TELCOS PLAY BOTH SIDES

CNN has an interesting article about games played by the telcos. Verizon and SBC and the rest sell your phone numbers to telemarketers, along with the heavy-duty equipment that makes the intrusive telemarketing calls. Then they sell programs to consumers to block...

TELEDESIC KILLS GLOBAL SATELLITE PLAN

Teledesic was the brainchild of Bill Gates and Craig McCaw, set up a few years ago to launch a constellation of low-earth orbiting satellites and provide global high-speed Internet service. An ambitious plan, but during the late ‘90s ambitious broadband plans looked...

KAZAA UP TO ITS OLD SCUMMY TRICKS

The more things change, the more they stay the same. You may not know that commissions are paid by some online stores to web sites that provide links to the stores. Small businesses use affiliate links for some extra income; charities use them for fundraisers. When...

HOW COMPUTER MANUFACTURERS SURVIVE

Here’s an article about rumors that Gateway is receiving unsolicited takeover bids. Gateway’s public stance is that it has no interest in being acquired, but there’s no way to know what’s going on out of public view. As the article explains, two other well-known names...

RECORD INDUSTRY AND SLUMPING SALES

Dan Bricklin is an old-timer in the computer industry – among other things, he developed VisiCalc, the granddaddy of the spreadsheets. He’s done a lengthy statistical analysis of CD sales to respond to the record industry’s assertion that piracy is responsible for...

RECORD COMPANIES: FEAR OF MUSIC

The recording industry continues its relentless campaign to prevent us from actually hearing any of its products played out loud. The latest is the proposal floated in a cover story in Billboard magazine last week for federal legislation requiring royalties to be paid...