Thank god she’s off the streets. I feel safer now.

-Ian.

——- http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cidR8&ncidR8&e=1&u=/ap/ 20030909/ap_on_en_mu/downloading_music

Girl, 12, Settles Piracy Suit for $2,000

36 minutes ago By TED BRIDIS, AP Technology Writer

WASHINGTON – A 12-year-old girl in New York who was among the first to be sued by the record industry for sharing music over the Internet is off the hook after her mother agreed Tuesday to pay $2,000 to settle the lawsuit, apologizing and admitting that her daughter’s actions violated U.S. copyright laws.

The hurried settlement involving Brianna LaHara, an honors student, was the first announced one day after the Recording Industry Association of America ( news -web sites ) filed 261 such lawsuits across the country. Lawyers for the RIAA said Brianna’s mother, Sylvia Torres, contacted them early Tuesday to negotiate.

“We understand now that file-sharing the music was illegal,” Torres said in a statement distributed by the recording industry. “You can be sure Brianna won’t be doing it anymore.”

Brianna added: “I am sorry for what I have done. I love music and don’t want to hurt the artists I love.”

The case against Brianna was a potential minefield for the music industry from a public relations standpoint. The family lives in a city housing project on New York’s Upper West Side, and they said they mistakenly believed they were entitled to download music over the Internet because they had paid $29.99 for software that gives them access to online file-sharing services.

Even in the hours before the settlement was announced, Brianna was emerging as an example of what critics said was overzealous enforcement by the powerful music industry.

The top lawyer for Verizon Communications Inc. charged earlier Tuesday during a Senate hearing that music lawyers had resorted to a “campaign against 12-year-old girls” rather than trying to help consumers turn to legal sources for songs online. Verizon’s Internet subsidiary is engaged in a protracted legal fight against the RIAA over copyright subpoenas sent Verizon customers.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., also alluded to Brianna’s case.

“Are you headed to junior high schools to round up the usual suspects?” Durbin asked RIAA President Cary Sherman during a Senate Judiciary hearing.

Durbin said he appreciated the piracy threat to the recording industry, but added, “I think you have a tough public relations campaign to go after the offenders without appearing heavy-handed in the process.”

Sherman responded that most people don’t shoplift because they fear they’ll be arrested.

“We’re trying to let people know they may get caught, therefore they should not engage in this behavior,” Sherman said. “Yes, there are going to be some kids caught in this, but you’d be surprised at how many adults are engaged in this activity.”

One camp suggests that the wells ran dry because of the dreaded LAST MILE problem, that being that if consumers and businesses can’t get adequately high-speed connections to their homes and offices, then what’s the point of having a super-high-speed backbone?

Another camp, and here’s where you’ll find me, believes that the real problem is applications. After nearly 10 years of what will become known as the “Business Internet” we are still left with one of its first tools, email, as the most compelling driver in getting people to adopt and adapt. Email, of course, is not particularly bandwidth-intensive. So the need, then, would seem to be one of developing super-high-speed, high-bitrate applications to fill this glut of pipes and resurrect the industry.

Some telcos, notably SaskTel, are launching Video Over DSL. Others are dabbling in streaming audio and video, telephony, and other realtime applications over the public internet. But Broadcast and Realtime are not fundamentally what IP was built to do, and so for now there is an uncomfortable tension between aspirations and the functional capabilities of the medium. And there’s also that last mile thing.

People have fooled around with peer-to-peer file sharing, much to the chagrin of the RIAA. That drove many dialup users to broadband. Could peer-to-peer, born again within some kind of legal copyright-friendly (but costly) framework, resurrect demand? I suspect it will need to. But the bits still cost too much money — the whole pricing structure of the internet industry is designed for small bits, not big bits. Pricing for big bits is way too high relative to their cultural value.

How does this relate to Intel? Well, it’s an allegory. And a common problem.

Processor speed has far outpaced demand. Even the hungry Windoze XP doesn’t make a 3GHz Pentium 4 break a sweat (not even at Gersham’s house). It’s also too expensive. But more importantly, the problem is applications. While XP is great, it’s an operating system — it doesn’t actually DO anything. Applications drive us toward a particular operating system, which in turn drives us to buy the hardware that best supports it.

Processing capacity, or cycles, (see Moore’s Law) is now dramatically outpacing processing requirements in the popular applications we all use. They can only add so many processor-hungry, real-time features (like Mr. Paperclip) to Microsoft Word before it gets annoying. Email, in addition to not requiring lots of bandwidth, doesn’t seem to require lots of horsepower either.

So what applications will motivate my mother, who happily chugs along with a Pentium II/166 with 64MB of RAM, surfing the web and reading her email, to jump on the bandwagon and buy a newer faster better PC?

As a good friend said to me last week, 95% of what the internet will be in 5 years doesn’t even exist today. And that is a message of hope, I think — but I’m torn in trying to critique his point. Does it represent unbridled optimism? Or is it a healthy reflection on where we are at today?

In the interim, though, cycles — like bits, are now officially commodities. And, like the three-year speed bump in the network buildout (which we are presently nearly two years into), there’s very little to sustain the guys who sell us cycles.

Now is the time to innovate; break the mold and forge new models. The good news is that in this down market there’s a bonus: thanks to commodification, bits and cycles are cheap. And this confluence of vacuums in both transport and processing capacity is the opportunity to remedy its own cause. All that’s needed is effort, and new thinking.

-Ian.

———- http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cidR8&u=/ap/20021016/ ap_on_hi_te/earns_intel&printer=1 Intel Stock Plunges Wed Oct 16,10:53 AM ET

By MATTHEW FORDAHL, AP Technology Writer

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) – Intel Corp. stock plunged Wednesday after the company missed Wall Street’s third-quarter earnings expectations after a lackluster back-to-school season and weak corporate demand for computers.

The world’s largest chip maker also said Tuesday it does not believe the economy has bounced back enough to support much improvement in the fourth quarter from holiday sales.

“There is some demand out there — but not as strong as you would typically see in the second half of the year,” said Andy Bryant, Intel’s chief financial officer.

Intel released its earnings after the stock market’s close on Tuesday. Shares sank 16.8 percent, or $2.77 each, to $13.75 in early trading Wednesday on the Nasdaq stock market.

For the three months ended Sept. 28, Intel earned $686 million, or 10 cents a share, compared with a profit of $106 million, or 2 cents a share, in the same period last year.

Excluding special items, the company earned $768 million, or 11 cents per share, compared with a profit of $655 million, or 10 cents a share, in the third quarter last year.

Intel reported third-quarter revenues of $6.5 billion, roughly flat with sales of $6.55 billion of last year.

Analysts were expecting a third-quarter profit of 13 cents per share on sales of $6.52 billion, according to a survey by Thomson First Call.

In July, the company estimated third-quarter sales would be between $6.3 billion and $6.9 billion. Last month, it said revenue would fall to the lower end of that range.

Intel is not alone. Earlier this month, rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. warned that its revenues would fall about $100 million short of expectations and it expected to post a “substantial operating loss for the quarter.”

Intel announced in July it was cutting about 4,000 jobs. On Tuesday, Bryant said Intel had not achieved its savings targets.

Typically, Intel and other semiconductor makers see as much as a 20 percent boost in sales during the holiday-buying season. Intel said it expects fourth-quarter revenues to be between $6.5 billion and $6.9 billion — at best, a 6.2 percent jump from the current quarter.

The semiconductor business is now in its second year of dismal results as demand for personal computers have fallen short and up-and-coming uses for chips haven’t quite taken off.

Microprocessors, which make up the brains of computers and the bulk of Intel’s business, have yet to return to the growth rates seen in the late 1990s.

Analysts say consumers and businesses don’t see a need to pay top dollar for the fastest Pentium 4 when slower models can handle typical tasks just as well.

Moreover, the bulk of any gains in Intel’s processor business — typically at the expense of AMD — are in the low-end products. That tends to squeeze average selling prices and margins.

“There are not a lot of people running out there to buy,” said Eric Ross, an analyst at Investec. “When people are buying things, they’re buying cheaper PCs.”

During the third quarter, Intel introduced 18 microprocessors for desktops, notebooks and servers. Intel’s top Pentium 4 now runs at 2.8 gigahertz. A 3.06 GHz machine is expected in the fourth quarter.

The company also said it expects no material impact in the third quarter from a federal judge’s ruling in a patent dispute that could cost Intel as much as $250 million.

Intel said it has asked the Texas judge to reconsider his ruling in favor of Intergraph Corp., which claimed its patents were infringed by Intel’s Itanium server processor.

More information on the impact of the decision will be released with Intel’s November regulatory filing, the company said.

———–

Internet Scam Artist Fined $1.9M Fri May 24, 2:45 PM ET

By D. IAN HOPPER, AP Technology Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) – An elusive Internet scam artist has been ordered to pay almost $1.9 million back to victims and stop a scheme that used thousands of misspelled Web addresses to trick Internet users into seeing adult advertisements, federal regulators announced Friday.

Federal Trade Commission lawyers sued John Zuccarini of Andalusia, Pa., last October to stop the scheme. Zuccarini set up Web sites that contained misspellings of popular names like the Backstreet Boys (news – web sites), Victoria’s Secret, Bank of America and The Wall Street Journal.

Visitors that inadvertently misspelled a site’s name, like victoreasecret.com instead of the lingerie retailer, went to Zuccarini’s site and were barraged with a hailstorm of pop-up ads for Internet gambling and pornography. The new windows returned to the screen even after they were closed, the FTC said.

“After one FTC staff member closed out of 32 separate windows, leaving just two windows on the task bar, he selected the ‘back’ button, only to watch the same seven windows that initiate the blitz erupt on his screen,” FTC lawyers said in the complaint.

FTC investigators said Zuccarini makes from $800,000 to $1 million per year by charging advertisers whose ads appear on the browser windows.

Companies targeted by Zuccarini’s scam have filed scores of complaints with regulators and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, an oversight body that handles Internet addresses. The FTC said Zuccarini has lost 53 state and federal lawsuits and has had about 200 Web addresses taken from him and transferred to copyright holders.

Many of the Web sites target kids, including 15 variations on the Cartoon Network’s Web site, and 41 variations on the name of pop singer Britney Spears.

It is unclear whether the FTC will be able to collect the money, which is earmarked for consumer redress.

Zuccarini never appeared on his own or through a lawyer in the Pennsylvania federal court handling the case, even though witnesses testified that he was notified of the suit.

He did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment. Florida lawyer Howard Neu, who once represented Zuccarini, said he had “not the foggiest” idea where Zuccarini is.

Zuccarini does business under many company names, including 22 names using the word “Cupcake.” Victims of the scam should contact the commission at 1-877-382-4357 and use the FTC’s case name, “Cupcake Party.”

———–

-Ian.

——— http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010928/tc/exciteathome_bankruptcy_4.html

Friday September 28 8:32 PM ET

ExciteAtHome to Sell Assets to AT&T

By MATTHEW FORDAHL, AP Technology Writer

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) – ExciteAtHome, the leading provider of high-speed Internet access over cable television lines, said Friday it will sell its broadband business to AT&T Corp. for $307 million in cash and filed for bankruptcy protection.

Under the agreement, the once high-flying company’s network would become a part of AT&T, which already has a controlling interest in ExciteAtHome. The deal is subject to a bankruptcy judge’s approval.

The bankruptcy papers, filed late Friday in San Francisco, will not result in any service disruptions to ExciteAtHome’s 3.7 million subscribers, the companies said.

“This filing is a tool to protect the value of the broadband business for the benefit of the company’s financial stakeholders and will help reassure our customers that service will continue uninterrupted through the restructuring process,” said Patti Hart, ExciteAtHome’s chief executive.

The directors of both AT&T and ExciteAtHome approved the asset-purchase agreement. The deal, however, could be canceled if higher and better offers are received.

In a statement, AT&T said it plans to build on the assets it acquires to develop a more robust network. AT&T spokeswoman Eileen Connolly declined to comment on how the deal might relate to any possible sale of its broadband unit. In July, AT&T’s board rejected cable TV provider Comcast Corp.’s unsolicited $40 billion stock swap offer for AT&T Broadband. On Friday, Comcast announced it had signed a confidentiality agreement rekindling talks.

ExciteAtHome’s bankruptcy filing is the latest development in the spectacular rise and fall of Redwood City, Calif.-based company.

At the height of the Internet boom in 1999, At Home Corp. merged with the portal Excite Inc. in a $6.7 billion merger. Executives at the time believed the company would someday rival America Online.

But the bubble burst and advertising revenue dwindled.

After losing $7.4 billion in fiscal 2000, ExciteAtHome said in April it needed to raise $75 million to $80 million to make it through 2001. The company restructured its fiber-optic network lease deal with AT&T and sold $100 million in notes.

Even so, ExciteAtHome said in July it needed more cash to stay in business in 2002.

The company also cut back its work force. The latest round came Tuesday, when it reduced its ranks by 27 percent, or 500 jobs as it shuttered its MatchLogic division and discontinued less popular services on the Excite portal.

Shares of ExciteAtHome closed up 2 cents, to 15 cents, in Friday trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market. It lost 3 cents in after-hours trading. It traded around $100 in April 1999. Shares of AT&T closed up 60 cents to $19.30 in Friday trading on the New York Stock Exchange (news – web sites).

AT&T became the controlling shareholder of ExciteAtHome with its purchase of the cable giant Tele-Communications Inc. in 1999. TCI, along with Comcast and Cox, was an early participant in the At Home network.

It’s not the first time that AT&T has purchased the assets of a high-speed Internet provider during bankruptcy proceedings. Earlier this year, it paid $135 million for the assets but not the customers of NorthPoint Communications, which provided high-speed access over telephone lines.

Anyway, John Chambers once said that, as a result of his experience at WANG, he would sooner resign than stick around during a company’s slump, managing layoffs etc. Will he quit?

-Ian.

——– http://dailynews.yahoo.com/htx/ap/20010309/tc/cisco_job_cuts_4.html

Friday March 9 4:30 PM ET Cisco To Cut up to 5,000 Jobs

By MATTHEW FORDAHL, AP Technology Writer

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) – Networking equipment giant Cisco Systems Inc. became the latest technology company to slash jobs due to the weakening economy, unveiling plans Friday to cut up to 11 percent of its regular work force.

Along with cuts of between 3,000 and 5,000 of its full-time employees, Cisco also will cut between 2,500 and 3,000 of its temporary and contract workers.

“We’re taking these steps because of the continuing slowdown in the U.S. economy and initial signs of a slowdown expanding to other parts of the world,” said John Chambers, Cisco’s chief executive and president.

Cisco’s stock price plunged to a 52-week low on the news, dropping $2.19, or nearly 10 percent, to $20.63 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Last March, it was trading above $80..

The announcement was the latest in a litany of warnings and cutbacks by Silicon Valley companies in recent weeks as they cope with a slowing economy, falling demand for computers and everything high-tech.

On Thursday, No. 1 chipmaker Intel Corp. reported its first quarter revenue will fall short of Wall Street’s expectations and it was slashing its payroll by 5,000 positions through attrition. On Wednesday, Yahoo! Inc. warned it would break even in its current quarter, badly missing analysts’ expectations.

Sun Microsystems Inc., 3Com Corp. and JDS Uniphase Corp. also have issued warnings in recent weeks.

“Cisco probably has a closer handle on the current state of its business than any company in America,” said William Becklean, an analyst at SunTrust Equitable Securities. “They’re seeing weakness in demand like everyone else and they’re taking action to protect their bottom line.”

When Cisco executives reported earnings last month, they said the company – the world’s No. 1 maker of networking equipment – was feeling the impact of the economic slowdown in the area of sales to the telecommunications industry. There was some hope at the time that the downturn would be quick.

“We also now believe that this slowdown in capital spending could extend beyond two quarters,” Chambers said Friday.

The reduction in demand has been particularly felt in the routers, switches and other equipment it sells to telecommunications companies that make up the infrastructure of the Internet.

When Cisco announced its earnings, executives warned revenue could fall as much as 5 percent in the current fiscal third quarter – the first decline in its 11-year history as a public company.

Cisco did not offer specifics about its earnings outlook Friday, other than to say it expects a wider range of estimates for the remainder of the fiscal year.

Analysts surveyed by First Call/Thomson Financial were expecting Cisco to earn 14 cents per share in both the third and fourth quarters, with the company’s results for the year ending in July arriving at 64 cents per share.

Cisco’s work force has swelled from 8,800 employees in September 1996 to 44,000 this year after a series of acquisitions. It also currently employs 4,000 temporary workers.

Regular employee rolls will be reduced through voluntary attrition, layoffs and consolidation, Cisco said. The reductions will occur over the remainder of fiscal 2001.

Cisco anticipates a one-time charge of up to $400 million by the end of the fourth quarter.

Other expense reductions include cost cutting in discretionary spending such as contract services, travel and marketing expenses, the company said.