Stories by Nancy Weil

US to crack down on cybersquatting

A new US bill proposes high penalties for "cybersquatters" -- people who register trademark domain names with the intent of making money through resale.

Survey: Future PCs should do the laundry

A US survey conducted for Dell Computer has found that users want their PCs to tackle household chores like laundry and watering houseplants and the lawn.

Win98 bug fixes available on CD

The Windows 98 Service Pack 1, which includes bug fixes and year 2000 upgrades for the Windows 98 operating system, is now available on CD via Microsoft Australia's Web site at a cost of $13.95.

CMGI to acquire AltaVista from Compaq

Five days after confirming acquisition negotiations, Compaq has officially announced that it is selling a majority stake in AltaVista to CMGI, the Internet operating company.

S3 plans to buy Diamond Multimedia

With an eye on the growing home networking and Internet appliance markets, S3 intends to buy Diamond Multimedia Systems in a stock deal expected to close in October.

Gates says Windows convergence coming

At Spring Comdex in Chicago this week, Bill Gates revealed that a consumer release of Windows 2000 will happen in the next 18 to 24 months.

Domino, Notes headed towards greater mobility

Users of Lotus Development's Notes groupware are expected to have a range of additional mobile capabilities soon, including the ability to receive and send messages via handheld devices, company officials announced yesterday at the DemoMobile 99 show...

Suspected Melissa creator arrested

US Authorities have arrested and charged a man suspected of creating the Melissa e-mail virus and unleashing it on the world from his apartment in a New Jersey shore town.

Hackers target Pentagon computers

A coordinated worldwide attack on the US Pentagon's military computer systems is being conducted by unknown hackers, reports in the US have revealed. Viewed by defense officials as "a major concern", the attacks have taken place up to 100 times daily...

Microsoft unveils e-commerce strategy

Microsoft has big goals for its new e-commerce strategy. In launching three new products, new services and a bevy of partnerships with existing e-commerce powerhouses, the software giant plans to bring 1 million new businesses into the world of e-com...

IBM, music companies to combat copyright piracy

Together with five major record companies, IBM will test a system that allows the distribution of full-length, CD-quality recordings via the Net, whilst thwarting music copyright piracy

McNealy: Stockpile computers for Y2K

Asia is "disastrously behind" in dealing with year 2000 computer issues, so it's possible that the region's vendors will not be able to provide an adequate supply of components, leading Scott McNealy (the chairman of Sun Microsystems) to make a sugge...

Yahoo to buy GeoCities

Yahoo has announced it is buying GeoCities, the merged company it expects, will reach 58 per cent of those who use the Internet

Microsoft releases two security patches

Microsoft has released patches for security holes in Word 97 and the Microsoft Forms version 2.0 ActiveX Control that made them vulnerable to potential hacker attacks, though no such instances of foul play have been reported, according to the company...

IDC: Disk-storage market at five-year peak

Disk-storage systems revenue jumped 11.9 per cent globally in 1998 compared to the previous year, reaching a five-year peak, according to a new study by market research firm International Data Corp.