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Volume 2, Issue 6 Atari Online News, Etc. February 11, 2000 Published and Copyright (c) 2000 All Rights Reserved Atari Online News, Etc. A-ONE Online Magazine Dana P. Jacobson, Publisher/Managing Editor Joseph Mirando, Managing Editor Atari Online News, Etc. Staff Dana P. Jacobson -- Editor Joe Mirando -- "People Are Talking" Michael Burkley -- "Unabashed Atariophile" Albert Dayes -- CC: Classic Chips With Contributions by: Peter Curry Carl Forhan To subscribe to A-ONE, send a message to: dpj@delphi.com and your address will be added to the distribution list. To unsubscribe from A-ONE, send the following: Unsubscribe A-ONE Please make sure that you include the same address that you used to subscribe from. To download A-ONE, set your browser bookmarks to one of the following sites: http://people.delphi.com/dpj/a-one.htm http://www.icwhen.com/aone/ http://a1mag.atari.org Visit the Atari Advantage Forum on Delphi! http://forums.delphi.com/m/main.asp?sigdir=atari =~=~=~= A-ONE #0206 02/11/00 ~ People Are Talking! ~ Piracy Leader Busted! ~ Quebec Drops Suit ~ eBay Antitrust Trouble ~ Microsoft Battles EU! ~ Songbird News! ~ Governors: Slash Taxes ~ Jaguar/Lynx Auction! ~ Codemasters Games ~ Win2000 Piracy Already ~ Free PCs Really Free! ~ Hasbro Files Suit -* AllAdvantage Files For IPO! *- -* US Vows To Combat Internet Vandals! *- -* Yahoo!, Buy.com Knocked Offline By Hackers *- =~=~=~= ->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!" """""""""""""""""""""""""" It seems like almost every day we read in the news about a new computer virus or another web service that gets knocked offline by a lunatic. What has happened to people that they feel the need or desire to do such things? Maybe I'm being naive, but I just don't understand this growing phenomena of cyber "terrorism"! Do these people achieve some sort of cyber high from such acts of cowardice? Do they do it because they can? Is it a form of revenge; or are they out for a few kicks at everyone else's expense? I've read that many companies actually employ "former" hackers as internet security experts. Is knocking out Yahoo! for a few hours something people put on their resume? What is wrong with these people?? Sure, force the government and businesses to waste money toward making a web site or service more secure. Who ends up paying for it in the end? You do, and I do. Thanks a lot, jerks! Why don't you all do something worthwhile with your so-called talents? Or if you really want to keep doing malicious acts, why not try breaking into each other's computer systems? The last "surviving" hacker gets his/her name placed into some world records book and be done with it! You folks really need to get a life! Until next time... =~=~=~= PEOPLE ARE TALKING compiled by Joe Mirando jmirando@portone.com Hidi ho friends and neighbors. I just this minute got back from a night out to dinner with a couple of old friends. There's really nothing like getting together with old friends to put things in perspective for you. They remember the way things were "back then", and they probably even went through it with you. I even managed to track down a friend from my college days that I haven't seen or spoken to for almost 20 years recently. Of course, I had to wait until he finally got a computer to be able to hunt him down, but it did finally happen. Yes, old friends are special. That's probably why I hang on to my Atari computers. They're kind of like old friends... You know what to expect, you've got a proven history with them, and you don't need to waste time on getting comfortable. I've been using Atari computers for... ummm, more than a few years now, and I was comfortable with them right from the start. After all this time, I know pretty much what to expect from them. I know what they can and can't do, the easiest ways to do what I need to do, and who to talk to if I should come across something completely unexpected. Well. let's get on with the news and STuff from the UseNet. From the comp.sys.atari.st NewsGroup ==================================== Randolph Carter asks about getting his 1040 on the net: "Is there a browser which allows me to go online with my 1040stf in monochrome ?? Which modem do I need ??" "Galen" tells Randolph: "To browse with a 1040, you will need CAB 1.5, STing (both available on the net) and an external modem (NOT a WINmodem). Since an unmodified 1040 can only tolerate 19,200 baud, look for used 28.8 or 14.4 modems. USR made a 28.8 "MACinFAX" that runs quite nicely on my Falcon. As for setup details, it is a lot easier to connect an ST to the net if you have a hard drive. If not, post your request to "Tony C." at ATARI@CHEBUCTO.NS.CA. Tony has figured out a floppy only way to run CAB." Brian Van Tilbord adds: "I ran Cab from a floppy. You run STing, exit, remove the STing disk, then load Cab. It's downloading that can be time consuming, and let's just say with a floppy you needn't have graphics on." Tony Greenwood adds his experiences to the mix: "I ran a 1 meg ST with just the one 720k A drive and did everything on the internet.. including graphic browsing. I used an older version of CAB and STiK setup. pre v1..summat like 0.89 if I recall ? You didn't have to setup cache folders like you do now:) Top three answers for getting a 1 meg ST on the net are #1 Shell account.. easy peasy #2 Old software..I mean real old original STiK CAB etc #3 Upgrade to HD and stuff (But then that's widening the goalposts)" On the subject of composing web pages, John Garone asks: "Looking for a program to design web sites on a Falcon. I thought I had something on it but it looks like it got buried in my hard drive (somewhere!) if I have it at all!" Martin "Night Owl" Byttebier tells John: "There are several possibilities. 1) Qed + olga ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ That's my favourite. With this combo you'll have to type in all the tags yourself but with the help of some kind of shortcuts (html3_uc.krz) this is rather easy. Whenever you save your work in Qed, Cab will reload that particular page. This way you've an almost real time HTML-editor AFAIK, this needs a multitasking OS ftp://chapelie.rma.ac.be/atari/editors/qed-453.lzh This is the German release. The English docs and rsc are in qed-453en.lzh ftp://chapelie.rma.ac.be/atari/utilities/olga151.zip 2) Joe ~~~~~~~ A nice HTML-editor which works almost like Qed but offers more possibilities. I do use it a lot but on my system it reacts sometimes strange. The main disadvantage is that one can't scroll horizontally. If one design a new page that's not a problem but it can be a problem when one edit an existing page. You need olga and a multitasking OS to get the most out of it. ftp://chapelie.rma.ac.be/atari/html-edit/joe/joe146uk.zip I believe jgt_r1e.zip holds some modules to use within Joe 3) Webwizard ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ That's what the docs says about Webwizard WebPage.Wizard uses a wizard approach (popular on PC and Apple platforms) to allow users with little or no HTML knowledge and/or experience the opportunity to create their own Web pages (or even an entire Web site). http://cadenza.atari.org/ 4) HomePage-Penguin ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Also a wizard. http://www.atari-computer.de/mjaap/prg/ The latest demo can be found on following ftp-server ftp://chapelie.rma.ac.be/atari/html-edit/hppeng2d.zip 5) Expresso ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ French WYSIWYG HTML-editor. It's AFAIK only available in French. http://oxo.systems.online.fr Demo: ftp://chapelie.rma.ac.be/atari/html-edit/ex100b.lzh" Shiuming Lai adds: "Try Cadenza Software's Web.Wizard. http://www.cadenza.ukf.net" John Banbury tells us that he needs... "Help on a 16 mhz Falcon. Is there any benefit to having a 40 mhz fpu instead of a 20 mhz, and which chip is it? pga or plcc." Robert Schaffner tells John: "68882-33 (or what ever..) PLCC FPU Socket below internal PSU Do not use screw drives to remove FPU!! Sockets are a kind of cheap plastic! It's senseless to replace the original FPU if that Falcon doesn't have any accelerator board that really needs another (high clocked) FPU. Save your money." "Lewis" asks for help with CAB: "I am using I-Connect and CAB 2.5 on my Falcon030, Magic5. After I get I-Connect to get me connected I try to launch CAB, but as soon as I do my Falcon crashes and I get a "system destroyed" message. Any ideas?" Greg Goodwin tells Lewis: "I suggest you turn off everything you can and try one thing at a time. Perhaps try STing as well. I have no idea what your trouble is, but it is well established that I-Connect, CAB 2.5, and Magic5 will work on a Falcon, so I suspect either a corrupted file, a conflict, or some other annoying yet correctable problem." James Haslam asks: "Now that it's possible to listen to MPG-3 files (on Falcons) is it possible to create them? I'm doing a website for a friend, who is a musician. What I'd like to do is to convert a track from his CD to an MPG file that could be downloaded from his website as a demo of his CD, to help sales of it. Can this be done on a Falcon (or any Atari)?" Graeme Hinchliffe tells James: "In theory it should be possible on ANY pooter depending on it's RAM obviously... and of course it's CPU will affect speed. I don't know of any Falcon specific encoders, BUT you may be able to compile BaldeENC for the falcon. I believe the source files are freely available on the BladeENC website. I can't remember the URL off hand, but if you do a search for it you should find it easily enough. The source is for Linux but I'm sure it should be fairly simple to change to work with your Falcon." Guillaume Deflache adds: "Katherie Ellis (kellis@fdn.com)... I hope she won't mind me giving her address... already compiled bladeenc under MiNT. This may also run under SingleTOS or MagiC. But prepare to have some coffee, it's deeeaaad slow... unless you have an Hades or a Milan 060 that is." Rick Martin asks about RAM Cards for his Atari Portfolio: "Anyone know where I could pick some of these ram cards up and how much?" Ken Macdonald tells Rick: "see http://gem.win.co.nz/mario/pofo/" Ken Springer asks: "What is currently available for spreadsheets? I have a copy of LDW Power, but would like something newer. Did Texel 2 ever get an English version?" Derryck Croker tells Ken: "D&D Translations have English RSC and math files for Texel 2.00 available for download from the URL below. http://www.cix.co.uk/~derryck/index.htm" "B.P." posts: "I found a 500 meg scsi drive at a trade show for 25 bucks. I also have a Jazz drive with a crapped out mechanism. I placed the 500 meg scsi in the Jazz casing and it works great. My concern is that I am not sure if this needs a fan or not." Steve Stupple tells B.P.: "Drives do tend to get a little warm, so a fan would be a safe guard. Saying that, I did have a Power Computing hard drive and that had no fan!!!" Greg Goodwin adds: "A hot drive is a major disaster for your data. Whether a drive gets hot depends on how much heat is created and how much air flow exists (convective cooling can exist even without a fan -- the ST itself is an example). One simple test is to run the drive for an hour or so and feel if its warm. If it is, I'd add a fan for security. If it is still cool, then it is fine. I suspect it'll warm up a bit." Well folks, that's it for this time around. I know it's kind of thin this week, but a combination of things are to blame for that. It's a combination of lack of time and lack of material. But I'm sure that there'll be more useful stuff the next time around, so tune in again next week, same time, same station, and be ready to listen to what they are saying when... PEOPLE ARE TALKING =~=~=~= ->In This Week's Gaming Section - Hasbro Files Copyright Suits! """"""""""""""""""""""""""""" Songbird News! Quebec Drops Suit! Jaguar/Lynx Auction! 'Silver'! Road Rash Jailbreak! And much more! =~=~=~= ->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News - The Latest Gaming News! """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Hasbro Interactive Pursues Copyright Infringement Suit Against eGames and GT Interactive Xtreme Games, MVP Software, Webfoot and Varcon Also Named in Suit Hasbro Interactive, Inc., and its subsidiary Atari Interactive, Inc., have filed suit in federal court to enforce the companies' copyrights to some of the world's most popular computer and video games. The complaint alleges that eGames, GT Interactive and several others have blatantly copied games for which Hasbro Interactive owns the exclusive copyrights, including CENTIPEDE, ASTEROIDS and MISSILE COMMAND, among other well-known properties. In addition to eGames and GT Interactive, the complaint names Xtreme Games, MVP Software, Webfoot Technologies and Varcon Systems. ``Hasbro Interactive has the best brands and content in this business and we will vigorously protect what is rightfully ours," said Hasbro Interactive President Tom Dusenberry. ``Consumers should be aware that the companies named in this suit are making games based on properties they don't own or control." Among the games in question are such titles as ``TetriMania" and ``Mac-Man" - obvious knock-offs of the well-known games TETRIS and PAC-MAN, which are both under license to Hasbro Interactive. In 1999, Hasbro Interactive released a new version of TETRIS called THE NEXT TETRIS, and Hasbro Interactive plans to release the PAC-MAN game for the PC later this year. ``Games such as TETRIS, PAC-MAN and the ATARI titles MISSILE COMMAND and CENTIPEDE are immensely popular because their rightfl uowners and licensees have invested resources to develop and promote them,"co mmented Dusenberry. Hasbro General Counsel Barry Nagler added, ``contet nis Hasbro's core business and other companies don't have the right to profitfr om the success of our intellectual properties and our ability to make them successful. We're committed to protecting our brands and licenses to the full extent of the law." Filed this morning at the U.S. District Court in Boston, Massachusetts, the complaint seeks to require the defendants to cease production and distribution of, and to recall and destroy, the following games: ``Intergalactic Exterminator," ``3D Astro Blaster," ``TetriMania," ``TetriMania Master," ``3D Maze Man," ``Tunnel Blaster," ``UnderWorld," ``XTRIS," ``Patriot Command," ``HemiRoids," ``Bricklayer," ``3D TetriMadness," ``Mac-Man," ``3D Munch Man," and ``3D Munch Man II." Hasbro Interactive is also seeking damages. Consumers questioning the legitimacy of a product should look for the Hasbro Interactive logo on game packages. A complete list of Hasbro Interactive games is available at www.hasbrointeractive.com. Hasbro Interactive acquired the rights to many Atari properties for the home consumer market in 1998. Since then, Hasbro Interactive has released new 3D interactive versions of CENTIPEDE and MISSILE COMMAND, as well as a compilation of the original, 2D games, ATARI ARCADE HITS. Atari Interactive, Inc., is a subsidiary of Hasbro Interactive, Inc. Quebec Backs Off Suing Sony, Nintendo Over French The Quebec government on Thursday withdrew its threat to sue video game makers Nintendo Co. Ltd. and Sony Corp. for not marketing French-language versions of their products. Louise Beaudoin, language minister for the Canadian province of 7.4 million people -- 6.4 million of whom have French as their mother tongue -- told a news conference that Sony and Nintendo had agreed to offer video game user guides and product guarantees in French in Quebec. Because of that, she said, Quebec would withdraw its lawsuit. ``This is the least we can expect. We are looking forward to it," Beaudoin said. The minister added that the companies' subcontractors would also be compelled to do the same as of April 1. Under the agreement, electronics giant Sony, whose Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. unit makes the PlayStation home video game console, and Nintendo, creator of the Pokemon characters, will also have to provide French-language packaging for their video games alon wgith video games in French. Beaudoin, who said no deadline had been set tome et those conditions, added that she would now try to persuade Sega Enterprises Ltd. , the world's third-largest video game maker, to sell its services and products in French in Quebec. And major U.S. studios would be asked to issue Digital Versatile Disk (DVD) versions of their movies in French in Quebec, she added. French is Quebec's official language and the province has strict laws limiting the use of English on commercial signs. It also has regulations making it mandatory to speak French in the workplace, depending on the size of the company. Electronic Arts Busts Out With Road Rash Jailbreak for the PlayStation Electronic Arts will begin breaking out Road Rash Jailbreak for the PlayStation console system this week, the latest in the highly successful Road Rash series of combat motorcycle racing games and the first to offer a new story element. To date, Electronic Arts'rebellious motorcycle racing franchise has sold more than 3.5 million units worldwide across multiple platforms. Road Rash Jailbreak introduces a first-ever story element into the Road Rash series and also for the first time allows players to race as a cop. The game offers all-new multiplayer modes such as the Sidecar mode that allows up to four players to bash opponents, and introduces supermoves to give players even greater fighting prowess. In addition, the game has a unique music soundtrack featuring bands that are unsigned and/or from independent labels. In Jailbreak mode, the player must rescue Spaz, the greatest rasher of all time, from the men in blue. To accomplish this, players must first join one of two gangs and rise through the ranks by successfully completing tasks and challenges to prove they have the guts to save Spaz. Then and only then can they set out to free Spaz from the multitudes of cops that would like nothing better than to see you and Spaz rotting in the slammer. Another new way to vent aggression in Road Rash Jailbreak is the 5-0 mode that places the player in a police uniform. What was unthinkable in previous versions of Road Rash has now become reality. In 5-0 mode, players don the badge and go after ne'r do wells with a vengeance. At the start of the race, the player is given a certain gang member as their primary target. Racing against the clock, the gamer has the option of taking down that gangster or busting several other gang members to complete the level. For those players interested in tussling with their friends, Road Rash Jailbreak gives them what they want. In the all-new Sidecar mode, up to four players on two teams can beat on each other while driving at high speeds. In this mode one player does the driving while his partner, the ``monkey," fights off all comers from the sidecar. The driver and monkey both influence steering and the driver can even use his sidecar buddy as a special projectile weapon to clear out the enemy or launch forward across the finish line. Of course, the team members can bludgeon each other if spats arise. Another multiplayer mode in Road Rash Jailbreak is the split-screen Skull to Skull, where two players square off against each other for a brawl-filled run for the checkered flag. As if all these new features were not enough, Road Rash Jailbreak also serves up a deliciously wicked assortment of combination and supermoves designed to pancake the opposition. Several of the supermoves are powerful enough to knock a challenger right off the screen! However, while being more powerful than a simple nunchuck to the head, the moves take time to deliver and leave the player vulnerable to attack. So great care must be taken when meting out the KO punch. Music has always played an important part of Road Rash history. For Road Rash Jailbreak, Electronic Arts again pushed the envelope by holding a first-ever, nationwide music search for unsigned and independent label bands to supply the game's raw, in-your-face soundtrack. The chosen bands and songs were selected from hundreds of submissions throughout North America. These songs best represent the aggressive, combative attitude of the Road Rash experience. The game supports Dual Shock analog controllers. Road Rash Jailbreak for the PlayStation was developed and is being published by Electronic Arts in North America. The game carries an ESRB rating of ``T" (Teen) and has a MSRP of $49.95. The King of Auto Combat Continues its Reign with the Release of Activision's, Vigilante 8: Second Offense for the Nintendo 64 The king of auto-combat hits the road again when Activision, Inc. ships Vigilante 8: Second Offense for the Nintendo 64. Non-stop, high-octane vehicular warfare will tear across the U.S. and into retail channels the week of February 7, 2000. The game has been rated ``T" by the ESRB and will carry a suggested retail price of $49.95. In Vigilante 8: Second Offense, players must stop the Coyote terrorist gang that has traveled back through time in an attempt to change the course of events that will allow evil to dominate the world. In their quest to save the fate of the world, gamers get behind-the-wheel of supercharged combat vehicles, each linked to an over-the-top character, as they battle through a series of death matches spanning eight destructible arenas throughout the United States. ``Vigilante 8: Second Offense is the must have auto-combat title of the year," stated Mitch Lasky, executive vice president, Activision Studios. ``The game delivers all the breakthrough elements of Vigilante 8 and ups the ante by further redefining the auto-combat genre with its morphing vehicle advancements." Developed by Luxoflux Corp., Vigilante 8: Second Offense delivers non-stop intense full-throttle auto-combat complete with 18 new outrageous vehicles, which can be modified with high-tech enhancements and propulsion power-ups that morph into place. As players advance through the game, they have the ability to acquire ``salvage points" each time an enemy is destroyed. By collecting points, players are able to enhance and upgrade their vehicle with new attachments including wider tires and spoiler wings. The more points players collect, the more upgrades they will receive. The ultimate upgrade is a completely new car chassis. The power-ups, which can be found throughout each arena, provide gamers with improved driving abilities on snow and water, as well as the ability to hover above the ground. Additionally, the game features multiple modes of play -- single player quest, arcade and survival modes, two-player versus, cooperative and quest modes and three to four player brawl, team and smear modes. The game also offers multiple play perspectives, inside the car, behind the car and a split-screen option for multi-player action. Infogrames North America, Inc. Brings Sorcery and Magic to Sega Dreamcast With Silver If you look really hard through the dense, dark, misty forest you can see a light, the shining light of Silver for Sega Dreamcast. Infogrames North America, Inc.'s anticipated adventure game will reach most major retail outlets this summer. Silver, a corrupt and sinister sorcerer, rules the land of Jarrah with an iron fist. He and his henchmen have abducted the village women as part of a pact with the almighty god, Apocalypse. The player, as David, a promising young knight whose wife languishes among the captured, is the only hope for stopping Silver and his minions. To complete his quest, David must obtain and master eight magical orbs that will allow him to summon the forces of fire, ice, life, lightning, earth, acid, time, and light. These orbs will grant him the power to battle Silver's dark sorcery. ``Silver truly takes adventure/role playing games to the next level by offering state-of-the-art artificial intelligence, beautifully rendered interactive worlds and interesting characters," said David Riley, director of marketing for Infogrames North America, Inc.'s action/adventure label. ``The game's intuitive interface and design is a perfect fit for the advanced technology of the Dreamcast system." Players never experience the same situation twice as they roam freely around Jarrah in a non-linear pattern. They explore a variety of areas that include the tranquil island of Haven, the blasted ice plains of Winter and the underground rivers of blood at Metalon. As the player wanders throughout the mystical land, he encounters more than 50 unique, fascinating characters, some of which may be recruited as allies to assist in his quest against the evil sorcerer. Characters range from harmless imps to frightening bosses that include an evil ice dragon and a giant rat god. With an advanced artificial intelligence system in place, these enemies react intuitively and unpredictably to changing conditions. Developed by Spiral House, gamers can expect to see Silver for Sega Dreamcast in most retail stores this summer. Silver is currently available for the PC at most major retail outlets. THQ Ships 'Brunswick Circuit Pro Bowling 2' for PlayStation THQ Inc. Thursday announced the release of "Brunswick Circuit Pro Bowling"2 for the PlayStation game console. Developed by Adrenalin Entertainment, ``Brunswick Circuit Pro Bowling 2" is the most complete PlayStation bowling game to date, combining the refinements of the original with new and improved features, including updated Brunswick Pro Staff, new tournaments, expanded multiplayer and brand new modes of play. ``Brunswick Circuit Pro Bowling 2" is now available in retail outlets nationwide for the suggested retail price of $39.99. ``Brunswick is the leading brand in bowling, 'Brunswick Circuit Pro Bowling 2' is well positioned to be the best bowling game on the market with improvements designed to appeal to hardcore and casual bowlers alike," said Peter Dille, vice president of marketing, THQ. ``Bowling is the No. 1 participation sport in the country and we are pleased to be working with the most respected name in bowling." From amateur to professional, ``Brunswick Circuit Pro Bowling 2" offers enthusiasts realistic bowling in the comfort of their own homes. ``Brunswick Circuit Pro Bowling 2" boasts true-to-life elements including authentic Brunswick lane environments, clothing, equipment and statistics, real tournaments from the PBA tour and accurate bowling-ball and pin physics. Up to eight family members and friends can choose to play as one of the current Brunswick Pro Staff, both males and females, or even create a bowler in their own image. With nine modes of play including new Team Play and Skills Challenge, enhanced Cosmic Bowling(TM) mode, and a Pro Shot display tutorial, Brunswick Circuit Pro Bowling 2 offers something for everyone. Seven Games Roar Into 2000 From Codemasters; Games to Launch on PlayStation, PC and GameBoy Color Codemasters announced its highly anticipated and diverse line-up of game releases for early 2000, including action, racing, sports and general entertainment titles on three platforms. The releases include: Colin McRae Rally (PC); Micro Maniacs (PSX); MTV Music Generator (PC); Pro Pool (GBC); Mike Tyson Boxing (PSX); WTC, World Racing Championship (PSX) and Insane (Internet-PC). THE GAMES LINE-UP Colin McRae Rally races onto American PC's in April, 2000, carrying an SRP of $29.99. Bearing the name and the signature pedal-to-the-metal style of one of the greatest rally-racers in history, the game features 12 of the world's greatest rally cars and supports up to eight simultaneous players via LAN. Micro Maniacs for the PlayStation will hit store shelves like a pint-sized tornado on April, 2000 with an SRP of $39.99. This offbeat racing game from the makers of the successful Micro Machines series allows for up to eight players to control miniature maniacs in simultaneous, fast paced and decidedly odd racing action. MTV Music Generator on the PC is set for an April, 2000 playdate on store shelves, with an SRP of $29.99. This easy to use music creation product allows even the novice to create professional-quality music in a broad range of styles, including rock, rap, electronica, funk, metal and dance. Pro Pool takes big time pool playing to the diminutive GameBoy Color in May, 2000, with an SRP of $19.99. Tested rigorously by Codemasters' staff on long, trans-Atlantic Flights, Pro Pool is the first true pool sim for the GameBoy Color, with multiple pool games and 64 AI-controlled opponents. Mike Tyson Boxing for the PlayStation will mix-it-up with definitive boxing-sim action in May, 2000. Carrying an SRP of $39.99, Mike Tyson Boxing offers multiple play-modes and a unique physics engine to create the heavy weight champ of realistic console boxing action. WTC, World Racing Championship brings international auto racing to the PlayStation in June, 2000, with an SRP of $39.99. With 23 tracks on five continents, players will speed down some of the most famous courses in the world, including Laguna Seca, Hockenheim and Bathurst. Insane for PC will take off-road racing onto the Internet in mid-2000 with an SRP of $29.99. Insane features more than 20 vehicles for racers with more than 30 off-road competitions all across the globe, from Africa to Yosemite and beyond. =~=~=~= ->A-ONE Gaming Online - Online Users Growl & Purr! """"""""""""""""""" Big Auction all New Jaguar and Lynx Stuff! DON'T MISS OUT We are having another great ebay auction of over 120 new Jaguar and Lynx items. Everything is new in the manufactures original packaging. All items starting at $9.99 or less, no reserve. Many items not usually found at auction. Examples for the Jaguar Soccer Kid (just released), Protector, Worms, Atari Karts and many more. For the Lynx items like Lexis and Ponx, Warbirds, Lemmings and many more. Come join the fun all of the auctions will be closing every 5 minutes on Sunday after noon Feb. 13, 2000 To see what is available click on the URL below. http://cgi6.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewListedItems&userid=goatari Wishing you happy bidding, Peter Curry Go Atari pcurry@goatari.com Atari Update From Songbird ~ Songbird Productions Update ~ ~ 02/08/00 ~ SOCCER KID IS SHIPPING Soccer Kid is now shipping to all customers. If you have pre-ordered this product but not paid your balance, you need to mail it in to Songbird or directly authorize Songbird to charge your credit card on file. The balance due for those who pre-ordered is $49.95 for USA/Canada customers, and $52.95 for international customers. Thanks for completing your orders, and enjoy this great first new Jaguar game of 2000! PRE-ORDER PRICE CORRECTION In the previous notice, the balance due on Hyper Force pre-orders was listed as $49.95 in the USA/Canada and $52.95 international. These amounts are correct only if you placed your pre-orders by Nov 1, 1999, with Songbird. All later pre-orders owe an additional $5 on top of the appropriate amount from above. Please email if you have any questions about your balance due. HYPER FORCE IS ON DECK It's now time to pay the balance on Hyper Force orders as well. Hyper Force is expected to ship in late March / early April, so it's important to get your payments in now to speed up the manufacturing process. If desired, you may pay for both Soccer Kid and Hyper Force together. NEW LYNX GAMES ARE COMING Songbird is committed to new products for the Atari Lynx as well. Crystal Mines 2: Buried Treasure, Cybervirus, and another secret project are all committed for a year 2000 release. Stay tuned! TIME IS RUNNING OUT ON $10 COUPONS If you have received one or two of the $10 Songbird coupons, you need to place your order by 3/1/00 to take advantage of them. Visit the Songbird web page at http://songbird.atari.net to view the great list of hard-to-find products carried by Songbird. Remember, the coupons may only be used on selected items* in stock with a retail price of $14.95 or more. One coupon per item, please. Sincerely, Carl Forhan Songbird Productions http://songbird.atari.net * - The Lynx/PC cable and all the new Songbird Jaguar games are not eligible. =~=~=~= A-ONE's Headline News The Latest in Computer Technology News Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson Yahoo! Suffers Breakdown Yahoo! Inc., which runs the most popular site on the Internet, suffered technical problems Monday and its flagship Web directory was inaccessible for much of the day. The company issued only a short statement acknowledging the outage and promising, ``We're working as quickly as possible to identify and correct the situation." Company officials were forced to deliver the admission by phone since their Web site was unavailable. Yahoo said the problems began Monday about 1:45 p.m. EST. The problem also apparently prevented all the company's customers from accessing free e-mail accounts through the Web site, but it didn't affect customers' home pages on Geocities, owned by Yahoo. Media Metrix, which tracks visitors to Web sites, said www.yahoo.com was the most popular Internet site for the month of December, the latest figures available, when it recorded 36 million visitors. The failure didn't affect the company's stock Monday. Attack Knocks Out Buy.com Buy.com said it was inaccessible for about three hours today after a "denial of service" attack, the same type of assault that shut down Yahoo yesterday. Mitch Hill, Buy.com's chief financial officer, told CNET News.com that the e-tail site was virtually paralyzed about 10:50 a.m. PST as a result of a "coordinated denial of service attack." Hill said the attack was directed at Exodus Communications, the infrastructure company that hosts Buy.com's Web site. Exodus technicians also confirmed that the company was the target of an assault. "It does appear there was a coordinated outside attack on Buy.com," an Exodus spokeswoman said. The shutdown, less than one day after the Yahoo attack, raised troubling questions about the possibility of copycat incidents or a renegade group determined to wreak havoc throughout the Web. The FBI said it was meeting with Yahoo executives today to decide whether an investigation is warranted. "We had over 800 megabits of data hitting our site per second, which is eight times normal capacity," Hill said. "On average our site runs at about 30 percent of capacity. Multiply that whole thing out, and it's like 24 times the normal flow of data through the site." As of 2 p.m. PST, the site appeared to be back online. Yesterday, Yahoo executives blamed a denial-of-service attack for knocking out the leading Net destination for nearly three hours. In Yahoo's case, the attackers targeted its Web hosting company, GlobalCenter. A denial-of-service outage occurs when attackers bombard a Web site's servers with fake packets of requests for information. When the server responds, the attackers' system steps up the barrage by sending more requests. The affected Web site struggles to keep up with the mounting number of requests, slowing performance for users or ultimately crashing the system. Keynote Systems, which measures the performance of Web sites, said activity on Buy.com began slowing to a trickle at about 11 a.m. PST. Daniel Todd, Keynote's director of public services, said the site was responding only to about 4.5 percent of all requests. During yesterday's Yahoo outage, fewer than 1 percent of requests for pages were filled. "We are not seeing a complete blackout, although obviously the site is not keeping up with the traffic," he said. The potential for such attacks is well-known to security experts. The National Institute of Standards and Technology, Carnegie-Mellon's Computer Emergency Response Team Center and the FBI all have issued alerts on the subject during the past few months. The attack comes on the same day the e-tailer launched a successful initial public offering. The company, which sells a wide variety of products on the Internet, had a market capitalization of $3.5 billion after the offering, which raised $182 million. Buy.com has adopted an expensive Web business strategy of luring customers by offering deep discounts on many of its products. The company plans to use the money raised to offset its losses as it expands. U.S. Vows to Combat Internet Vandals Attorney General Janet Reno announced a criminal investigation on Wednesday into the latest wave of hacker attacks on major Internet sites, as law enforcement officials conceded they had scant idea of who or what they were up against. One or more computer vandals disrupted several popular Web sites for a third straight day on Wednesday. The latest targets were the online brokerage E-Trade Group Inc., and a technology news site ZDNet Inc. ``We are committed in every way possible to tracking down those who are responsible, to bringing them to justice, and to seeing that the law is enforced," Reno told a news conference at FBI headquarters. She vowed to take steps to make sure that cyberspace remains ``a secure place to do business" so the Internet may continue ``to bring the world together rather than split it apart." Federal officials described the attacks as a ``distributed denial of service" attack on U.S. businesses. Such an assault swamps a Web site with so many requests that legitimate users get the equivalent of a cyber busy signal. David Jarrell, director of the Federal Computer Incident Response Capability, said in a Reuters interview that ``at least hundreds" of computers in the United States and abroad appeared to have been enlisted in the latest attacks unbeknown to their operators. ``Determining the controlling computer is virtually impossible," he said, referring to the way in which the attack bounces across networks. He said it was ``entirely possible" that a lone ``hacker" had launched the attack. President Clinton, asked if there was anything Washington could do to stem the attacks, said: ``I don't know the answer to that. But I have asked the people who know more about it than I do if there is anything we can do." The FBI-led National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC), an inter-agency group that acts as the nation's top cyber-cop, said it had not received any claims of responsibility and could not yet discern a motive. ``At this point in the investigation, anything is possible," including the involvement of a foreign government or group, Ron Dick, NIPC chief of computer investigations, told the news briefing. ``Basically, they can hide their identity," he said, citing the hypothetical scenario where hackers might create a false trail leading back to the FBI itself because the hackers were able to tie a false address to information provided to the victim site. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, a Republican from Utah, said he planned to hold hearings soon into what he termed this threat to the U.S. economy. ``In our new, knowledge-based economy, where the Internet and e-commerce dominate, public confidence in the security and integrity of the system is paramount," he said in a statement. Commerce Secretary William Daley said there was no "sure-fire defense" to such hacker attacks. ``I think this is a wake up call," he said in a conference call with reporters. ``We're requesting additional funds from the Congress to do more research on this with the private sector." The attacks began Monday against Yahoo Inc., the largest independent Web site, then spread Tuesday to leading retailers Buy.com Inc., eBay Inc., Amazon.com Inc., and Time Warner Inc.'s CNN.com news site. The sabotage at the Web sites highlighted the growing importance of e-commerce in the nation's economic expansion, and the initial targets were some of the most successful business operations on the Web. ``If you really know what's going to fix this, it's someone going to jail for about 10 to 20 years," said Frank Dzubeck, an industry consultant with Communication Network Architects Inc in Washington, D.C. said of the hacker attacks. Justice Probes eBay for Antitrust The Justice Department is investigating whether eBay Inc., the world's largest online auction site, violated federal antitrust laws in its actions toward smaller Internet rivals. The probe, which has been underway since December but still is in its early stages, is focused on eBay's attempts - including a federal lawsuit against one competitor and threats to sue another - to prevent smaller Web companies from listing on their own sites items being auctioned by eBay's customers. One of eBay's top lawyers, Jay Monahan, said in a statement Friday that company officials ``have had some discussions with staff at the Justice Department regarding eBay and the online trading business generally. ``We welcomed that opportunity to talk about our business and to express our serious concerns regarding the practices of some of the aggregators," Monahan said. These other companies don't auction items themselves, but they offer search tools that scan the inventories of eBay and other Internet sites. As they attract customers of their own, they can cut into eBay's own Web traffic and associated advertising revenues. Monahan suggested that eBay's ``contact with DOJ may have been prompted by" its competitors, although the rivals said Justice initiated the interviews. The Justice Department declined to comment. News of the investigation didn't appear to affect eBay's stock price, which opened Friday at $160. It increased more than $11 as high as $171.25 by midday in heavy trading before settling at $164.50 late in the afternoon. During one meeting, lawyers from Justice's antitrust division wanted to know about ``eBay and their business practices within the industry," said James Carney, chief executive officer of rival Bidder's Edge, which was sued by eBay in December in federal court in California. Carney met for two hours in early January with antitrust lawyers in Washington, after Justice contacted his company in late December requesting an interview. ``They were asking us any number of questions ... about how the market works, about specific things in detail regarding practices by eBay toward Bidder's Edge," Carney said. The Justice Department has not submitted to eBay or its rivals civil investigative demands, which are formal requests for documents that could be used as evidence to support an antitrust claim. The department also interviewed the chief executive at AuctionWatch.Com, another Web site that searches Internet auction sites - including eBay's - and lists items available for bid. AuctionWatch CEO Rodrigo Sales confirmed that his ``conversation centered around the dispute with eBay," but declined to be more specific. The company, with about 60 employees, spent ``hundreds of thousands" to develop a technical workaround after eBay threatened a lawsuit and began blocking the company's computers from searching eBay's listings. ``Dealing with the issue with eBay has taken up a considerable amount of management bandwidth," Sales said. Microsoft Faces New Legal Battle With EU Probe Microsoft Corp., already grappling with a U.S. government antitrust lawsuit, faced more legal woes on Wednesday after the European Union launched a probe of the software giant's new $1 billion operating system. The investigation will look at whether Windows 2000 breaks EU competition law by allowing Microsoft to unfairly extend its dominance in personal computers to servers -- the workhorse machines that are the foundation of the Internet and business networks. EU Competition Commissioner Mario Monti said in Brussels that the complaints allege Microsoft bundled the operating system with other software in such a way that only its own products are fully interoperable, and that puts rivals at a disadvantage. The complaint, brought by end-users, small computer businesses and Microsoft rivals, alleges that by controlling the server computers that run networks, Microsoft could ultimately have a powerful grip over electronic commerce and the Internet economy. Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft defended the system, saying it was confident the EU would find it had complied with competition law, and said the case would not hold up the roll-out of Windows 2000. ``We have no reason to think that this will have any impact on the launch of Windows 2000, or any impact at all eventually," Microsoft spokeswoman Erin Brewer said by telephone from company headquarters in Redmond, Wash. Microsoft general counsel for international sales and support Brad Smith said Windows 2000 was interoperable with other server operating systems. ``We have shared a wide array of technical information about Windows 2000 broadly with software developers, customers and competitors long before the product was ever released," Smith said in a statement. If the allegations were proven, the EU's executive commission said it could force Microsoft to make changes to Windows 2000 or face fines of up to 10 percent of global revenues if it failed to do so. Nearly a quarter of Microsoft's second quarter revenue of $6.1 billion came from Europe, up 14 percent from the same period a year earlier. The probe cast a shadow over the long-awaited launch of Windows 2000, which Microsoft touts as a more stable and secure platform for business and network computers, and which is set to be unveiled on Feb. 17 by Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates. It is also the latest legal headache for Microsoft, which is defending itself from a U.S. Justice Department lawsuit alleging it abused monopoly power in operating systems for to crush rivals and stifle competition. Analysts said it was too early in the probe to tell what the impact might be on the company, but noted that with its bulging war chest, Microsoft would have little trouble fighting a second legal front. ``When you've got $20 billion in cash, you can pay a lot of lawyers to handle things for you and not distract your top executives from what they're doing," said Michael Schroeder, an analyst with Wasmer, Schroder & Co., an investment research firm in Naples, Fla. The EU's Monti said a formal request had been made to Microsoft to supply the commission with information by the beginning of March. Microsoft said it looked forward to doing so. Microsoft also lashed out at rival Sun Microsystems Inc., which Microsoft said had filed a complaint with the commission last year against Windows 2000. ``Instead of competing in the marketplace, Sun continues to call for governments around the world to regulate more heavily the software development process," Smith said. ``We do not believe (such regulation) would serve well the fast-paced technological innovation that is today the driving force of the world economy." Schroeder said such complaints might become more common in Europe, where the way of doing business often clashes with the turbocharged brand of capitalism found in the United States. ``This is the kind of thing that we should not be surprised to see going forward," Schroeder said. ``The EU has been exhibiting a variety of different traits that collectively are not friendly toward American business interests," he said, pointing to recent woes U.S. businesses like banana seller Chiquita and soft drink maker Coca-Cola have suffered in Europe. U.S. Agents Attack Software Pirate Ring One of the suspected leaders of an international ring of software pirates operating on the Internet has been arrested and charged with conspiring to violate the copyrights on thousands of computer programs, federal officials announced on Friday. Robin Rothberg, 32, who was arrested on Thursday in Boston, is suspected of being a ``council member" of a group called "Pirates with Attitude," an organization that disseminates bootleg copies of software, including some not commercially available, said U.S. Attorney Scott Lasser. The FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office in Chicago said Rothberg, of North Chelmsford, Massachusetts, was charged with conspiracy to infringe the copyright of thousands of software programs. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Rothberg used an Illinois-based Internet Service Provider while conspiring to bootleg the software, the FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office said. Pirates with Attitude runs a Web site called Sentinel accessible only to those who enter by a secure Internet Protocol address. To use the site, the indictment naming Rothberg said, users must upload software files. In exchange they may then download files from a directory listing thousands of programs. One computer that supported the operation, located at the University of Sherbrooke in Quebec, was seized by Canadian authorities and the FBI last month, the announcement said. But it said the operation -- described as one of the longest-standing and most sophisticated of its kind -- is believed to have members and other distribution sites worldwide. The FBI said investigators found that thousands of commercially marketed software products from nearly every publisher had been uploaded to the Sherbrooke computer. Rothberg, who was released on $25,000 bond following his arrest in Boston, had connected to the Canadian site through Zenith Data Systems of Buffalo Grove, Illinois, the Internet service provider for his former employer, NEC Technologies, the complaint said. Microsoft Already Battling Windows 2000 Piracy Windows 2000 hasn't even been officially released, but that hasn't stopped software pirates from ripping off Microsoft Corp.'s newest operating system. The world's leading software company said on Thursday it has been busily stamping out Web sites offering illicit copies of the program, which took $1 billion and three years for Microsoft to develop. To combat the piracy problem, made easier by the Internet, Microsoft has assembled an arsenal of new weapons, including a virtual bloodhound to sniff out illegal copies lurking on the Web, holographic CD-ROMs and authenticity certificates that are harder to counterfeit than a $100 dollar bill. ``What we are trying to do is use technology even more to combat software piracy," Anne Murphy, an anti-piracy attorney for the Redmond, Wash.-based company. With illegal versions of software making up one in four programs installed on U.S. computers, and with organized crime bankrolling sophisticated counterfeiting operations, Microsoft is determined to protect its latest treasure. Windows 2000, the next-generation business operating system that will run servers and corporate systems, is to be formally unveiled by Microsoft co-founder and chairman, Bill Gates, next Thursday at a gala event in San Francisco. But copies of Windows 2000 were sent to computer makers for installation on new computers last December, and machines carrying it have quietly shipped for several weeks. Beta, or test versions, were also released to hundreds of thousands of customers months ago. Using a new program that works full-time at ferreting out illegal copies of Windows 2000 on the Web, Microsoft in January alone uncovered more than 100 Web sites posting the program for download, Murphy said. ``It searches out those downloads and the following day our people review the results of the search, and if it looks like there's a serious problem, then we notify in rapid time the Internet service provider," Murphy said. It was unclear how many copies of Windows 2000 had been downloaded illegally or how much money Microsoft had lost from such activity. ``We really haven't quantified that," Murphy said of losses from Windows 2000 piracy. The software's price tag ranges from $149 for a desktop upgrade to $3,999 for the Advanced Server version. But Murphy likened Internet piracy to bacteria breeding in ideal conditions, saying, ``In terms of what happens when it's downloaded, it's kind of like a petri dish -- it just multiplies even more." To help prevent copying of physical CD-ROMs -- a lucrative business for professional pirates who can stamp disks and print high-quality shrink-wrapped boxes -- Microsoft has two tricks up its sleeve. One is a complex ``edge-to-edge" hologram that is etched across the entire face of a CD and features the Windows logo, the name of the software version, and how the disk was sold. Also, Windows 2000 will ship with verification badges using a copper holographic thread, unique identification numbers, and a company logo that shimmers gold and silver in the light. ``It has more security features than any currency in the world," Murphy said. Calling the hologram a ``quantum leap" in anti-piracy technology, Murphy said Microsoft is confident the technique is sophisticated enough to foil even the most determined pirates, for a while anyway. ``This throws a major roadblock in front of them," Murphy said. ``I'm sure they'll come up with their best shot, but I'm sure that the quality of this hologram will be something that the consumer can see." Governors Tell States to Simplify, Slash Telecom Taxes States and localities must radically simplify the high taxes they charge telecommunications firms or derail the digital economy, the nation's governors warned on Tuesday. In the first of a set of reports to members on how to survive an electronic commerce-driven economy, the National Governors' Association (NGA) urged governors to cut high taxes that are suffocating providers of traditional and cell phone services, Internet, pagers and other digital-age technology. Thousands of states, cities, counties and parishes also should arduously prune the thicket of taxes telecom firms' accountants must negotiate, rewrite tax policies that favor one technology over another and pay attention to the infrastructure needed by e-firms, NGA said. ``It's very clear to me that the telecommunications industry is over taxed," NGA Chairman Michael Leavitt, Utah's governor, told a telephone press briefing to release the 26-page report. ``It is time for states to thoroughly review their telecommunications tax policies." Before the 1984 breakup of the old Ma Bell system and the lightening growth of technology in the late 1990s, consumers typically had only one telecommunications provider to choose from in their region. Now, however, households pick among a bounty of firms for access to Internet, telephones, cellphones, pagers and other technology that use an alphabet soup of media like copper and "fiber-optic" cable, ``analog" and ``digital" cellular, satellites and, soon, electric power lines. But while private industry has exploded with innovation, many states and localities still greet the e-millenium with prehistoric tax laws that discourage progress, Leavitt said. Not only are tax rates too high, but they are ``stacked" on top of each other -- federal on top of state on top of local, Leavitt said. He signaled that a 19-member panel appointed last year to study the future of e-taxes could, among its recommendations, call for a repeal of the century-old 3 percent excise tax on telecommunications services. States and localities should follow suit by cutting and paring back their own decades-old telecommunications taxes, he said. It would have to be done carefully, Leavitt warned. For instance, tax reform bills must be chiseled so as not to push e-commerce development in savvy suburbs at the expense of rural areas, he said. And lawmakers must deal with growing conflict between state regulators and local governments clamoring to raise revenue via new taxes, franchises and rights of way, he said. Leavitt said one issue facing states is how to tax telecommunications services that are often ``bundled" together into one bill going to customers. ``In our state, we have an arrangement with AT&T Corp. where they offer packaged services -- cable TV, telephone and Internet use -- all in the same bill," Leavitt said. ``The question is what portion of that should be taxed -- since telephone service would be taxed, cable might be handled a different way and Internet would not be taxed," under current rules, he said. Utah is working with a vendor to do a ``best estimate" of a customer's taxes, rather than having to do a separate, time consuming ``breakout" of each service, he said. When Is 'Free' Internet Really Free? It's the ultimate going-out-of-business sale -- free computers for everyone. As a result of its merger with low cost PC-maker eMachines, Free-PC Inc. has notified its customers that it is switching its focus and will no longer offer free Internet access. All of Free-PC's customers will be allowed to keep the free computer they were given-- no strings attached. About 25,000 customers were notified via e-mail on Wednesday of the company's decision. The e-mail promises that ownership titles for the computers would be turned over to customers. It also promises that all credit card information gathered by the company would be destroyed, and it provided a list of alternative free Internet service providers such as AltaVista and Bluelight.com. "I thought it was Christmas and winning the lottery rolled together," said Free-PC customer Joseph Donath when he received the e-mail telling him he could keep his computer. Donath has only been a Free-PC customer since October, and is now the permanent owner of a Compaq computer featuring 64MB of RAM, a 350MHz processor, 15-inch monitor and a CD-ROM drive. When he first heard about the merger with eMachines, Donath had anticipated the company would want him to send the machine back or pay for it himself. He called Free-PC's decision "extremely generous." Free-PC's business model of providing both a free computer and free Internet access was rather unique in an industry that generally provides either one or the other free of charge, but not both. Their revenue came primarily from advertising. Steve Chadima, vice president of marketing for eMachines says the decision to give away the computers cost "in the millions," but that the time had come for Free-PC to come to an end. The resources needed to provide both technical and customer service support for both free computers and free Net access was just too much. eMachines says it will now focus its efforts on developing software for its low-cost PCs. "We felt as though, like any other company, we had limited resources in terms of development and, with the millions of people buying eMachines, we wanted to devote our resources to those folks and not to worry about the 25,000 who had free PC's," explained Chadima. Free-PC's Internet service will be inactive as of Feb. 14. At that point, customers will have the choice of paying for service or turning to other free providers. Donath says he'll probably use MSN, but in talking with other Free-PC customers, he believes they'll likely use a combination of several free providers. According to officials at other companies providing either free access or a free computer, Free-PC's downfall was trying to offer too much, too soon. "I think that model at some point makes sense," said Bill Keenan, AltaVista's director of free access, when asked about Free-PC's approach. "It struck us as a lot more difficult to pull off. But it does seem like the model of the future." That's an attitude Chadima agrees with. He believes Free-PC ultimately would have made sense but more headway needed to be made on lowering the cost of PCs and increasing the number of Internet appliances before the company could have become viable. AllAdvantage.com Files for IPO AllAdvantage.com Inc., which connects businesses and consumers using a proprietary Web interface and a database of member profiles, filed on Monday to raise as much as $150 million in an initial public offering. Its members are able to receive personalized instant messages from sponsors as they surf the Internet while maintaining their privacy and anonymity, as well as receive rebates from retailers. The company, based in Hayward, Calif., did not reveal how many shares it planned to offer or for how much in the preliminary prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. AllAdvantage.com said it would use the proceeds from the IPO for general corporate purposes including working capital, capital spending and possible acquisitions. More than 5.3 million people have registered to receive its service, which was launched in July 1999 and contains direct links to more than 400 Internet sites. From March 24 to Dec. 31, the company had $5.2 million in revenue and $36.6 million in net losses, the filing showed. James Jorgensen, 51, helped found AllAdvantage.com and has been its chief executive officer since March 1999. The $150 million figure in the IPO filing was merely a basis for calculating the SEC registration fee, the company said. It has applied to trade its shares on Nasdaq under the symbol "AADV" once it goes public. =~=~=~= Atari Online News, Etc.is a weekly publication covering the entire Atari community. Reprint permission is granted, unless otherwise noted at the beginning of any article, to Atari user groups and not for profit publications only under the following terms: articles must remain unedited and include the issue number and author at the top of each article reprinted. Other reprints granted upon approval of request. Send requests to: dpj@delphi.com No issue of Atari Online News, Etc. may be included on any commercial media, nor uploaded or transmitted to any commercial online service or internet site, in whole or in part, by any agent or means, without the expressed consent or permission from the Publisher or Editor of Atari Online News, Etc. Opinions presented herein are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the staff, or of the publishers. 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