[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Y2K Forces Close of Online Service
Registrations for the On-line Learning Series of Courses
for February '99 are now being accepted. All courses are
delivered by e-mail, are two to three weeks in duration and cost
between $5.00 US and $15.00 US. Information is available at:
http://www.bestnet.org/~jwalker/course.htm
Starting 1 February 1999
Introduction to the Internet and On-line Learning
How to Search the World Wide Web Level 1
Using Eudora Lite and Pro Level 1
Using Eudora Pro Level 3
Using Netscape Messenger Level 2
Using Netscape Messenger Level 4
Starting 15 February 1999
Using Microsoft Outlook Express Level 1
How to Search the World Wide Web Level 2
Creating web pages with HTML Level 1
Creating web pages with HTML Level 2
Effective Use of E-Mail
Eudora Pro Level 2
Using Netscape Messenger Level 1
Using Netscape Messenger Level 3
Using Netscape Messenger Level 4 (a)
The following is an excerpt from the CSS Internet News. If you are
going to pass this along to other Netizens please ensure that the
complete message is forwarded with all attributes intact.
--------------------
Y2K Forces Close of Online Service
ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/tech/1999/jan/22/012300697.h
tml
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Citing the Year 2000 computer problem, Prodigy
Communications Corp. is telling its 208,000 subscribers it will shut
down its pioneer "Prodigy Classic" online service.
Prodigy notified customers nationwide by e-mail late Friday it could
not avoid the effects of the so-called "Y2K" problem and by October
must shut down one of the most well-established neighborhoods in
cyberspace.
The company said the Year 2000 problem was not expected to affect
the 433,000 subscribers of its newer "Prodigy Internet" service,
launched in late 1996, and it encouraged its Classic subscribers to
enroll there.
Prodigy's chief executive officer, Samer Salameh, sent e-mail to
subscribers explaining that the company's 9-year-old Classic service
was "built using proprietary technologies that predate current
Internet standards" and the company's engineers were "unable to make
them Y2K compliant."
"I know that this announcement will be a disappointment to many of
you," Salameh wrote.
Prodigy also posted the announcement on its Web site.
Subscribers used Prodigy's own electronic bulletin boards to express
skepticism that the Year 2000 problem was to blame for the service's
demise. Some openly suggested that the company manufactured the
explanation to encourage them to migrate to its newer Internet
service.
Many computers originally programmed to recognize only the last two
digits of a year will not work properly beginning Jan. 1, 2000, when
machines will assume it is 1900. Some computers can be reprogrammed,
but many devices have embedded microchips that must be physically
replaced.
Prodigy, based in White Plains, N.Y., did not explain in e-mail or
on its Web site exactly how the Year 2000 problem manifested itself.
Prodigy's Classic service was launched nationally in 1990, years
before the booming popularity of the Internet and its World Wide
Web. Rival services, such as America Online and CompuServe, dwarfed
its subscriber base as they gradually concentrated on offering
unadulterated access to the Internet.
Not Prodigy, which still requires Classic subscribers to use its
awkward, proprietary e-mail software and Internet browser to venture
beyond the confines of its own online content.
But the service's strength was always its relatively civil
discussion groups, where people gathered to talk about shared
interests without the off-topic interruptions and insults so common
among the Internet's Usenet discussion areas.
Unlike the Internet, Prodigy uses censors who monitor its bulletin
boards to ensure messages are appropriate and do not contain
obscenities.
Prodigy boasted 1.13 million Classic subscribers in 1995, but that
number has declined sharply in recent years as users fled to
Internet service providers that offered faster, more reliable access
to the Web.
For example, America Online, the world's largest Internet provider,
has more than 15 million subscribers. Prodigy Internet has grown
from 7,000 subscribers in 1996 to 433,000 last year.
Prodigy incurred net losses of $114.1 million in 1996 and $129.3
million in 1997, and it lost $47.6 million during the nine months
that ended in September.
-------------
Also in this issue:
- Y2K Forces Close of Online Service
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Citing the Year 2000 computer problem, Prodigy
Communications Corp. is telling its 208,000 subscribers it will shut
down its pioneer "Prodigy Classic" online service.
- European privacy law could interrrupt trans-Atlantic data, Clinton
official warns
A tough new European privacy law could interrupt the flow of
trans-Atlantic data and contribute to problems for both American and
European economies, a senior Clinton administration official warned
Friday.
- Microsoft employee: browser downloads not easy
Microsoft's contention that Netscape Communications can easily
distribute its Navigator Web browsing software on the Internet is
contradicted by statements a Microsoft employee gave under oath to
antitrust enforcers.
- DOJ goes on offensive in COPA trial
PHILADELPHIA--Just like liquor stores, Web sites can ask for valid
identification to keep minors from getting a hold of "harmful
material," Laith Alsarraf testified today during a federal court
hearing here over the fate of the Child Online Protection Act.
- Burned eBay Furby buyers get payback
Just one week after eBay announced new measures to combat fraud in
its Internet auctions, Pennsylvania Attorney General Mike Fisher
today took swift action against a man who allegedly sold Furbys worth
at least $2,600 on the eBay auction site, but never delivered the
stuffed animals to buyers.
- Congressman: Intel chip a privacy hazard
A senior U.S. Congressman has written Intel CEO Craig Barrett,
expressing concerns that Intel's plan to put serial numbers on its
next-generation Pentium chips raises serious privacy issues. Intel
says the letter is based on a misunderstanding of the company's
intent and technology.
- Russia Sets Up Millennium Bug Body
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov approved
the creation of a government commission Friday to combat the threat
of the millennium computer bug.
- Week in Review
The Internet's top newsmakers of the week.
- New Lists and Journals
1) World Economic Outlook (WEO)
2) Leaving the Ivory Tower
3) Scottish Banner
4) Texas Tips
5) Scriptorium Update
6) Tipster
7) New Mexico Travel Newsletter
8) VideoLtd.Com DVD Spotlight
9) Great Speaking
10) British Audio Journal
11) Computers@Home
12) Digital Producer Magazine
On-line Learning Series of Courses
http://www.bestnet.org/~jwalker/course.htm
Member: Association for International Business
-------------------------------
Excerpt from CSS Internet News (tm) ,-~~-.____
For subscription details email / | ' \
jwalker@hwcn.org with ( ) 0
SUBINFO CSSINEWS in the \_/-, ,----'
subject line. ==== //
/ \-'~; /~~~(O)
"On the Internet no one / __/~| / |
knows you're a dog" =( _____| (_________|
http://www.bestnet.org/~jwalker
-------------------------------