FCC high-speed Net decision expected

The Federal Communications Commission is expected Thursday to require local telephone companies to share their lines with businesses that want to offer high-speed Internet connections to customers. The move could make it substantially cheaper for upstart businesses to compete with telephone companies in providing connections dozens of times faster than today's dial-up modems. And consumers might benefit with more choices for services, like certain digital subscriber lines, at competitive prices.

• Bells worry the new services will tie up phone networks

Net porn conviction overturned

MUNICH, Germany -- A state court Wednesday overturned the 1998 conviction of the former head of CompuServe Germany for failing to block access to child pornography sites on the Internet. In a case that drew worldwide criticism, Felix Somm was convicted in May 1998 by the Munich Administrative Court of complicity in 13 cases of distributing illegal pornography by not blocking CompuServe customer access to the sites. A state court in Munich Wednesday reversed the conviction on appeal after both the defense and the prosecution argued that the original court's verdict was flawed.

• Similar legal battles have gone on around the world

Post, MS and NBC in content deal

Washington Post Co. and units of General Electric Co. and Microsoft Corp. agreed to share news stories, broadening the companies' distribution over cable television and the Internet to attract more advertisers. Under the deal, MSNBC, a cable-news channel and Internet venture owned by General Electric and Microsoft; Washington Post publications The Washington Post and Newsweek magazine; and NBC News, the news arm of GE's TV network, will share content. The companies will introduce Newsweek.MSNBC.com, an Internet site, early next year.

• Print and Web site reporters will also appear on TV

Priceline.com adds airline partners

STAMFORD, Conn. -- Priceline.com added United Airlines, American Airlines and US Airways as partners to its online name-your-own price service for airline tickets. The Stamford company said Wednesday it now offers ticketing through all major domestic full-service carriers and 20 major international airlines. Priceline.com says it sells more than 50,000 airline tickets a week.

• Deals add 142 cities to Priceline.com's service

Wired women find friendly ears

Gone are the coffee klatches of our childhoods, where moms would gather in one another's harvest-gold kitchens for a cup of joe and a Tareyton cigarette. Today, thousands of mothers, under pressure to juggle 50-hour workweeks and family demands, don't have time for face-to-face connections with other women raising kids. To accommodate their 24/7 lifestyles, they're turning to message boards, chat rooms and private e-mail lists for advice, support and friendship.

• By 2003, women will make up the majority of Net users
• Board buddies bond beyond AOL
• Where moms can start online conversations

Comdex '99

Internet is king at Comdex

LAS VEGAS -- It's an irony of the Internet age that one of the last things high-tech mavens want to see at the nation's biggest computer trade show is personal computers. Cable modems, cellular phones and other wireless Web surfing gizmos instead held court among visitors at Comdex, prompting the show's organizers to joke, ''Maybe we should call it dot.comdex.''

• Cisco Systems CEO: "Every company is in transition"
• Net music players walk over Walkman
• Sony working to promote its 'Memory Stick' technology
• Easy PCs and Web companions
• Microsoft unveils MSN Mobile Companion
• Trial looms over Gates speech at Comdex
• HP debuts new logo, philosophy

U.S. spending $100B on Y2K repairs

WASHINGTON -- America will spend more than $100 billion preparing for the Year 2000 technology problem, or about $365 for every citizen. "Is this a lot of money? Absolutely!" Commerce Secretary William Daley said Wednesday. "But the potential cost of not doing anything was far greater." Because of the preparations, any computer glitches "should not hurt our economic growth," Daley said. "The greatest cost to our economy is behind us."

• Report: Problems overseas won't have major impact on U.S.

Niche sites serve businesses online

For most people, e-commerce brings to mind Beanie Baby auctions or battling bookstores. But businesses, not consumers, are doing most of the buying and selling online. Inspired by the success of online retail merchants, companies are dealing with one another over the Internet, trading in everything from coal to computer components to cows. Business deals will account for two-thirds or more of the money moving on the Internet this year, and that amount will keep increasing, analysts say.

• Niche sites have sprung up in many industries

Microsoft employees confront Gore

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		Do computer users need protection from Microsoft?

REDMOND, Wash. -- Vice President Al Gore faced tough questioning Monday from Microsoft Corp. managers, many of whom recalled the Justice Department's celebration after a federal judge declared the computer software company a monopoly. Although the audience of about 300 mid- and upper-level managers mostly cheered Gore's early comments in support of gun control laws, abortion rights and a national hate crimes law, the atmosphere turned chilly when the topic turned to antitrust. Gore himself raised the antitrust issue, although he did not comment on the Justice Department lawsuit against Microsoft or the Nov. 5 decision by U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson that Microsoft has unfairly stifled competition. The administration's point man on technology, Gore said stern antitrust actions sometimes are needed to break up ''unhealthy concentrations of power'' where competition is snuffed out. But Gore stressed that he was talking only about his belief in the ''fundamental American value'' of making sure that neither heavy-handed government nor unfair business practices unfairly stamp out competition.

Toysrus.com's Web site overloaded

Toysrus.com was betting big on this Christmas. The Internet division of the giant toy retailer had spent the last few months shaking off old ghosts and seemed in great shape heading into November. But Toysrus.com may be a victim of its own success. Its Web site has been overwhelmed by the number of people trying to get onto it. That's forced the online toystore to put a limit on how many people can visit the site at a given time to prevent it from crashing. So some shoppers can't get in -- despite repeated tries.

• Analysts warn Toysrus.com may be driving sales to its rivals

Wrangling snags satellite TV bill

NEW YORK -- An eleventh-hour fracas in the Senate could imperil a key bill designed to give millions of satellite TV customers opportunities to watch local stations. Banking Committee Chairman Phil Gramm, R-Texas, has vowed to filibuster the measure unless a provision added at the last minute is removed. The addition authorizes $1.3 billion in loan guarantees for TV providers that expand or improve services in rural areas.

• Bill probably would pass if tacked onto omnibus appropriations bill

Web sites help newbies take big step

For those who fantasize about making a killing on the Web, sites such as freemerchant.com and other give-away-the-store sites might provide the tonic they need. The free sites can help create a cyber presence, promote whatever's for sale off- or online, and handle orders. But the companies, which are upstarts themselves, cannot assure a business' short- or long-term viability. "We're going to tell you that the Internet is great, but the responsibility for success or failure lies at your doorstep," says Serge Wilson, CEO of freemerchant.com.

• Many sites make their money on premium "pay services"

In Tech Briefs:

Blockbuster Inc. will test a system in 14 markets that lets people rent PC game software for five nights for $4.99. The games will be distributed on CDs encrypted with a code that lets renters play them for a limited amount of time, and prevents duplication.
Also: Ziff-Davis sells Net training unit, Sprint, Cisco in business Net access deal, Western Digital to cut 950 jobs, a survey finds Y2K plans include guns and money, Comcast buys Lenfest on AT&T option, E.piphany to buy RightPoint, Juniper announces 3-for-1 stock split, Red Hat buys Linux software maker, Qwest sued for alleged 'slamming', Global Crossing in $1.2B Asian venture, E-Stamp announces deals with retailers, HP plans $200M marketing campaign and Ariba buys TradingDynamics for $400M.

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