enter the Guinness Book of Records on Saturday when she jumps off the ICL Tower in downtown Manchester with only a rope to stop her from making a mess on the pavement. She will, though, be wearing a nappy (diapers, for our US readers) to protect her modesty. No doubt it will also stop her from making …
Business 7 May 1999, 10:39
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Will cable spending spree turn MS into Ma Bill?
Or is the company just blowing the cash before Justice brings down the shutters?
Microsoft's $5 billion investment in AT&T, plus further major infrastructure investments that Microsoft CFO Greg Maffei has said the company will make, appear to be a response to the growing sentiment that Microsoft may be prevented from making acquisitions as one of the penalties form the antitrust case. Microsoft already has a …
Business 7 May 1999, 10:49
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Novell spooks bust online pirate
Says it is taking action to protect channel
Novell is taking legal action in the US courts against a man who allegedly used online auction house eBay to sell $1.1 million worth of pirated software. The suit, filed in the US District Court for the District of Kansas, alleges that Joseph C. Mandala of Wichita, Kansas tried to sell Novell's NetWare software via eBay. Novell …
Business 7 May 1999, 11:10
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IT equipment is bad for your health
The hidden dangers that lurk within your photocopier
Your PC could be your lungs’ worst enemy, scientists warned yesterday. According to a study by boffins at the British Allergy Foundation, office machinery can produce damaging ozone emissions. Prime culprits are gadgets like laser printers, fax machines, photocopiers and computers, according to a report in today’s Daily Mail. …
Business 7 May 1999, 12:16
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Scottish Telecom set for £1bn IPO
Parent company looking to cash in on popularity of tech stocks
Scottish Power is set to sell-off part of its IT business to cash in on the stock market's ravenous appetite for telecom shares. The clever money suggests that the floatation will happen in the Autumn although it's expected that only 25 per cent of the business will be put up for sale. Scottish Telecom is estimated to worth …
Business 7 May 1999, 13:02
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Take-over talk targets Newbridge
Latest fall in share price prompts increased speculation
Newbridge Networks could become the target of a take-over bid in the wake of its falling share price and multiple profit warnings. There have been five profit warnings from Newbridge in the last eight financial quarters and its share price dropped to $28 7/8 this week, according to a report in the Financial Times. The lower …
Business 7 May 1999, 13:28
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Defunct dealer turns tables on advisors
Former Apple reseller turns adversity into opportunity by becoming insolvency practitioner
A reseller, angry at the liquidation of his own company, has turned the tables and become an insolvency consultant. Tim Simmons was owner of Eureka and Macay Technologies, based in Maidenhead during the mid-nineties. At its height it had 80 staff and three offices, but the Apple dealer ran into problems and was liquidated. …
Business 7 May 1999, 13:46
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Microsoft buys Telewest stake from AT&T
Bill’s got your PC, now he wants your phone and TV too
Not happy with his smothering domination of the world's software industry, Bill Gates now wants to get stuck in to the cable market. The Great Stan of Software is to buy 29.9 per cent of Telewest from AT&T for around $1.8 billion. The deal is part of a wider $5 billion investment by Stan in AT&T that will result in Windows …
Business 7 May 1999, 14:06
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Big Blue sued over mice
And scrolling mice, at that
Big Blue sued over mice F&G Scrolling Mouse LLC has taken action against IBM for alleged infringement of a patent over mouse technology. The action was filed on the 30th of April last. IBM always refuses to comment on litigation against it. And so we therefore know little more than those bare facts. ® See also: Great Software …
Business 7 May 1999, 15:03
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Europe gives green light to spam
Junk emailers have their day, thanks to Euro vote
European politicians have voted to legalise spam. The decision is a victory for small-minded people with no real understanding of how the Net works and is another crushing blow for Internauts in Europe. The European Internet Service Providers Association (EuroISPA), which has campaigned tirelessly to sway opinion, has expressed …
Business 7 May 1999, 16:43
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Soccer Web boss kicks fortune into the Net
Sports Internet buys Planetfootball for £24m
Planet Online founder Peter Wilkinson has hit paydirt for the second time by selling Planetfootball for £24 million. The buyer Sports Internet Limited is cock-a-hoop, pointing out that it is paying only £50 per Planetfootball punter, compared with the £1,000-plus per customer that Dixon's FreeServe is worth -- supposedly. This …
Business 7 May 1999, 19:36
