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Volume 3, Issue 17 Atari Online News, Etc. April 27, 2001 Published and Copyright (c) 1999 - 2001 All Rights Reserved Atari Online News, Etc. A-ONE Online Magazine Dana P. Jacobson, Publisher/Managing Editor Joseph Mirando, Managing Editor Rob Mahlert, Associate Editor Atari Online News, Etc. Staff Dana P. Jacobson -- Editor Joe Mirando -- "People Are Talking" Michael Burkley -- "Unabashed Atariophile" Albert Dayes -- "CC: Classic Chips" Rob Mahlert -- Web site Thomas J. Andrews -- "Keeper of the Flame" With Contributions by: Kevin Savetz Rob Mahlert Martin Doering John Hardie To subscribe to A-ONE, send a message to: dpj@atarinews.org 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 Now available: http://www.atarinews.org Visit the Atari Advantage Forum on Delphi! http://forums.delphi.com/m/main.asp?sigdir=atari =~=~=~= A-ONE #0317 04/27/01 ~ GFA Linker 4.0 Ready! ~ People Are Talking! ~ New QuickTime Out! ~ Atari FAQ New Home! ~ TT-Digger 6.2 Released ~ NoSTalgia 1.0! ~ FLI/C Encoder/Decoder! ~ Microsoft Infects 26! ~ SDL For MiNT? ~ Researcher To Be Sued? ~ USENET Archives Back! ~ GEMDOS Available! -* Too Much Privacy Legislation *- -* Free Online Storage, Thing Of Past? *- -* Low-cost P4s Could Ignite Sales, Or War! *- =~=~=~= ->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!" """""""""""""""""""""""""" It's been a hectic week, as usual. I've had a new boss for about a month now, so things are a little bit different than normal. So far, things haven't changed drastically as it usually does when new management comes in with a new "vision" and a lot of new ideas. But, the workload continues to increase, and naturally staffing doesn't increase along with it. Budget time is rapidly approaching and we all know what that can do to one's stress levels! So, I haven't had a lot of time to work on some provocative editorial this week. Barring my having to serve on a federal jury next week (I've been on a 3-week standby status), I'm ready to start planning a vacation or three! I'm ready to get going finishing up my lawn and doing some more planting and other outdoor stuff. And of course, some well-earned rest! I'm heading down to Maine this weekend to see my father and brother, and the new addition to the "family" - a new pit bull puppy! I can't believe my brother got my father a puppy, much less a pit bull! Oh, excuse me, a Bull Terrier, we don't want to start a panic in the neighborhood! I'm hoping it's an American Bull Terrier, and not the Staffordshire one! The weather has been nice. A little on the cool side, but I prefer this to the high temperatures and relentless humidity. Makes working out in the yard more bearable. I hope this continues for awhile; maybe we'll actually have a real Spring season for a change! A reminder to our current and potential A-ONE subscribers! This will be the last week that subscriptions go out from Delphi. After this week's issue, we'll be using our new mailer at atarinews.org. A final decision hasn't been made yet as to the format we'll be using to send the magazine in, but we'll send out a reminder during the week with the final details. Speaking of "lasts", I can't believe that this will be the last few days of Delphi as many of us are used to seeing. Text access will be gone, as well as numerous other related features. I've been a member for almost 15 years and it just isn't going to be the same again. Delphi will continue, but access will only be available from the web. Another downside to the failing "dot-com" environment and economy. <sigh> Until next time... =~=~=~= NoSTalgia 1.0 Is Now Available http://users.skynet.be/sky39147/ NoSTalgia is an Atari ST emulator for the Macintosh. What's new in version 1.0 ? - This version runs on OS X (Carbon) or System 8.x/9.x. - Added overscan low. - Added "freeze" , "unfreeze" functions. - Fixed MFP/new code (Captain blood rasters, Interphase,...). - Fixed MFP vector (fix lot of programs). - Removed OMS support. - Fixed bug in CPU, instructions timing. - New Audio support (no samples yet). - Fixed shifter timing. - Better control of the emulation speed. - Added an 'Auto frame' option to help the emulator when the CPU is too slow. - Fixed several bugs in the FDC emulator (Drakken,...) - Fixed the keyboard synchro code. - Fixed the real time clock (Captain Blood). - Most of the code has been rewritten. Notes: - Direct screen drawing is still present (and much faster) but is NOT recommended under OS X. - You cant 'hog' all the CPU under OSX. - Quickdraw performances are not great with OS X, NoSTalgia runs faster under 0S 9 in Quickdraw mode. - NoSTalgia is too slow in 'Millions Colors', switch to 'thousands Colors'. - The emulator may be slower when 'max speed' is enabled because it doesn't skip any frame in this mode. - There is no 'Full screen mode' with OS X. - You cant hide the Mac mouse with OS X. Clicks V1.01 Released There is a new version of the mind game "Clicks" available. Changes: some bug fixes. http://philippdonze.atari.org New "Good Old GEMDOS" Site After clearing up the license status of Digital Research's GEMDOS, I can now provide most parts of GEMDOS under GPL license. They have been available for a longer time on the GEM World site, but the copyright status had been unclear. This now changed (as you can read on my site). You now can get a GEMDOS porting kit with all, but the machine specific parts of GEMDOS in source form. Maybe, it is just for historical interest, maybe you can use it for something new. So, now have a look at: http://www.mucl.de/~mdoering/atari/en/index.htm At last many thanks to Lineo - they made this possible! New STune Version Released After a long delay, a new STune version is available. STune is a realtime strategy game that runs fine as a GEM application. The newest version has a lot of bugs fixed, e.g. the network mode now works better, and it should now even run a little bit faster! http://stune.atari.org New GFA Linker Version 4.0 A new Linker for the GFA Development-Kit 3.6TT is available. The new (R)GFA-Linker has no problems with long filenames, MagicPC, real library-filenames (with extension) and is optimized for the LicomLIB. http://www.rgfsoft.com/html/download.htm News at Europe Shareware [Chatter 1.10] Chatter, the IRC-client for IConnect, is now also published by Europe Shareware and its price has been cut down: 22.50 EUR. http://www.europe-shareware.org/atari/logiciels/chatter.html [CAB 2.8] The well known web browser is now also published by Europe Shareware. New price: 30.00 EUR. http://www.europe-shareware.org/atari/logiciels/cab.html [Pack "internaute"] The "Internaut Pack" now includes CAB, Emailer and Chatter, and the price remains unchanged: 60.00 EUR. http://www.europe-shareware.org/atari/packs.html [Aniplayer 2.15] Didier Mequignon's indispensable multimedia player is also available via Europe Shareware: 8.00 EUR. An E-mail from Czuba Tech.. Hello, After several months, I can only conclude that the TT030 users are so rare that I received only 27 emails from people who would buy a CTT60 for the TT030 ! That's not enough... and I prefer spend my time for the 145 people of the CT60 on Falcon ! Buy a falcon (it's cheap and a very good machine !) if you want a 060 + SDRAM. Yours Sincerely PS : Please, note my new postal address. Rodolphe CZUBA 4, AllΘe des Lauriers F-60290 LAIGNEVILLE FRANCE email : rczuba@free.fr WEB : www.czuba-tech.com 3D-Calc+ Spreadsheet News Bernd Maedicke has converted the 3D-Calc manual to Papyrus format. You can download it from the 3D-Calc website: http://3d-calc.atari.org Also, you can now download the resource file in a Dutch, German, French and English version. Frank. email: 3dCalc@atari.org Atari ST QuickFAQ Gets A New Maintainer As announced a few days ago by its former author and maintainer, Nicholas Bales, I have now taken over this classic document's daily authoring and maintenance. The new URL goes as follow: http://quickfaq.atari.org/ http://funkyware.atari.org/ http://members.tripod.com/~TT030/ From that starting point, there are EU and US mirrors. However, PLEASE DO NOT LINK DIRECTLY TO EITHER OF THOSE MIRRORS from your online bookmarks, as the location of both are entirely dependant upon whatever is my current ISP; only Tripod is permanent. I have already uploaded an improved version of the QuickFAQ and am currently in the process of reviewing all links found in the document. At this point, the main changes are: * cleaned up HTML, upgraded to XHTML conformance, with CSS. * some details on TT and Falcon TOS versions. * new maintainer name. Over the next few days, additions will include: * Stacy Language disks (once I remember where I put them). * Falcon language disks (once I remember where I put them). * general restructuring to allow for easier inclusion of new hardware-specific material on the Stacy, ST Book, MEGA, TT, Falcon, clones and emulators. * automated mirroring of the US site from the EU source site (currently, only the EU site is auto-mirrored from my source documents on the TT; because the US provider only offers FTP access, I cannot use UNIX tools to streamline the process there) In closing, I would like to thank Nick for the fantastic job he has already done maintaining this document until today and for his trust in my abilities to maintain his legacy in the future. Hopefully, wherever his new computing horizons take him, he will still find interesting challenges and a stimulating life. -- Martin-Eric Racine, IT Consultant * http://funkyware.atari.org/ XaAES v0.910 Released From the Mint newsgroup.. Hello! There is a new version of XaAES available on my homepage (in sig). Changes are: 1 New config keyword 'debug_lines n' for use in xaaesdbg.tos. When present, after n lines the debugfile is wrapped around. This makes it possible to run the debug version indefinite time without the danger of filling up your HD. Useful for detecting rare bugs. 2 Things iconify widgets are back again. (Don't ask me how :-) 3 Tidy screen: CTRL+ALT+Home works. 4 Quite some fixes in the windowed dialogues. 5 Double click in the file selector works again. 6 Selecting a application (not ACC) in the desk menu brings all of the app in front. CTRL+ALT+tab is disabled (Needs a big overhaul). 7 Implemented 'MagiC objects': cross boxes, round radio buttons, underlined string (title), underlined character (shortcut) and 'Gruppenrahmen' (Is there a English word for that?). Shortcuts work (press ALT+letter). Updated appl_getinfo(13,,,,arg4) :: 0xc :: G_SHORTCUT|WHITEBAK 8 Big fix in the keyboard queue handler. Now quite usable. Maybe even perfect. Well, at least much, much better. The last 2 points made me decide to jump the version number. Have fun. Groeten; Regards. Henk Robbers. mailto:h.robbers@chello.nl http://members.ams.chello.nl/h.robbers/Home.html A free multitasking GEM for MiNT: XaAES (heavily under construction); Interactive disassembler: TT-Digger; Experimental text editor: AHCX Alpha Version of Gem Sarien Available Jan Daldrup reports on http://www.place2be.de/indexe.php that Christian Putzig has released an alpha version of his GEM port of Sarien. GEM Sarien allows the play of Sierra graphic adventures (AGI games such as Leisure Suit Larry, Kings Quest 1-3, Space Quest etc) in a GEM window. Magic OS is currently required as sound and GEM frontend are done in Magic threads. The source code is available and anyone wanting to lend a hand are invited to join in on the project. URL: (in german) http://home.t-online.de/home/christian.putzig/Programme.html#Top URL: (translate to english via free translations) http://fets3.freetranslation.com:5081/?Language=German%2FEnglish&Url=home.t-onl ine.de%2Fhome%2Fchristian.putzig%2FProgramme.html%23Top&Sequence=core FLI/C Encoder/Decoder Released Francois LE COAT the author of Eureka reports on fr.comp.sys.atari that he has released a new FLI and FLC encoder/decoder. It takes PPM or PGM files and converts them to FLI or FLC animations. Which are compatible with Aniplayer or m_player. Compatible with long file names (tested with MiNT + Naes) URL: http://www.ief.u-psud.fr/~lecoat/ Convert Your GFA Basic Code To Java? French programmer Philippe Reverdy has reported on fr.comp.sys.atari that he is working on a software system to convert GFA Basic code to Java code. If you have a Java compatible browser you can see a conversion of the Tetris program KIKTRIS at http://preverdy.ifrance.com This is an enormous task and he is looking for feedback and help! Marijuana Mail 1.55 (Polish Version) Released A new version of the email program Marijuana mail is available at http://strony.poland.com/at4ri/ SDL for MiNT ? Patrice Mandin reports on his site http://www.multimania.com/pmandin/ that he has an initial port of SDL (Simple DirectMedia Layer) to the atari. SDL is a cross-platform multimedia library for programmers initially developed by Sam Latinga of the Linux Game Software house Loki Games. http://www.lokigames.com This will allow hundreds of new programs to be compiled for our platform! Patrice Mandins page is still only available in french here http://www.multimania.com/pmandin/fr/patchs.html#SDL The official website for SDL is here http://www.libsdl.org TT-Digger 6.2 Released The interactive disassembler TT-Digger has been updated to version 6.2. Changes in 6.2 TOS's > v4 are 512Kb. The calculation of the PC for addressing modes having PC relative base displacement yielded 2 bytes too far. (Pasm is wrong as well!). TST instruction: Allow all addressing modes for the whole 68000 family. Bug fix in machine switching. URL: http://members.ams.chello.nl/h.robbers/TTD.html =~=~=~= PEOPLE ARE TALKING compiled by Joe Mirando jmirando@portone.com Hidi ho friends and neighbors. It's been another hectic week for me. I know, I know, it's not just me, it's everyone. Things these days are so crazy. I know I've mentioned this before, but did you know that prehistoric man required only about 20 hours a week to gather everything he needed to support his family for the week. Amazing, isn't it? Of course, he didn't have a phone bill, or insurance payments, or income tax to worry about. He also got a proper amount of sleep... something that many of us are going without these days. It was simple. When the sun went down, you went to sleep. When it came up again, you awoke and went about your business. Damn you, Thomas Edison! <grin> Well, this is going to be a short column this week. Twelve hour workdays are getting tiresome, and the signs of strain are apparent... at least if my wife is to be believed. So let's get on with all the news, hints, tips, and info available from the UseNet. From the comp.sys.atari.st NewsGroup ==================================== Martin Holmes asks about his multi-lingual Falcon: "Turned my Falcon on last night to find the TOS desktop menu is in French and the keyboard has been re-mapped. Help - Can anyone help me get it back to English? Can't think how this has happened or how to get out of it." Jim Logan tells Martin: "Sorry. This is the result of a new directive from the Council of Ministers (of the EU for non-europeans). All computer screen will be in French for six months, and will then change in line with the country holding the Presidency." Jean-Fransois Lemaire tells Jim (and Martin): "You should be so lucky. When Belgium is taking up the EU presidency in July, your screen will be in Dutch (Flemish) during the first three months and in French the last three months." On the serious side, Mike Freeman tells Martin: "Sounds like your NVRAM settings got messed up. Get an NVRAM setter program (I think there's one in your Falcon system disks, or can be downloaded from any Atari FTP site). Set your language preference to English with this program." Martin tells everyone: "I have checked NVRAM and found its setting were for French and have now reset it to English. Phew, what a relief to get the keyboard letters back where they should be!" Lyndon Amsdon asks about his choice of text editors with NEWSie: "Little problem here that's got me stuck. I use QED (after getting fed up with Everest) as my editor and now after the Organization: line is written it doesn't do a carriage return so the subject line is written right after it. Obviously other peoples mailers don't pick up the subject and it ends up with no subject. At the moment the only solution is using a character in the organisation field (a dot if you look) or switch back to Everest <shudders>. Thanks! I think this is probably a FAQ re Newsie+QED" Steve Sweet tells Lyndon: "You should pop over to Menu, Options, Local, click on the popup labelled for files and have assign a matching suitable extension, configure here for formatting and line ends and i think your prob may be solved. What version QED are you using I had problems with 4.52 with its OLGA behaviour when using with Newsie, quitting QED , clicking on Save or using a key-short did not result in Newsie being informed of the file save hence no mail was sent. Reference QED, there are a lot of non-fatal resource errors, button widths incorrect, some translation is incomplete, loads of spelling mistakes as well." Edward Daiz adds his experiences: "I had similar problems and also memory management errors when using QED under Newsie on a Hades060." Steve tells Edward: "I'm glad i wasn't alone again. On the subject of QED, does anyone know the whereabouts of Christian Felch and/or his intentions re. QED. Its still got some formatting bugs that could do with stomping on, and the problem we are presently discussing." Jorgen Nyberg tells Steve and Edward: "I've found that QED sometimes coughs a bit under Newsie. My solution? Press Save and Quit in Newsie. It seems that the problems only creeps up, if I keep Newsie in memory." Neil Chester asks about floppy replacement: "Has anyone else used one of those "Head Cleaning Diskette" things usually with special solutions? I have used it in the past I remember but unfortunately on this occasion it looks as though the drive head has been damaged! I have a spare grey fronted Epson HD drive from my original Falcon (which was broken by ParcelFarce) which I can put in temporarily. But does anyone know where it is possible to get the black fronted HD diskette drives which are supplied with the C-Lab MkX case upgrade? Or can the drive be repaired by a skilled technician?" Shiuming Lai tells Neil: "The MKX uses a Teac FD-235HF, a very popular drive. Simply remove the black fascia and put it on a "standard" FD-235HF(the black version was not made specifically for C-LAB, but is nevertheless harder to come by). While you're at it, replace the LED with a blue one. Looks great." Edward Baiz asks about his noisy CD drive: "I have a Yamaha CDRW drive. Now and then it gets real noisy. I thought it was my hard drive. Most of the time it is quiet. The noise does not effect it's performance. Has anyone else run into something like this? Peter Slegg tells Edward: "I have an 8824E drive that is a replacement for one that failed shortly after I got it. The new drive makes a high-pitched whine all the time, even when there is no CD in the mechanism. It is not loud but it can be annoying. I agree with the suggestion that it is probably the cooling fan but I am now wondering how to silence it." Steve Sweet adds: "Is it noisy when its /not/ got a CD in it, if so its probably the PSU cooling fan. If the noise is only during CD access and also maybe varying in pitch, (depending on the region of the CD its accessing at a given time) you could well have a faulty spindle motor. This may not be affecting access at this time due to device caching, but it will give the unit a hard time and will get worse until it dies. Spindle speed varies as the tracking diameter varies, hence the possible variation in pitch I mentioned." Well folks, that's it for this week. Time for me to get back to the daily grind. I'm glad that we've had this little chance to sit down and relax for a few minutes. We need that every now and then. 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 - Classic Gaming Expo 2001! """"""""""""""""""""""""""""" 'Max Payne'! 'Rumble Racing'! 'Test Drive' For Xbox! And much more! =~=~=~= ->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News - The Latest Gaming News! """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Activision Signs Worldwide Publishing and Distribution Deal With Fox Interactive for World's Scariest Police Chases World's Scariest Police Chases will rev onto the PlayStation game console through an exclusive worldwide publishing and distribution agreement between Activision, Inc. and Fox Interactive. Based on Fox Broadcasting's popular car chase series, the game delivers full throttle hot pursuits and an array of action packed police missions, including high-speed chases, robberies in progress and deadly shootouts. World's Scariest Police Chases has been rated ``T" for Teen by the ESRB for violence. ``The acquisition of World's Scariest Police Chases underscores our goal of delivering top-quality interactive entertainment based on highly recognizable licenses," said Kathy Vrabeck, executive vice president, worldwide publishing and global brand management, Activision, Inc. ``The brand familiarity and action-packed gameplay will challenge and entertain gamers and the show's fan base." World's Scariest Police Chases for the PlayStation game console is a wild, no-holds-barred driving game that puts players in control of the action as a police officer chasing and apprehending law-breaking criminals. Perpetrators will lead players on a slew of hazardous, breakneck chases as they try to avoid being captured for such crimes as drunk driving, drug smuggling and terrorism. Players will pursue their suspects through a dynamic city, taking shortcuts and using aggressive tactics as necessary to apprehend them. ``World's Scariest Police Chases is a great driving game mixed with the voyeuristic qualities of the Fox television show," said Karly Young, Executive Director of Marketing, Fox Interactive. ``We are happy to be working with Activision to bring this fun, energetic game to PlayStation gamers around the world." As in the television show, the game features running commentary from retired Sheriff Jon Bunnell, complete with extreme hyperbole and the requisite bad puns. World's Scariest Police Chases is being developed by Unique Development Studios. Take-Two Interactive's Rockstar Games Proudly Announces Max Payne for the PlayStation 2 Computer Entertainment System Rockstar Games, Take Two Interactive Software, Inc.'s high end video game publishing division, is pleased to announce that Max Payne, the highly-anticipated PC action game is now in development for the PlayStation2 computer entertainment system. Currently in development for PC with Remedy Entertainment Ltd. and 3D Realms Entertainment, Max Payne for PlayStation2 is now being developed by Rockstar Games Canada and is set for release in 2001. ``As one of the first film noir inspired action games, Max Payne is an innovative and incredible new gameplay experience never seen before on the PlayStation2," stated Sam Houser, president of Rockstar Games. ``The line between special effects in movies and videogames is narrowing. The technology behind PlayStation2 allows us to take action to a level not yet achieved in videogames. With Max Payne, you will see the evolution of gameplay." Max Payne is a stylish, urban, revenge driven action game based in New York City's grimy underground. A groundbreaking rendering engine allows for heart-stopping, photo-realistic visuals and breath taking movie quality effects as Max Payne fights his way to uncover the truth. Max Payne is a dark, searing tale of corruption and murder which combines the most popular elements from today's biggest box office action thrillers with the latest in videogame technology to deliver what promises to be one of the most original gameplay experiences this year. The May 2001 issue of PC Gamer (just hitting newsstands), in an exclusive preview of the nearly finished PC version, had this to say: ``Defiantly original, soaked in style, fiendishly well-written, and sporting one sequence of jaw-dropping action after another, Max Payne will be the most talked-about action game since Half-Life. Max Payne: The next great anti-hero." EA Games Ships Rumble Racing for the PlayStation 2 Ultra-Fast Racer Features High-Flying Stunts in Beautiful Racing Environments Rumble Racing, from Electronic Arts, shipped Monday and features diverse racing environments and arcade-style racing. Available on the PlayStation2 computer entertainment system, Rumble Racing immerses gamers into a fast-paced world of full contact racing where users race in unique muscle cars, locate short cuts, deploy power-ups and land big-air stunts as they work their way towards the Rumble Racing championship. Gamers can get in and blast to victory in a quick game or perfect the many tracks, difficulty levels and stunts on the way to Rumble fame. ``Rumble Racing, the fastest racing game on the PlayStation 2, incorporates a diverse group of racing vehicles, environments, and stunts," says David DeMartini, the executive producer of Rumble Racing. ``Speed separates this game from the pack. We have developed a lightning-fast racer where you can either master the driving component and find the quickest racing routes or develop your jumping skill in cool cars and dynamic tracks." This extreme racer combines break-neck speeds, multi-car pile-ups, and diverse racing environments to appeal to racing game fans of all ages and skill levels. The fifteen tracks incorporate unique shortcuts, deployable power-ups, and stunting opportunities where the racers receive speed boosts that are greater with the degree of difficulty of the stunt. Three of the tracks are specifically designed for stunting. Towering jumps will launch your vehicle into the stratosphere where you can link barrel rolls, twists and flips to increase your points total and power boost exponentially. Richly detailed, these varied tracks include ocean-side racing, beaches, metropolitan and scenic mountain environments. More than 35 original vehicles with custom paint jobs are included in the game. Choose your favorites and earn upgraded models by successfully completing races or competing at a higher difficulty level. The cars include Muscle cars, sports cars, vintage vehicles, trucks and a custom RV model. Special unlockable cars such as a Jet car and tricked out minivan are also available. With turbo load times, users can quickly jump in and enjoy these cars while listening to Rumble's original, locale-specific soundtrack and over-the-top commentary from Jess Harnell of TV's Animaniacs and The Tick fame. Throw a monkey wrench in your opponent's plans with the game's many deployable power-ups including the world transforming Twister, Bombs, Nitro, Bad Gas, Super Tires, Shockwave, Big Hit and more. Power-up management is imperative to victory and can be particularly helpful to those who have run into a little bad luck during the race and find that they are in jeopardy of a poor finish. Rumble Racing for the PlayStation 2 is rated ``E" (Everyone) by the ESRB. Infogrames, Inc. Brings Its Distinguished Racing Franchise to the Xbox With Test Drive Grab the keys and get ready for the test drive of your life this fall with Infogrames, Inc.'s Test Drive for the Xbox video game system. The company announced that its top-selling racing franchise, the Test Drive series, is coming to Xbox with Test Drive. With more than three million copies sold worldwide, the Test Drive series has enjoyed tremendous commercial success. Test Drive is the first Xbox title to be announced by Infogrames, and will be in stores this Fall. ``The Xbox video game system supports features and technology that we've only dreamed of in Test Drive games of the past," said Chris Downend, executive producer of racing titles at Infogrames' San Jose Label. ``With the combination of highly sought after licensed vehicles, action-packed Hollywood-style racing and the exceptional graphics and technical capabilities of Xbox, Test Drive will have no limits." Test Drive continues the successful formula of the award-winning series with players racing some of the world's most sought-after licensed vehicles in exotic real-world locations. Whether a player is looking for the prestige and strength of an exotic sports car or the raw power and rugged good looks of an American muscle car, the game will offer something for every taste. The fast-paced Hollywood-style racing action in Test Drive will find players blowing through crowded city streets with the cops on their tail as pedestrians flee and cross traffic comes at them from every direction. With a brand new, built-from-scratch graphics engine, the game will utilize numerous cutting edge techniques that maximize visual and audio realism. Visually Test Drive will offer HDTV and widescreen (16:9) support with dynamic pixel shader effects allowing per pixel lighting, reflection mapping and environmental mapping. Advanced cloud movements and lighting effects including realistic occlusion of the sun and rendering of sunbeams are just a few of the examples of Test Drive's visual realism. In addition, the game offers optimized vertex shaders using unique-to-Xbox extensions not currently available on other gaming platforms. For example, players will see trees realistically bend and sway in the wind. The superior audio capabilities of Xbox allow Test Drive to offer surround sound, 3D positioned for all objects and spot effects, as well as a high quality licensed soundtrack. The fully licensed soundtrack will be heard using the new Test Drive radio feature. This feature allows players to choose their favorite music ``genre" and listen to several different songs in that genre as if they were listening to a radio station in their own car. Some of the cars in Test Drive include the Dodge Viper GTS, Jaguar XK-R, Aston Martin DB7 Vantage, Lotus Esprit V8, Nissan Skyline, Ford Mustang and Ford GT-40, Plymouth Cuda and Dodge '69 Charger -- with more licenses to come. Test Drive will have four exotic real world locations to race in. The locations are based on real world cities including San Francisco and London. Each location will have multiple paths within them and will offer gravity-defying jumps, unpredictable cross-traffic, relentless cops, smashable street-side objects and reactive pedestrians. Test Drive for Xbox is being developed by the Pitbull Syndicate and will offer 4-player multiplayer options via split screen. Based in the United Kingdom, The Pitbull Syndicate is known for developing Demolition Racer and the highly successful Test Drive 4, Test Drive5 and Test Drive6 games. For more information on The Pitbull Syndicate visit www.pitbull.co.uk. Smackin' Down 'The Simpsons,' WWF, WCW As weird as it sounds, ``The Simpsons Wrestling," where the cartoon characters from TV's ``The Simpsons" battle each other, is one of the most unsettling games I've played in a while. As wrestling simulations go, this $40 PlayStation game from Fox Interactive and Activision is also underwhelming as well as overpriced. The graphics are uninspired and there are only a limited number of moves to execute in the ring. ``The Simpsons Wrestling" was supposed to be a fun title. Krusty the Clown attacks opponents by throwing pies in their faces and Barney's secret move is his hideous breath. This aspect of the game is mildly amusing. But in my first match, I played as Bart and the computer was Homer. After a few moments, I began to be extremely troubled by the images of the father beating up on his son. In the next match, when I played as Marge, I was expected to bash Bart with my frying pan. And then it was Lisa's turn to get whomped by Groundskeeper Willie's rake. Yes, they're cartoons. Yes, in the cartoon an angry Homer is known to briefly grab his bratty son by the throat, and it's funny. But I doubt any child in the cartoon has been choked or beaten into semi-consciousness, which is the objective here. And unlike pro wrestling stars -- oversized consenting adults whose job specifically requires choreographed physical abuse -- the Simpsons are a family with whom, in a way, I empathize. This is a jarring departure. (In contrast, the bonus contest pitting Itchy against Scratchy involving all manner of weapons is much funnier.) Kids, most of whom have probably fantasized at one time or another about hitting back at their parents after a spanking, may not be bothered by this. But any good parent -- or anyone who loves children and is aware that there's too much real-life abuse -- should be troubled by this. As Marge commented at the beginning of her match, ``You know, someday we'll look back on this and be very, very ashamed." When it comes to simulating real-life pro wrestling, software designers keep coming out with better products. But the latest crop of serious wrestling combat games -- if you can take this mixture of soap opera, gymnastics exhibition and morality play seriously -- also illustrates how far the genre still has to go. The most recent World Wrestling Federation-brand title for the PlayStation is ``WWF SmackDown! 2: Know Your Role" ($40) from THQ. It's better than any other wrestling game I've seen. ``SmackDown 2" offers 63 WWF wrestlers, plus gives players the seemingly unlimited option of creating their own characters. There are 17 locations, including three different rings. It also offers some 30 types of matches with seven hardcore styles. And, there's an endless combination of rules. Players can decide whether to permit outside interference, whether a KO can end the match, and whether your opponent has to break if he (or she) forces you into the ropes. But as advanced as ``SmackDown 2" is, it nonetheless shows that there's plenty of room for improvement in this genre. The movements of the wrestlers are sometimes stilted. All too often the computer opponent will grab at empty air. The headlocks don't always lock. And in the tag team competitions, the computer is lousy at getting the teams to work together. ``SmackDown 2" is rated for teens because of the animated violence, mild language and mature sexual themes. By comparison, the Nintendo 64 version of the World Championship Wrestling-brand title ``WCW Backstage Assault" ($40) from Electronic Arts is far less versatile. You can create your own wrestlers, but this game offers only one style: hardcore. Purists who want to avoid fights with trash cans, poles and other foreign objects are out of luck. There are only four types of matches. There are seven places to fight (none of them in a ring), and until you win some matches, you're stuck battling it out in the trucking area. ``Backstage Assault" has an annoying system for selecting your wrestlers. Their identities are displayed on an eight-by-eight grid but only two are visible at one time, and it's never clear which part of the grid you're viewing. Only 25 of the 50 or so wrestlers are available at the beginning of the game. The rest have to be unlocked. I thought ``Backstage Assault" offered better sound than "SmackDown." It also has announcers, which can be a mixed blessing because the narration can get repetitive very quickly. Fortunately, you can turn it off. The game is rated for teens because of the animated violence. Jump the Wake With Infogrames, Inc.'s Watersport Racing Game Splashdown Coming to the Sony Playstation 2 This Fall Infogrames, Inc. Teams Up With Rainbow Studios and Bombardier Recreational Products to Bring SEA-DOO Racing to the PlayStation 2 Infogrames, Inc. announced that they have teamed up with Bombardier Inc. to bring the excitement and fun of personal watercraft (PWC) riding to the Sony PlayStation 2 this fall with Splashdown. During the last twenty years, personal watercraft recreation has grown into a widely successful and popular sport around the world. Infogrames and Rainbow Studios recognized this and began creating Splashdown, a watersport racing game designed to provide high-speed fun and entertainment in realistic and exciting water-based environments. With interactive physics objects, outstanding graphics, and the freedom to roam its 3D worlds, Splashdown will have players feeling as if they are really out on the open water. ``Combining the ingenious minds at Rainbow Studios with the technology of the PS2, Splashdown is certain to be a must-have title this fall," said Laddie Ervin, marketing director for Infogrames' Los Angeles Label. ``The control and graphics of this game are stunning and unbelievably realistic. It's already fun to play and it's only half-way complete." Splashdown will feature well-known personal watercraft models and equipment from Sea-Doo. As the leader in watersports fun, Bombardier, makers of Sea-Doo watercraft and Sport Boats, is committed to providing good clean fun on the water. For over a decade, Bombardier's Sea-Doo PWC's have stood at the forefront of its industry. ``Bombardier Recreational Products are all about fun, passion and performance, a combination that fits very well in Infogrames' universe," says Jose Boisjoli, president, Snowmobiles, Watercraft and ATV, Bombardier Recreational Products. ``We are happy to be linked with one of the most important players in the interactive entertainment industry. This is part of our continuing efforts to partner with leaders who recognize the value of our Sea-Doo brand and the passion it invokes. Sea-Doo products are a symbol of the sought-after "fun in the sun`` lifestyle that stirs the passion of watersports enthusiasts the world over. Splashdown will combine Infogrames' expertise with our brand's inherent excitement. This will thrill both our own Sea-Doo PWC consumers and gaming enthusiasts." In addition to licensed Sea-Doo watercraft with custom tuned physics, Splashdown will offer amazing real-time water effects, coined by Rainbow Studios as ``hydrodynamic physics." This includes dynamic wakes, rolling waves and turbulence that will affect how the watercraft and player responds to each turn, jump and trick. Players will be able to perform over-the-top acrobatic stunts, along with plenty of hilarious wipeouts and wrecks. The game will feature eight different characters from around the world and 18 racing courses in exotic locations including Hawaii, USA; Lake Havasu, Arizona; Venice, Italy; Nice, France and more. The game will also feature multiple game modes including Career, Countdown and Free Ride, with three difficulty levels in each, plus a high-energy soundtrack and 2-person multi-player support. =~=~=~= ->A-ONE Gaming Online - Online Users Growl & Purr! """"""""""""""""""" For Immediate Release Contact John Hardie, Sean Kelly, and Joe Santulli info@cgexpo.com 516-568-9768 http://www.cgexpo.com CLASSIC GAMING EXPO 2001 SHOW DATES ANNOUNCED; "FATHER OF VIDEOGAMES" FIRST TO SIGN ON VALLEY STREAM, NY (April 27, 2001) -- The organizers of Classic Gaming Expo have announced the dates of the 2001 show to take place at Jackie Gaughan's Plaza Hotel. On Saturday, August 11, and Sunday, August 12, the computer and gaming industry's most innovative pioneers will gather in Las Vegas to attend Classic Gaming Expo 2001. Dubbed CGE2K1, the fourth annual event is inspired by a strong, continued commitment to classic game updates and re-releases by such major publishers as Infogrames, Midway, Namco, Activision, Konami, Capcom, and others. Heading up this years line-up of industry pioneers is none other than the "Father of Videogames" himself, Ralph Baer. "Mr. Baer has been a mainstay of Classic Gaming Expo with his unwavering support. His foresight and innovation are what started the videogame revolution and he's always willing to share those experiences with our guests," said Sean Kelly, co-promoter of Classic Gaming Expo. Last year, Baer allowed audience members to play with his prototype "Brown Box" which eventually became the Magnavox Odyssey - the first home videogame system ever. In addition to the Odyssey, Baer was the mastermind behind the Coleco Telstar Arcade, Milton Bradley's Simon, and the Coleco Kid Vid peripheral for the Atari 2600. Mr. Baer has created many other products and currently has over 150 patents in his name worldwide. "It's an honor to participate in an event that recognizes the pioneers of the videogame industry," said Mr. Baer. "Classic Gaming Expo offers me an opportunity to meet with some of my old friends as well as hundreds of videogame enthusiasts. I'm looking forward to sharing more of my experiences and to again show the 'Brown Box' prototype at CGE 2001." Although the "Brown Box" prototype is the centerpiece of the CGE museum, it is accompanied by literally hundreds of other items including many one-of-a-kind prototypes. The museum contains the largest public display of classic game hardware, software, and memorabilia in the world. "What makes the Classic Gaming Expo Museum so special is the fact that it's comprised of items belonging to dozens of individuals," states co-promoter John Hardie. "This is not just a single person's collection but rather a grouping of items on loan from enthusiasts as well as many of our distinguished guests." Aside from the numerous keynote speeches by various industry legends throughout the show, CGE 2001 will play host to a large number of classic videogame vendors and exhibitors. While many of them will be selling mint-condition hardware and software from the days of old, others will be presenting new products for sale for systems such as the Vectrex, Odyssey 2, Colecovision, Intellivision, Atari 2600, Lynx, and Jaguar. Other show highlights include various classic console game stations, tournaments, raffles, door prizes, and an incredible number of classic coin-operated videogames, all set on free play for the attendees. "We're thankful for the on-going support and interest shown by the videogame industry," notes co-promoter Joe Santulli. "We feel it's vital that the history be preserved for generations to come. Now in its fourth year, Classic Gaming Expo remains the industry's only annual event that is dedicated to celebrating the roots of electronic entertainment; bringing together industry pioneers, gaming enthusiasts, and the media for the ultimate experience in learning, game-playing and networking. Classic Gaming Expo is a production of CGE Services, Corp. (www.cgexpo.com) Guns Don't Kill People, the Media Kill People? The family of a Columbine victim has filed a big lawsuit against 25 media companies. It's easy to blame "the media" for violent crimes, but this suit gets more specific: Nintendo, AOL Time Warner, Sony and the makers of Doom, to name just a few. And Atari, maker of such subversive titles as Asteroids and Pong. The Denver Post gave the best justification for the suit: It's not about the money, it's a wake-up call to an industry that markets adult content to minors. The family's lawyer told News.com the suit "seeks literally to change the marketing and distribution of these super-violent video games" that can get kids addicted and turn them "into monster killers." The attorney said he can prove that cause-and-effect theory with a video in which the shooters name the game Doom as their inspiration. The AP also refers to a videotape, saying it shows one of the killers with a shotgun named after a Doom character. (Sick, but not quite the same as the kids admitting that Doom made them kill.) The language of the lawsuit itself was less black-and-white, citing "the boys' basic personalities" as part of the problem. You think? It seems odd that the media haven't rushed to their own defense, other than to note that a similar lawsuit in response to a 1997 Kentucky shooting was dismissed in April. In fact, there's been relatively little coverage. Perhaps that's because it's been two years, the shootings aren't such a hot topic anymore, and the media are fickle. The companies involved have kept quiet, so there's no drama yet. Or maybe it's just that no one (including Grok) likes to insult grieving families, even when they file too many lawsuits. =~=~=~= A-ONE's Headline News The Latest in Computer Technology News Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson Intel's Low-Cost Pentium 4 Could Ignite Sales - Or Price War Intel Corp. officially unveiled its heavily touted 1.7 GHz Pentium 4 chip on Monday, and while the launch of the speedy, relatively low-cost chip could be just the boost the lagging PC sector needs, it could also be the first shot of a chip price war. Intel formally introduced the 1.7 GHz chip as its highest-performance microprocessor for desktop computers. But observers say the price of the new chip -- available immediately for US$352 in 1,000-unit quantities -- could have a more immediate impact than just its speed as rivals attempt to attract customers in an already tight market. Intel says the Pentium 4 is its first completely new desktop processor design since 1995, when it unveiled the Pentium Pro. According to the company, the Pentium 4 will significantly speed up such tasks as video encoding and other entertainment-oriented functions, and more applications will be developed to capitalize on the chip's speed. Rivals could feel the pressure on more than the technology side. In addition to the price cut for the newest Pentium 4 -- which was originally slated to be priced at about $700 -- the Santa Clara, California-based Intel has said it also plans major investments in marketing, advertising and software developer programs to boost the chip's presence in major PC market segments. Intel has told news sources that it plans to spend roughly $500 million to promote the new technology among software makers, and another $300 million on general advertising. Officials say an increasing amount of its marketing will be aimed at corporate audiences, as Intel moves beyond a mostly consumer-oriented approach. The launch of the Pentium 4 has already sent Intel's competitors scrambling. Chief rival Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. has twice announced price cuts in the past two weeks. Industry observers say Intel's latest price cut on the Pentium 4 will likely increase the pressure on AMD, which prices its chips based on their megahertz rating. Experts point out that megahertz remains one of the most important determinants in pricing, even though it is only one aspect of a chip's overall performance. AMD contends that a 1.2 GHz version of its Athlon chip has outperformed a 1.5 GHz version of the Pentium 4 at equal clock speeds. Nevertheless, AMD officials have said the company plans to match Intel pricing for chips rated at the same speed. Kevin Krewell, an analyst with MicroDesign Resources, told news sources that current chip-pricing policies can be attributed to what he calls "the magic of megahertz marketing." In this market, experts say, companies like AMD -- and other rivals with slimmer marketing budgets -- may be forced to sell superior products at lower prices to stay competitive in the long run. AMD is expected to give its first public demonstration of a dual-processor Athlon workstation next week at the National Association of Broadcasters show in Las Vegas, Nevada. Observers say the price cuts pose as much of a risk to Intel's bottom line as to its competitors'. Although the company says manufacturing costs are declining, analysts say the Pentium 4 costs far more to produce than the Pentium III. QuickTime 5.0.1 Now Available Apple has released a new version of QuickTime -- version 5.0.1 is ready for download from Apple's Web site. QuickTime is Apple's standard for rich media content delivery and creation. It's used for everything from movies to audio to virtual reality. New features in QuickTime 5 include Cubic VR, which enables users to view 360 degree environments; "Media skins," or custom interface elements; MPEG-1 support; an enhanced DV codec; integrated support for Macromedia's Flash 4; enhanced AppleScript support; a new music synthesizer with support for DLS files and SoundFonts; and more. The new installer didn't arrive a moment too soon, either. The clock was winding down on Apple's QuickTime 5 Public Preview 3 version, which will expire in week. So if you've been using the preview edition, here's an excellent opportunity to upgrade. System requirements call for a PowerPC-based Mac; Mac OS 7.5.5 or later; and 32MB of RAM. Available for both Mac OS and Windows (OS X already has QuickTime 5 installed), the normal installation downloads an installer app, which then downloads needed components for installation. The size of the installation and the time needed will depend on which configuration you choose for installation. Free Online Storage A Thing Of The Past? Online storage companies, which have been luring millions of consumers to their sites primarily through free services such as faxing and file sharing, are now changing their business models to help shore up their bottom lines. Some main online storage players such as Xdrive Technologies Inc., FreeDrive Inc., My Docs Online Inc., I-drive.com and Driveway Corp. have been targeting new services at corporations with heavy-duty mobile users, as well as licensing their proprietary file-sharing software to businesses. In addition, many are starting to charge for online storage for the first time as well as building partnerships with companies such as Access Co. Ltd., Electronic Data Systems Corp. and Nextel Communications Inc. "I think everybody thought that online storage was a good idea. But I don't think anybody was quite sure what the business model would eventually be," said Karl Klessing, Xdrive's executive vice president. Xdrive, with 9.5 million users, announced this week it will charge a $4.95 subscription fee for the use of 25MB of online storage. Up to now, the Santa Monica, Calif., company had made 25MB free. For its part, FreeDrive, of Chicago, with 14.5 million users, earlier this month introduced a minimum subscription-based online storage service priced at $4.95 per month for 65MB of storage space, 365 downloads per day and some access to file-sharing functions. It still offers 20MB for free storage to users. Robert Emanuel, manager of applications development at United Airlines, in Long Beach, Calif., said he has no problem paying a subscription price for online storage. United has licensed Xdrive's customized application, which its business groups use to store files. United's employees now use the service to share huge files when traveling internationally. My Docs Online, which used to offer 20MB of storage for free, last quarter started charging an annual fee of $24.95 for 50MB. In addition to all this, companies including I-drive, of San Francisco, and My Docs Online, of Naples, Fla., are developing services that give corporate employees access to online storage via cell phones, personal digital assistants and BlackBerry e-mail devices from Research In Motion Ltd. I-drive, which has more than 9 million registered users for online storage, still offers 50MB for free. But last week, the company announced a partnership with Access to jointly develop applications for remote storage access via mobile phones and non-PC devices. Online storage subscriptions Vendor Rate Xdrive Charges $4.95 a month for 25MB of storage FreeDrive Offers 20MB of storage for free and 65MB of storage at $4.95 a month My Docs Online Annual minimal cost of $24.95 for 50MB of storage, up to $94.95 or 300MB of storage I-drive.com Still offers 50MB of storage for free Judge Rules in Chat Room Case Chat room users accused by a bankrupt Internet company of posting critical messages in an effort to drive its stock price down will not be identified, a federal judge has ruled. The company, 2TheMart.com Inc., said it needed the 23 users' names to defend itself against a shareholder lawsuit that alleges it misled investors. The lawsuit was filed in California after 2TheMart went bankrupt soon after its stock rose more than 2,000 percent, to $50 per share in 1999. U.S. District Judge Thomas Zilly ruled on Thursday that evidence the company provided was not compelling enough to set aside the First Amendment rights of the chat room users, who used nicknames. ``The First Amendment clearly applies to the Internet," Zilly said. ``The law says that a person has a right to speak anonymously." The Irvine, Calif.-based company that hoped to compete with Internet auction giant eBay, claims the chatters conspired to spread rumors to drive down the company's stock price so they could profit by selling it short. 2TheMart wanted Bellevue-based Infospace to turn over the names of people who chatted on a site it maintained. 2TheMart wanted to prove that some of the chat room users also are members of the class-action suit against the company for alleged securities fraud, the company's attorney Keith Bardellini said. One of the chat room users nicknamed ``No Guano" and identified in court documents as ``J. Doe," turned for help to the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an Internet privacy group. Zilly said Thursday he agreed with 2TheMart attorneys that ``rights to speak anonymously are not unlimited." But he said the company's reasons for wanting the names were not sufficient, saying the firm made no direct claim against the users, except for ``innuendo" they had manipulated the stock. Kelsey Joyce Hooke, an attorney for 2TheMart, said the company has not decided if it will appeal. ACLU attorney Aaron Caplan called the ruling a significant victory for Internet users. The ruling is important because it gives Internet companies guidance for protecting customers' rights, Infospace attorney Brent Snyder said. Record Panel Threatens Researcher With Lawsuit The recording industry has threatened a Princeton computer scientist with legal action if his research group presents a paper at an academic conference this week describing how it is possible to circumvent an industry music-protection system. The threat of legal action was made in an April 9 letter to Dr. Edward W. Felten by Matthew Oppenheim, the head of the litigation department for the Recording Industry Association of America. Mr. Oppenheim is also secretary of the Secure Digital Music Initiative, a copyright-protection group sponsored by the music industry. The dispute casts a spotlight on an otherwise little-noticed field known as steganography, or the science of hiding information in plain sight. Techniques from the field are being used to create digital watermarks in the industry's effort to protect digital music against copyright violations. The issue also pits advocates of academic freedom against the music industry, which is trying to enforce strictly a law that scientists say sharply curtails their ability to share their research publicly. Dr. Felten and his colleagues are scheduled to present the paper at the Fourth International Information Hiding Workshop, which is to begin Wednesday in Pittsburgh. But in a telephone interview today, Dr. Felten said the matter of whether to present had not yet been settled and that he was being represented by lawyers for the university. "We feel that its important for the scientific process that people can publish papers," he said. "It has still not been settled whether the paper will be passed out or whether the talk will occur." Mr. Oppenheim said that the music industry was negotiating with the scientists in hopes of finding a way that the paper could be published without revealing secrets that would undercut the protection technology. "There is a line that can get crossed, and if you go further than academic pursuit needs to go, you've crossed the line and its bad for our entire community," he said, "not just the artists and content holders, its everyone who loves art, and it's also bad for the scientific community." Dr. Felten became embroiled in the dispute last year after his research team, which includes scientists from the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center and Rice University, participated in a competition sponsored by the S.D.M.I. group to test the security of a digital music copyright protection system. Dr. Felten was part of a group that says it successfully disabled the system. But he has not yet published the details of how it was done, saying he was reluctant to publish under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, a 1998 law that makes it a crime to manufacture or "offer to the public" a way to gain unauthorized access to any copyright-protected work that has been secured by a technique like data encryption. Dr. Felten's group did not complete the contest, but he said later that his group planned to publish its results as soon as it had satisfied its lawyers and was assured of support from the respective institutions. But on Friday an early version of the paper and a copy of the letter from the S.D.M.I. group were posted on a civil-liberties-oriented Web site, (www.cryptome.org). Princeton University officials said the posting of the paper, "Reading Between the Lines: Lessons From the S.D.M.I. Challenge," was "inappropriate" and was not sanctioned by the university. The dispute between the researchers and the recording industry is similar to a debate involving a software tool known as DeCSS, which is capable of decrypting DVD movies, potentially making it possible to distribute them via the Internet. In August a federal court judge ruled against a New York-based Web site that was distributing the DeCSS program. That case is on appeal and is scheduled to be heard in federal appeals court on May 1. In the DeCSS case, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan found that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act did not violate the First Amendment right to free speech. "I certainly hope that the courts get their hands on this issue," said Jessica Litman, a professor of law at Wayne State University and the author of the book "Digital Copyright" (Prometheus, 2001). "Judge Kaplan has held that fair use is not a defense to anything in the D.M.C.A., and if that's true, we have a serious policy problem and a serious constitutional problem with the statute." The legal battles surrounding the copyright act are certain to deepen the battles now being fought between the recording industry, its customers and civil liberties groups. Researchers Pull Hacker Report After Lawsuit Threat Researchers who cracked four anti-piracy technologies in a contest sponsored by the music industry refrained from publishing their findings on Thursday after the recording industry threatened a lawsuit. ``We decided not to expose ourselves, our employees and the conference organizers to litigation at this time," Edward Felten, a Princeton University researcher, and a member of the group said in a prepared statement. The research group -- composed of students and professors from Princeton and Rice Universities and an employee of Xerox Corp.'s Palo Alto Research Center -- had initially planned to present findings Thursday at a Pittsburgh conference on information security. Back in September, the Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI), a music and technology forum, launched a $10,000 contest challenging people to hack into copyright protection technologies. Recording industry members of the SDMI forum are now claiming that disclosure of the researchers' findings could undermine the industry's efforts to prevent unlicensed copying of music. On April 9, Felten received a letter from Matthew Oppenheim, secretary of the SDMI Foundation -- comprised of music industry members only -- and a senior lawyer for the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) urging him to refrain from publishing his findings or face potential legal action under the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The DMCA passed in 1998 as an extension to copyright law, bars efforts to defeat copyright protection methods. ``Any disclosure of information gained from participating in the Public Challenge would be outside the scope of activities permitted by the agreement and could subject you and your research team to actions under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act," Oppenheim said in the letter. On Thursday, Oppenheim said ``the SDMI Foundation does not nor did it ever intend to bring any legal action against Professor Felten or his co-authors. We sent the letter because we felt an obligation to the watermark licensees who had voluntarily submitted their valuable inventions to SDMI for testing." ``We have encouraged Professor Felten and the technology companies to resolve this matter. We leave it in their hands to do so," he said. By November, the SDMI announced it would pay prize money to two hackers after weeks of speculation and embarrassment. Felten's group claimed they had defeated four of the group's proposed watermarking technologies, which try to guard against hacking by using hidden signals in the digital music files, but was not among the winners because it had pulled out of the contest before the final round. Earlier this week, Felten said he was in talks with one of the companies, Verance Corp. that provided the copyright protection technology, as well as the recording industry to try to resolve the dispute. But at the conference on Thursday, Felten said the group decided not to present their findings because ``the RIAA, SDMI and Verance threatened a lawsuit." ``While discussions have been ongoing with the authors in an effort to strike the appropriate balance between academic freedom and academic responsibility, we are disappointed that these discussions were not concluded in time for the authors to participate in today's program," said David Leibowitz, chairman of Verance on Thursday. Leibowitz said he remained hopeful that further discussions will enable the authors to present their findings in a responsible manner that achieves their academic objectives. ``But we must all recognize that the authors' research touches upon the technologies of many companies and that this is not the first time, nor likely the last, in which the competing interests of academic freedom and academic responsibility are likely to conflict," he said. Founding members of SDMI include the world's biggest record labels -- including Vivendi Universal's Universal Music, Sony Music, AOL Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Music, EMI Group Plc and Bertelsmann AG's BMG. Killing Privacy With Legislation? With every passing week, the tea leaves surrounding the privacy debate on Capitol Hill become easier to read, and now they've got the word "gridlock" written all over them. With about 50 bills that have something to do with privacy already introduced in the 107th Congress, at least one rhetorical campaign has started to gain momentum: Industry partisans from trade organizations to Microsoft have latched onto an argument that if Congress wants to deal with privacy at all, it should not focus on the Internet, but deal with the issue of consumer data in its entirety. "When you walk into a Nordstrom and buy something, you don't have to sign a privacy agreement first. When you walk into a pharmacy and they know you and they start filling out your prescription before you even hand it to them, you don't have to sign a privacy agreement. That's just basic business," said Harris Miller, president of the Information Technology Association of America. "The idea that you need special rules in the commercial world if a transaction is done on the Net and you don't need them in the offline world never made sense to me, and I'm glad more people are realizing it." Among other things, at issue is whether federal law will dictate whether online businesses must get explicit permission from consumers to collect and sell data about them, or if they can collect and sell information about consumers freely unless they are forbidden by consumers to do so. Consumer data is valuable, and its use saves U.S. businesses billions of dollars every year. Broadening legislation to include offline businesses as well as online businesses would grind legislation to a halt, because the combination of offline and online commerce is much more complicated when it comes to privacy. Bills guiding the myriad relationships between consumers and businesses in the offline world would be unlikely to pass. Rick Lane, director of e-commerce and Internet technology at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, welcomed the argument, saying it is something he has long been concerned with. But John McCarthy, a program director who studies government technology policy at Forrester Research, said corraling offline commerce into the debate is nothing more than an attempt to exterminate privacy legislation. "The industry is rolling the dice and going for broader legislation in hopes of killing the whole thing," McCarthy said. "They're talking out of both sides of their mouths." No FunLove - Microsoft Spreads A Virus A server without antivirus protection resulted in the infection of up to 26 of Microsoft's top support customers with a tenacious virus. Microsoft representatives acknowledged Wednesday that the company may have infected up to 26 of its top support customers with a tenacious virus that spread to a key server late last week. Known as FunLove, the virus was first discovered in November 1999 and is known for its ability to infect Windows NT servers--in addition to computers running Windows 95, Window 98 and Windows Millennium Edition--by posing as a system program. The virus also spreads automatically throughout a network via any hard drives shared with the infected system. Though managers at the company did not yet know how the virus got in, they did figure out where the infection started. "We have standard corporate policy that every server that has (a) business function needs to have antivirus software installed," said Kurt Powers, product manager for the Gold and Premier support sites at Microsoft. "There was one in a chain that did not." The particular server was part of Microsoft's Premier and Gold support network, which provides almost 30,000 updates and bug fixes to Microsoft's top customers, he said. The server had been carrying the virus and infecting downloaded files for almost a day starting April 19, until Microsoft located the infection and shut down the server April 20. During that time, only 170 files were downloaded, Powers said. "We have a limited scope; we know exactly when the virus infected," he said. Powers would not comment on whether the virus had spread through Microsoft's internal network, but said, "We also checked every workstation that is connected to every server." Microsoft notified customers with a mass e-mailing Monday, and by late Wednesday had narrowed down the potentially infected organizations to 26, based on the user names used to download the files. Company representatives were in the process of calling those specific customers, said Michelle D'Amour, manager of Microsoft's product support services. "Now that we know who downloaded the files, we are having the account manager call each one," said D'Amour. For the most part, the 1.5-year-old virus should not cause much of a fuss, said Alan Paller, director of research for the Systems Administration Networking and Security (SANS) Institute, who received notice of the incident Monday. Paller noted that customers who use Microsoft's Premier support are generally the ones that also have site licenses to antivirus software and thus are the most prepared for viruses. "They are the least likely to be hurt by it," he said. "It is more of a 'How did this happen?' problem for Microsoft than a security threat for its clients." The answer to that question is an important one, as Microsoft, antivirus software companies and others are moving toward fully automating the updating of their software. If a virus infected an automatic update, rather than up to 170 customers downloading the infected software, potentially hundreds of thousands of customers could be affected. While Powers vowed such a problem would never happen again on his watch, he wouldn't comment on whether Microsoft would take another look at its security or not. "I can only speak to the scope of this particular situation," he said. USENET Archives Are Alive Again! USENET archives are now available on http://www.etin.com Chronologically relevant searching of messages. Browsing of text and binary newsgroups. Posting. Free. Public. Complete. Anonymous. Text messages are archived and retained permanently. Binaries are retained 10 to 20 days. http://www.etin.com - mailto:support@etin.com ETIN.COM, Inc. --- ETIN Technologies Support =~=~=~= 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. 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