Napster returns to a federal appeals court in San Francisco today in an effort to save itself from extinction. The US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals is to hear oral arguments from lawyers representing both it and the Recording Industry Association of America. Much will hinge on whether or not District Court Judge Marilyn Patel correctly applied the 1984 Betamax decision when she issued an injunction to shut down Napster two months ago. In the Betamax case, the Supreme Court ruled that as long as a new technology had substantial, non-infringing purposes, it could not be held accountable for illicit uses. Since Napster is not a manufactured product such as a VCR, Patel ruled that the software application isn't protected under the law. Patel also rejected Napster's claim that it had substantial, non-infringing uses.
Apple Crumbles: Apple Computer has warned of a steep shortfall in fourth quarter earnings and sales, sending its stock price tumbling close to 50 per cent and causing more nail biting in an already nervous tech sector. The computer maker warned its fourth quarter earnings would fall because of a sales slowdown. In a brief statement, Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs said, "We've clearly hit a speed bump."
Bigger Online Spend: Most Irish Internet users are now e-commerce savvy, according to the Irish Internet Association's fifth survey of users. It showed 62 per cent of participants made a purchase online in the past year, with 40 per cent spending between £100 and £500. It also indicated that 88 per cent of online purchasers are happy to repeat the experience.
Playstation Protest: A group of console gamers have set up an online petition to protest against what they call unreasonable Playstation2 pricing in the UK and Ireland. The group argues that Sony are overcharging and exploiting their fans by charging £299 in the UK and £379 in Ireland compared to the US price of $299. If you want to sign the petition you can access it from gofree.indigo.ie/~petition.
No Safety Net Needed: A report by a US agency has said there is no need for telephone-style regulation of the Internet "backbone" networks that could force US firms to pay the costs of global connections. The Federal Communications Commission's Office of Plans and Policy report said that market forces have been and will continue to be the best means of ensuring Internet connectivity.
Gop's Online Lead: Republicans outnumber Democrats on the Internet, according to a Media Matrix survey, which found registered Republicans represented 36.8 per cent of US Internet users, to 27.9 per cent of registered Democrats. Six of the top 10 sites among registered Republicans are business-finance related while seven of the top 10 sites among registered Democrats were oriented toward shopping. Whether or not that means anything is another thing.
Online Ads Up: Global online advertising is expected to gather momentum and log revenues of $19 billion by 2002 from the current $4.3 billion, according to a leading industry expert. Adam Boettiger, president of I-advertising.com, said dotcoms were earlier spending up to 60 per cent of their advertising budgets on traditional placements in newspapers and on television. "But now they are spending almost 60 per cent on online advertising and 40 per cent on traditional advertising."
Charting Net Sales: Online sales of albums will be included in the official UK chart for the first time from October 1st. Sales by Boxman, Audiostreet, BOL and Jungle will be included in the charts in a move to recognise the importance of e-commerce sales.
Higher Faster Stronger: The official Olympic Games site attracted in the region of 10 billion page impressions, surpassing the original estimate of 6.5 billion, and making the 27th Olympiad the most popular event ever on the Internet. The Nagano Winter Olympics two years ago attracted 634 million hits, and the 1996 summer Games at Atlanta 187 million. The site, www.olympics.com, had not crashed at any time despite the incessant world-wide demand, Craig Lowder, a spokesman for Olympics sponsors IBM, said.
Netscaper's New Venture: Marc Andreessen, the co-founder of Netscape Communications, has filed plans to strike it rich a second time with his latest venture, Loudcloud. The Web services company, formed a year ago, will try to raise an estimated $150 million in an IPO.
In Brief...Norkom Technologies has appointed Baltimore Technology's Fran Rooney to its Board of Directors. . . KPN Mobile and its Japanese cellphone partner NTT DoCoMo are to form an Internet portal joint venture. . . Riverdeep, has signed a strategic partnership agreement with N2H2 to become a key content provider. . . Sony will deliver only half the number of PlayStation 2 video game consoles it originally estimated at its US debut next month. . . Trintech has announced an agreement with Trust5 to jointly develop and deploy a new method of Internet and mobile phone payment which verifies and authenticates customers by their voice. . .