4th April 2000 Archive

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Judge finds against MS on virtually all fronts

Analysis Little comfort for company in verdict

The Conclusions of Law Judge Jackson has issued in the Microsoft trial are generally as expected: Microsoft has been found guilty of breaching both section one and section two of the Sherman Antitrust Act. "The Court concludes that Microsoft maintained its monopoly power by anticompetitive means and attempted to monopolise the …

Business 4 Apr 2000, 07:49
MS guilty – can Prez Bush save it?

MS on Trial If the procedure drags, a new administration may come to the rescue

Microsoft is making it clear that it wishes to appeal. Whether it will do so immediately against the Conclusions of Law is not yet certain, but there can be little doubt that Microsoft would want to get the case back into the appellate court as soon as possible. Microsoft's hope would be that the Court of Appeals would stay any …

Business 4 Apr 2000, 07:51
Via admits it's in talks to buy S3 chip unit

But other companies are talking to S3 too, Via confirms

Taiwan's Via Technologies has confirmed it is talking to S3 with a view to buying the graphics-to-gadgets company's 3D processor operation, according to Taiwanese business paper the Commercial Times (CT). Via emerged as the front-runner in the race to buy S3's chip business, nosing ahead of the favourite, Nvidia. Hints that Via …

Business 4 Apr 2000, 10:07
Bluetooth won't fry your brain

Didn't they say that about GSM phones?

While World+dog are in agreement that Bluetooth is a jolly clever technology, it finds itself in a very similar position to that of USB a couple of years ago: nice idea, no products. But now French phone behemoth Alcatel is to embed a Cambridge Silicon Radio (CSR) Bluetooth chip in the battery packs of its OneTouch 500 and 700 …

Business 4 Apr 2000, 10:08
Sega US preps free Dreamcast lure for its ISP

Nicks idea from Japanese co.

Sega' US operation is following the lead set last month by Japanese company J-Data Co. and offering free Dreamcast consoles in exchange for Internet access contracts. Sega of America's scheme centres on the launch of an online gaming company, to be called Sega.com, and an ISP service, SegaNet, to connect online players together …

Business 4 Apr 2000, 11:11
1GHz StrongARM picks up .18 micron features

Dynamic clock speeds, ultra low voltage

Further details have emerged about the next generation of Intel's StrongARM technology after the firm fleshed out future details of its IXA (Internet Exchange Architecture) this morning. Jeff McKeown, marketing manager of the CEG Logic Unit at Intel UK, confirmed that the firm is migrating the StrongARM microprocessor core to . …

Business 4 Apr 2000, 11:44
B2B goes hell for leather

But what is a vortal?

Dubbing itself as "one of Europe's first operating vortals", the leatherXchange.com, based in Barcelona, is to link the world's slaughterhouses (size doesn't matter the press release assures), with tanneries, leather goods manufacturers, traders, agents, and chemical and machinery suppliers in a new trading platform. But what …

Business 4 Apr 2000, 11:59
Lastminute refunds people who never bought shares

Another admin cock-up

Lastminute.com has cocked-up again, this time refunding cash to individuals who never bought shares. As part of the ongoing fiasco, some investors who cancelled their share applications at the last minute have nevertheless received share certificates and refund cheques from the company. Many individuals pulled out after only …

Business 4 Apr 2000, 12:07
OnDigital – TV's secret service

Blood from a stone situation on the information front

The British government plans to switch off analog TV transmitters by 2010, by which time 100 per cent of the population should be able to receive digital terrestrial broadcasts. In order to achieve this goal, OnDigital - the company that is digital terrestrial in the UK - has to attract viewers to make the switch from analog to …

Business 4 Apr 2000, 12:39
Lorry alarm nobbles immigrants

Get out me cab, you're nicked, san

Illegal immigrants' days may be numbered thanks to a new 'trailer alarm' that tells HGV drivers if someone has sneaked into their cab. The device, under development by Pulse Design, consists of a thin-strip detector running all the way around the inside of a lorry's tarpaulin and an alarm unit in the driver's cab, connected by …

Business 4 Apr 2000, 14:58
AltaVista beta-tests UK ISP service

Goes live after Easter

AltaVista will begin beta testing its new British toll-free ISP service next week before launching the service for real after Easter. Marcus Bicknell, president of AltaVista majority shareholder CMGI's European operation, said a million people had registered for the service since it was announced last month. Bicknell also denied …

Business 4 Apr 2000, 15:10
Freedom phone fighters tussle over domain

All the way to High Court

A row has broken out between two rival UK phone companies claiming the rights to a domain name. freedomphones.com was registered in December by Upload UK – a Web design company – for its client, mobile phone seller Freedom Communications. Meanwhile, Scott Allison went to register the URL for his company, Freedom Phones, but …

Business 4 Apr 2000, 15:18
Judge uses verdict to torpedo MS appeal chances

Analysis Cunningly stresses the Supreme Court made him do it

Immediately after the judge's verdict yesterday Microsoft said it would appeal. Said Bill Gates: "While we did everything we could to settle this case, and will continue to look for new opportunities to resolve it, we believe that we have a strong case on appeal." But how strong is it? In his Conclusions of Law Judge Jackson …

Business 4 Apr 2000, 15:29
Intel's cunning network plan

Analysis Still missing blue bits of the jigsaw

You've got to hand to it Intel, it understands jigsaws, especially those related to computers. Possibly, just like certain other readers of this online newspaper, you found yourself in the glad or unhappy receipt of said puzzles from a man masquerading as Santa Claus when you were a kid and had to sit on his knee. Just by …

Business 4 Apr 2000, 15:30
Herpes contracted over the Net

A real sore for site eyes

It may be the world's number one sexually transmitted disease but for two Brummies it's a dose of who wants to be a millionaire. Entrepreneur Andrew Knight and specialist doctor Ian Pardoe plan to set up a dedicated herpes Web site covering all aspects of the disease and are working on a £10 million flotation. Herpes is far more …

Business 4 Apr 2000, 15:43
Nortel lobbies to broadband for the world

With 30 of its closest friends

A new industry forum has been created to oversee the global development of broadband services. Nortel Networks led a pack of some 30 companies in announcing the formation of the Broadband Content Delivery Forum (BCDF) which will focus on "recommending open architectures... over the emerging broadband networks and improve end …

Business 4 Apr 2000, 16:03
Settlement not dead as DoJ mulls MS appeals

Jackson's rhetoric is powerful, but how solid?

US District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson's strongly-worded, even colourful, findings of law against Microsoft announced Monday were music to the ears of Department of Justice (DoJ) lawyers and states' attorneys general. Amid an atmosphere of restrained triumphalism down at DoJ headquarters Monday evening we learned that the …

Business 4 Apr 2000, 16:22
MS ruling knocks stuffing out of Wall Street

Already they're calling it: 'Charcoal Tuesday'

The Microsoft antitrust ruling initiated a badly-needed correction in the tech-heavy NASDAQ composite on Monday. By the end of trading, the composite closed down 349, or 7.5 percent, for its single-largest point loss in history as investors sold billions of dollars worth of New Economy stocks, primarily in order to buy familiar …

Business 4 Apr 2000, 17:23
DeCSS injunction challenged

Hacking as 'fair use'

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) submitted an appeal this week to reconsider a preliminary injunction granted against more than seventy Webmasters accused of trade secrets infringement for circulating a utility programme called DeCSS which cracks the security coding of DVDs and enables users to watch them on unauthorised …

Business 4 Apr 2000, 23:13
New virus wipes your HDD, then rings 911

Look for chode and dickhair on your drive

A recent FBI case has revealed the creation and distribution of a self-replicating script that can erase hard drives and automatically dial 911 emergency services, the Bureau's National Infrastructure Protection Centre (NIPC) says. The script can actively search the Internet for computers foolishly set up for file and print …

Business 4 Apr 2000, 23:33