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The euro dropped against the dollar and the yen in London on speculation the European Central Bank will this week suggest it's prepared to cut interest rates to prevent an economic recovery from stalling.
German consumer confidence was unchanged this month, a survey from Gfk AG market research showed. ECB President Jean- Claude Trichet said last week that the bank may pare its growth estimates unless consumer spending picks up.
``We anticipate the euro will stay under pressure and wouldn't be surprised to see $1.20 break this week,'' said Steve Barrow, senior currency strategist in London at Bear Stearns Cos. ``An ECB rate cut is coming, it's just a question of timing.''
Against the dollar, the euro fell as low as $1.2045, its weakest since Dec. 4, and was trading at $1.200 as of 9:22 a.m. in London from $1.2118 late Friday in New York, according to EBS prices. Versus the yen, the euro slid as low as 127.27, the lowest since November, from 128.52 and was at 127.67.
A reduction in the ECB's benchmark rate from 2 percent, is unlikely at Thursday's meeting, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Of 36 polled Thursday and Friday, all but two forecast no change. Eight said they expect a cut by June.
The 12 percent gain in the euro against the dollar in the past year has, in part, been spurred because interest rates in the 12-country region are double those in the U.S. The Federal Reserve this month kept its benchmark rate at 1 percent.
Signals From Trichet
ECB board member Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell said on Friday that Europe's recovery may be delayed and the bank is ready to pare interest rates if needed.
``Trichet will probably pave the way for a future rate cut at the ECB's press conference,'' said Niels Christensen, a currency strategist in Paris at Societe Generale SA. ``The risks for the euro are to the downside.''
The yen rose to its highest in more than six weeks against the dollar in Europe after the London-based Times newspaper reported Japan will end sales of its currency because the nation's economic recovery is accelerating.
Japan's currency was trading at 105.60 as of 9:23 a.m. in London from 106.02 late on Friday in New York.
The world's second-biggest economy no longer needs a weaker yen to bolster exports, the Times said, citing unidentified Bank of Japan officials. Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki denied the article, calling it ``bold speculation,'' Kyodo News said. The ministry directs the central bank to buy or sell.
Business Confidence
Employment and business confidence reports this week may add to signs of growth after the economy expanded at its fastest annual pace in 13 years last quarter. Signs the economy is recovering has helped push the yen up 14 percent against the dollar in the past 12 months.
Eighty-nine percent of the 70 investors, traders and strategists polled from Tokyo to New York on Friday advised buying or holding the yen against the dollar. Among those who provided a recommendation on the yen versus the euro, a majority said they would buy or hold Japan's currency.
The quarterly Tankan index of business sentiment among large manufacturers, compiled by the BOJ, on Thursday will probably rise to 10, from 7 last quarter, according to a separate survey of economists by Bloomberg News.
``The downward pressure on dollar-yen will persist because the fundamentals remain good, but the move down toward 100 won't be a rapid one,'' said Michael Klawitter, a currency strategist in London at WestLB AG.
Currency Sales
The BOJ sold 10.5 trillion yen in the two months ended Feb. 25, about half of 2003's record annual total. The central bank buys or sells yen at the behest of the Ministry of Finance. A MOF official, speaking on condition of anonymity, declined to comment on the Times report. The ministry determines currency policy, not the Bank of Japan, the official said.
Futures traders halved their bets that the yen will fall against the dollar, figures from the Washington-based Commodity Futures Trading Commission show. The difference in the number of wagers by hedge funds and other large speculators on a drop in the yen compared with those on a gain -- so-called yen net shorts -- fell to about 14,600, from about 31,400 a week earlier.
The ministry will sell yen to prevent it from gaining beyond 105 per dollar after April 1, when most Japanese companies start a new business year, Citigroup Inc. said, citing its own survey.
Of the 57 corporate and investor clients surveyed by the world's biggest financial services company, 79 percent said Japan will try to keep the yen at a certain level after the fiscal year begins. When asked the level, 45.6 percent said 105 is the line the ministry will seek to ``defend,'' Citigroup said.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Richard Blackden in London at rblackden@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor of this story:
Daniel Moss at dmoss@bloomberg.net.
OAO GMK Norilsk Nickel, the world's largest producer of nickel and palladium, bought 20 percent of Gold Fields Ltd. for 7.62 billion South African rand ($1.17 billion) as the Russian mining company develops interests abroad.
Gold Fields, based in Johannesburg, is the world's fourth- largest gold producer. Anglo American Plc of London will make a profit of $480 million on the sale of the stake to Norilsk, the company said in a statement to the Regulatory News Service.
Norilsk Nickel, based in Moscow, became Russia's biggest gold miner after it bought ZAO Polyus in 2002 and is benefiting after nickel prices this year peaked at a 14-year high and platinum surged to a 24-year high. The company mined 25.9 tons of gold in 2003 and plans to quadruple output during the next four or five years.
Norilsk Deputy Chief Executive Leonid Rozhetskin in an e- mailed statement called the transaction an ``excellent investment,'' consistent with its plans to expand in gold mining.
Norilsk shares rose $3, or 4.1 percent, to $76 in Moscow as of 12:19 p.m. The stock has climbed 53 percent over the past six months.
Gold Fields said it has not had any talks with Norilsk representatives.
``We were informed this morning'' of the transaction, said Willie Jacobsz, Gold Fields' spokesman in Johannesburg. ``We haven't met with them. I am sure we will be meeting them.''
Norilsk will seek seats on the Gold Fields board of directors at the annual shareholder meeting, the Russian miner's head of strategy, Christophe Charlier, said in a telephone interview. It has ``high respect'' for Gold Fields' management and ``for now'' doesn't plan to increase the stake in the company, he said.
``We hope this transaction will strengthen the relationship with Gold Fields,'' Charlier said. ``We'll jointly explore opportunities for mining worldwide.''
To contact the reporter on this story:
Antony Sguazzin in the Johannesburg bureau,
or asguazzin@bloomberg.net
Vladimir Todres in Moscow at vtodres@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor of this story:
Tim Coulter in London at tcoulter@bloomberg.net.
Willy Morris in Vienna at wmorris@bloomberg.net.
Stephen Farr at sfarr@bloomberg.net
UPDATE - SBI considers buying Cosmo Sec stake from Resona
Wednesday March 17, 4:51 am ET
By Edwina Gibbs
(Writes through with comment from SBI, details)
TOKYO, March 17 (Reuters) - Softbank Investment Corp (Tokyo:8473.T - News), a top Japanese venture capital firm keen to become a comprehensive financial services company, said on Wednesday it was considering buying a stake in mid-sized broker Cosmo Securities (Tokyo:8611.T - News) from Resona Holdings Inc (Tokyo:8308.T - News).
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"We've only just begun to consider the matter so the question of whether we might take all or part of Resona's stake is one for the future," said Katsuhiro Shimada, a Softbank Investment (SBI) investor relations official.
Resona, Japan's fifth-largest banking group, owns 59.6 percent of Cosmo, which has a market value of 130 billion yen ($1.20 billion).
Resona, which said it was talking to more than one prospective buyer and had not made any decisions, has been aggressively streamlining its operations after requiring an infusion of public funds to shore up its capital last June amounting to 1.96 trillion yen.
Osaka-based Cosmo Securities, which posted a net loss of 5.6 billion yen in the business year to March 2003, is a comprehensive securities firm with online commissions accounting for around 30 percent of its stockbroking.
SBI, owned 52.45 percent by Softbank Finance, the wholly owned financial arm of Softbank Corp (Tokyo:9984.T - News), already owns E*Trade Securities, Japan's biggest online broker.
It also took control of two unlisted domestic brokers late last year at a total cost of 9.1 billion yen.
By beefing up its conventional securities operations and investment banking services, SBI aims to turn itself into a comprehensive financial services firm that can compete with top full-service brokerages led by Nomura Holdings Inc (Tokyo:8604.T - News).
SBI posted a solid quarterly profit of 1.5 billion yen for the October-December period, bolstered by the best ever quarterly performance of E*Trade. It plans to take E*Trade public by the end of the year.
Earlier this week Resona said it would sell 100 billion yen in debt held by its affiliated real estate company to a unit of General Electric Co (NYSE:GE - News).
Prior to the announcement, SBI's shares closed up 1.65 percent at 123,000 yen. Cosmo's stock ended 0.66 percent higher at 307 yen while Resona's gained 2.38 percent to 172 yen.
The Nikkei benchmark average rose 1.73 percent. ($1=108.81 Yen)
Resona Holdings Inc., Japan's fifth-largest bank by assets, reported Monday that 3,000 of its automated-teller machines failed, adding to evidence the lender mishandled the integration of computers from its predecessor banks.
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About half of Resona Bank Ltd.'s cash-dispensing machines and all of the machines operated by Saitama Resona Bank Ltd. experienced failures Monday morning. All of the equipment was working again by 2:30 p.m. local time, a spokesman said.
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The breakdowns were the fourth since Resona merged its Daiwa Bank Ltd. and Asahi Bank Ltd. units on March 1. Resona's problems included double-charging almost 3,000 accounts. Mizuho Holdings Inc., the biggest Japanese bank, botched the integration of three computer systems last year.
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"With the bank being forced to cut costs and reduce employees, it's pretty likely that such trouble will happen," said Akihide Kinugawa, a fund manager at T&D Asset Management Co. "How they deal with the problem is more important and I'll be focusing on that."
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Most of Japan's biggest banks were formed in mergers that followed bailouts in 1998 and 1999, and several, including the No. 4 lender UFJ Holdings Inc., experienced difficulties integrating systems. The mergers have been accompanied by job cuts and branch closures as lenders bid to reduce costs.
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Resona is still trying to find out the cause of the glitches, spokesman Takashi Oda said.
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Japan's Financial Services Agency has released guidelines to be followed in mergers and alliances.
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The regulator requires the presidents of the institutions to commit to ensuring the merger proceeds smoothly and to reconcile differences with their partner institutions and computer systems.
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Resona first reported automated-teller machine glitches on March 3, and twice since then has said it over-charged customers. On March 11, the managing director, Akiyoshi Otani, said the double-charging was the result of human error.
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Oki Electric Industry Co., Fujitsu Ltd. and Omron Corp. are some of the vendors that sell automated-teller machines to Resona, according to the companies.
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The computer system that runs the ATMs is supplied by IBM Japan Ltd., Oda said. TOKYO Resona Holdings Inc., Japan's fifth-largest bank by assets, reported Monday that 3,000 of its automated-teller machines failed, adding to evidence the lender mishandled the integration of computers from its predecessor banks.
.
About half of Resona Bank Ltd.'s cash-dispensing machines and all of the machines operated by Saitama Resona Bank Ltd. experienced failures Monday morning. All of the equipment was working again by 2:30 p.m. local time, a spokesman said.
.
The breakdowns were the fourth since Resona merged its Daiwa Bank Ltd. and Asahi Bank Ltd. units on March 1. Resona's problems included double-charging almost 3,000 accounts. Mizuho Holdings Inc., the biggest Japanese bank, botched the integration of three computer systems last year.
.
"With the bank being forced to cut costs and reduce employees, it's pretty likely that such trouble will happen," said Akihide Kinugawa, a fund manager at T&D Asset Management Co. "How they deal with the problem is more important and I'll be focusing on that."
.
Most of Japan's biggest banks were formed in mergers that followed bailouts in 1998 and 1999, and several, including the No. 4 lender UFJ Holdings Inc., experienced difficulties integrating systems. The mergers have been accompanied by job cuts and branch closures as lenders bid to reduce costs.
.
Resona is still trying to find out the cause of the glitches, spokesman Takashi Oda said.
.
Japan's Financial Services Agency has released guidelines to be followed in mergers and alliances.
.
The regulator requires the presidents of the institutions to commit to ensuring the merger proceeds smoothly and to reconcile differences with their partner institutions and computer systems.
.
Resona first reported automated-teller machine glitches on March 3, and twice since then has said it over-charged customers. On March 11, the managing director, Akiyoshi Otani, said the double-charging was the result of human error.
.
Oki Electric Industry Co., Fujitsu Ltd. and Omron Corp. are some of the vendors that sell automated-teller machines to Resona, according to the companies.
.
The computer system that runs the ATMs is supplied by IBM Japan Ltd., Oda said. TOKYO Resona Holdings Inc., Japan's fifth-largest bank by assets, reported Monday that 3,000 of its automated-teller machines failed, adding to evidence the lender mishandled the integration of computers from its predecessor banks.
.
About half of Resona Bank Ltd.'s cash-dispensing machines and all of the machines operated by Saitama Resona Bank Ltd. experienced failures Monday morning. All of the equipment was working again by 2:30 p.m. local time, a spokesman said.
.
The breakdowns were the fourth since Resona merged its Daiwa Bank Ltd. and Asahi Bank Ltd. units on March 1. Resona's problems included double-charging almost 3,000 accounts. Mizuho Holdings Inc., the biggest Japanese bank, botched the integration of three computer systems last year.
.
"With the bank being forced to cut costs and reduce employees, it's pretty likely that such trouble will happen," said Akihide Kinugawa, a fund manager at T&D Asset Management Co. "How they deal with the problem is more important and I'll be focusing on that."
.
Most of Japan's biggest banks were formed in mergers that followed bailouts in 1998 and 1999, and several, including the No. 4 lender UFJ Holdings Inc., experienced difficulties integrating systems. The mergers have been accompanied by job cuts and branch closures as lenders bid to reduce costs.
.
Resona is still trying to find out the cause of the glitches, spokesman Takashi Oda said.
.
Japan's Financial Services Agency has released guidelines to be followed in mergers and alliances.
.
The regulator requires the presidents of the institutions to commit to ensuring the merger proceeds smoothly and to reconcile differences with their partner institutions and computer systems.
.
Resona first reported automated-teller machine glitches on March 3, and twice since then has said it over-charged customers. On March 11, the managing director, Akiyoshi Otani, said the double-charging was the result of human error.
.
Oki Electric Industry Co., Fujitsu Ltd. and Omron Corp. are some of the vendors that sell automated-teller machines to Resona, according to the companies.
.
The computer system that runs the ATMs is supplied by IBM Japan Ltd., Oda said.
People fill streets in protest
President promises to support recount;
By William Foreman, Associated Press
TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Nearly 500,000 people, many clad in throwaway yellow ponchos against a cold drizzle, surrounded Taiwan's presidential office and blocked major streets Saturday to protest last weekend's disputed presidential election.
President Chen Shui-bian promised again Saturday night to back a recount of the election that he narrowly won, and endorsed an investigation into the bizarre shooting that lightly wounded him shortly before the vote.
Many protesters said the shooting gave Chen an unfair, last-minute boost at the polls. Others believe conspiracy theories that the president staged the shooting.
"This was a very dirty election. We want the truth," said protester Carla Wang, a 56-year-old employee at a trading company.
Waving red Taiwanese flags, the protesters filled the wide boulevards in front of the presidential office and spilled over into side streets. Most were wearing disposable plastic rain ponchos to keep dry in a steady rain.
Some protesters brought a 15-foot-tall Statue of Liberty that had a tear in her eye and the slogan "Strive for Justice" written on her body in Chinese characters. The crowd totaled 470,000, according to the Taipei city government.
The massive rally went on despite a vague warning from rival China saying ongoing turmoil might become an excuse to take over the tiny island. Beijing has long insisted Taiwan belongs to Chinese territory.
At the end of the four-hour rally, losing candidate Lien Chan of the Nationalist Party addressed the crowd and repeated his demands for a recount of the vote.
"If someone uses nasty means to gain power, such power won't be effective and won't be respected," said Lien.
, a 67-year-old former political science professor and ex-vice president.
Lien also demanded an independent investigation into the bizarre election-eve shooting. He never said whether he would accept the results of a recount, and he didn't mention the president's pledge to hold one.
During a late-night news conference, Chen repeated his willingness to hold a recount and promised he would accept the results. He challenged Lien to do the same.
The prosecutor investigating the shooting has said he will invite famed forensic scientist Henry Lee, who worked on the O.J. Simpson and JonBenet Ramsey cases, to lead the investigation.
The president said if Lien formally petitioned the courts to nullify the results, he would endorse the move and urge judges not to bother holding hearings on the evidence so that the recount could be done immediately.
Lien's handling of the controversy has been confusing. Sometimes he demands a recount, and other times he talks about holding the vote again. Sometimes he treats the unexplained shooting as the most important issue.
Many believe an internal power struggle is going on between moderates who just favor a recount, and hard-liners who want a new election. Lien is presiding over a coalition of his Nationalist Party and the smaller People First Party.
On Saturday, one of the most popular moderates in the Nationalist Party, Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou, said Lien should just accept the results of a recount.
But the hardliners have been more visible, and at times they have used violence to push their points. On Friday, members of the People First Party helped incite a crowd of about 2,000 to storm the Central Election Commission as it prepared to certify Chen's victory. The angry mob broke windows, tossed eggs and scuffled with riot police.
Saturday's rally was relatively peaceful, but a few thousand people refused to leave an area in front of the Presidential Office. They have occupied the space since the election.
Investor Relations Competition Looking for Investors to Serve as Judges
The interactive Investor Relations Awards are looking for individual and institutional investors and financial advisors to participating as judges in this awards completition. To sign up, go to www.iirawards.org/iir/judges.asp
Boston, MA (PRWEB) March 17, 2004 — Who has the best investor relations Web site? That's what the Web Marketing Association will be finding out with the 2004 interactive Investor Relations Awards competition. Individuals can nominate themselves to be a judge at www.iirawards.org/iir/judges.asp
The Web Marketing Association, in partnership with the Wealth Management News Service, is pleased to host the first annual iIR Awards to recognize excellence in online investor relations Web site development. Companies compete with peers within more than 60 industry categories as well as against an overall standard of excellence. Companies wishing to enter their sites can do so at www.iirawards.org
The interactive Investor Relations Awards are judged by those who matter most: individual and institutional investors, financial advisors, financial media, IR professionals and Web developers. Anyone interested in participating as a judge can apply by completing the nomination form at www.iirawards.org/iir/judges.asp
"Corporate Investor Relations Web sites are not only one of the primary sources for news and information for investors and financial advisors, they are critical to a public company’s valuation and disclosure requirements. Ensuring that the Web site is functioning at optimum levels is essential, particularly in today’s regulatory environment," said William Rice, founder and president of the Web Marketing Association.
Sponsors of the interactive Investor Relations Awards include Barron’s and The Wall Street Journal Online, Google, Burrelle’s Luce, O’Dwyer’s PR Daily, Sandy Alexander, Inc., NewsUSA, Small Army and the Wealth Management News Service.
Entries must reflect the investor relations portion of the corporate Web site. Submission specifications, attached, along with Official Call for Entry Forms, can be accessed on interactive Investor Relations Awards Web site at www.iirawards.org.
The Wealth Management News Services (WMNS) provides expert commentary and ideas to the financial media. WMNS content is also featured on wealthadvisor.com, a Web site available to high-net-worth financial advisors. Corporate members of the Wealth Management News Service include highly regarded asset management firms and financial advisors.
The Web Marketing Association (WMA) was founded in Boston in 1997 as an organization dedicated to upholding professional standards of excellence in Web development. Members are advertising, marketing, public relations and Web professionals who share an interest in improving the quality of Web communications. Since its inception, the WMA has set the standard of excellence for overall Web site development with the annual WebAward Competition, a premier annual event for Web developers and marketers.
CONTACT INFORMATION
William Rice
WEB MARKETING ASSOCIATION
http://www.iirawards.org/iir/
Fear of chaos widespread in transfer of sovereignty
Some military officials predict growing violence
By Mark Matthews - BALTIMORE SUN
WASHINGTON -- With less than 100 days to go before the United States gives up the reins of government in Iraq, analysts and even some administration officials warn that the six months after the transfer could bring even more instability and violence.
Publicly, Bush administration officials speak optimistically about the transfer of sovereignty to Iraqis set for June 30.
"It will be a happy event for all Iraq," Paul Bremer, who heads the U.S.-led occupation authority, said this week. "Iraq is now on a path to full democracy in a united state at peace with its neighbors."
But signs of future instability are obvious. No one knows who will rule Iraq during the first months of sovereignty or control its oil revenues, and a process for future elections has yet to be established. Although U.S. troops will remain indefinitely, there is no formal agreement between the United States and Iraq over how they will operate.
U.S. military officers have predicted an increase of violence as the handover approaches. Already, nearly 600 Americans have died since the war began, many as victims of an insurgency composed of Iraqis and foreign Muslim fighters.
Now, some analysts and officials fear that the fragile post-June 30 period could be even worse.
"There seems to be an assumption that as soon as we turn over sovereignty, the bad guys will stop doing what they're doing," said one administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"The question of turning over sovereignty means nothing to these people," the official said. "I expect it will get worse before it gets better."
The post-June 30 period, which coincides with the final months of the American presidential race, will help determine whether Iraq moves forward toward becoming the regional democratic beacon that the Bush administration envisions or slides backward into ethnic strife among its Shia majority and Sunni and Kurdish minorities.
The uncertain Iraqi political outlook creates "a very dangerous situation," said Marina Ottoway, an expert on democracy-building at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "The administration is trying to gloss over it, but we're at a very critical point because we don't have a viable transition plan."
Neither the Bush administration -- nor Iraqis, nor leaders overseas -- wants to postpone the date for handing over sovereignty from the U.S.-dominated Coalition Provisional Authority to Iraqis.
On that day, Bremer will leave the heavily guarded U.S. "green zone" in Baghdad for a vacation home in Vermont. Many of his American employees will become staff members of a U.S. Embassy under an ambassador who has yet to be appointed.
A huge American presence will remain in the country: at least 100,000 troops and one of the largest U.S. Embassy staffs in the world, together with contractors funded by $18 billion in U.S. reconstruction aid.
Although Iraqis want the aid and continued protection from U.S. troops, they will resent any continued American rule over their government, analysts said.
But forming an interim government has produced a power struggle involving the U.S.-picked Iraqi Governing Council and outside groups.
A year after it resisted giving the United Nations a central role in Iraq, the Bush administration has turned to the world body to help ensure a smooth transition, prepare for legislative elections by the end of January and full-scale national elections by late next year. A U.N. team, due to arrive next week, will be led by Lakhdar Brahimi, who enjoys broad international credibility for his painstaking work in knitting together a new government in Afghanistan.
But many Iraqis are skeptical of Brahimi's mission.
"The mood on the Iraqi street is hostile to a robust re-engagement of the U.N.," said Ray Salvatore Jennings, a senior fellow at the United States Institute of Peace, who recently returned from eight weeks in Iraq. He added: "The U.N. will have a very difficult time getting in place in time (for its work) to be meaningful."
Brahimi's efforts may be undercut by an agreement between Bremer and the Governing Council to decide by April 15 what the interim government will look like. Many analysts predict they will agree to preserve the Governing Council, perhaps in an expanded form.
"It will be de facto some kind of expansion of the Governing Council," said Walter B. Slocombe, a former undersecretary of defense who until recently advised the U.S. occupation authority.
"I see that as problematic," said Bathsheba Crocker, a specialist in post-conflict reconstruction at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "As we've all seen, the Governing Council is not viewed as legitimate body in or outside of Iraq."
Bush administration officials have pointed to the recent adoption by the Governing Council of an interim constitution as a major milestone for the region, with unprecedented protection of individual rights.
But the document is not as trailblazing as the administration proclaims, according to a recent paper by Patrick Clawson of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and its importance will rest on how well it is implemented.
Most Arab states, he notes, have constitutions containing many of the same rights. Yet these countries are ruled by repressive regimes that are widely condemned for abusing human rights.
Rival teams compete to launch spaceship
X Prize winners could make first privately funded trip into space by summer; test flights have already been conducted
By Betsy Taylor, Associated Press
ST. LOUIS -- The reward is high, but so is the risk as some of the 27 teams pursuing a $10 million prize for the first privately funded manned spaceflight near a goal that once seemed outlandish.
Organizers of the X Prize believe that teams could attempt the space trip as early as this summer.
When the competition was announced just eight years ago, many were skeptical that any privately financed team could meet the requirements to collect the prize: Build a spacecraft capable of taking three passengers 62.5 miles above the planet, then make a second successful suborbital trip within two weeks.
"It's going to happen in 2004. Someone will win it," said Gregg Maryniak, director of the St. Louis-based X Prize Foundation, a group created to spark development of reusable spacecraft that can take average citizens into space.
Many of the teams vying for the X Prize already have conducted test launches. One U.S. team propelled a spacecraft to 68,000 feet, or about 13 miles. While a couple of U.S. teams are among the top contenders, crews from six other nations also are in pursuit of the prize.
It's a diverse group tapping into the same spirit of exploration that led adventurers to sail ships across unknown oceans. Teams range from one financed by a billionaire to a group of scraped-together volunteers. Several boast leading minds who toss around aerospace terms with dizzying precision. Others lament unexpected fires and explosions as part of the learning process.
Safety is stressed, but team members know they're embarking on a journey with built-in risks, maybe even death.
"It's a possibility. It's a cost that exploration has to pay. Otherwise, you stay home and watch TV and eat French fries," said Pablo de Leon, the 39-year-old team leader of an Argentinian group that is building a vertical rocket named Gauchito, or The Little Cowboy.
"If we are not the ones, someone else will do it. But it will be done," de Leon said.
Canadian Brian Feeney, 44, is team leader of the Toronto-based da Vinci Project.
In its simplest terms, the group wants to lift a spacecraft called Wild Fire using an immense helium balloon.
The design switches over to rockets to fly and uses a steerable parachute to land.
Feeney plans to be on board for the first manned attempt. He said he thinks of the risk as similar to that of climbing Mount Everest, the world's tallest peak. "Life is way too short to not explore those boundaries," he said.
"How many times does a kid have a chance to go into space? I'm living my dream," he said. "I feel like I'm limited; my bicycle won't go as far as I want it to. My grandest dream goes all the way to the stars."
Maryniak recounted how space tourism advocate Peter Diamandis read Charles Lindbergh's "The Spirit of St. Louis" autobiography and realized how aviation contests, like the $25,000 Orteig prize awarded to Lindbergh for crossing the Atlantic in 1927, helped launch mainstream air travel.
So the X Prize was announced in 1996. The foundation includes such noted supporters as Dennis Tito, the American who spent $20 million to fly in a Russian craft as the first space tourist, and pilot Erik Lindbergh, the grandson of Charles Lindbergh.
Nine of the 27 teams have built "serious hardware" and four or five are at the leading edge of the competition, Maryniak said.
The top competitors include at least two American teams -- Scaled Composites of Mojave, Calif., and Armadillo Aerospace of Mesquite, Texas. Both have applied to the Federal Aviation Administration to attempt space flight. Another company, which is not competing for the prize, has also applied.
George Nield, the FAA's deputy associate administrator for commercial space transportation, said, "We are getting very close to making a licensing determination for one of those."
Several competitors believe Scaled Composites could take the prize.
Financed by Microsoft billionaire Paul Allen, Scaled Composites is led by aviation pioneer Burt Rutan, perhaps best known for his design of Voyager, an aircraft that circled the globe in a non-stop 1986 flight without refueling.
The Scaled Composites design consists of a rocket plane, called SpaceShipOne, and the White Knight, a jet designed to carry it aloft for a high-altitude air launch. SpaceShipOne traveled faster than the speed of sound in a test on Dec. 17, the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers' first flight.
In addition to the prize competition, the foundation and the teams hope for a time when space travel is more accessible, when people can book a trip into space, see the world from a distance and experience weightlessness.
"For a lot of them, the real prize is not the X Prize, it's the commercial business," said Maryniak. "The only thing wrong with space flight is there's not enough of it."
U.S. troops' death toll up again
37 soldiers, two Pentagon civilians have been killed since March 1
By Robert Burns, Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- After a marked decline in U.S. troop deaths in Iraq in February, the toll is again escalating.
So far this month 37 U.S. troops and two Department of the Army civilians have died, according to the Pentagon's count. The two civilians, Fern L. Holland and Robert J. Zangas, were the first Pentagon civilians to be killed in Iraq. They were slain by Iraqi policemen on March 9.
The Pentagon's count does not include a Marine who was reported killed Friday in heavy fighting in the city of Fallujah, west of Baghdad. The Marine's name has not been released so he is not yet on the Pentagon list.
On Thursday another Marine, Lance Cpl. Jeffrey C. Burgess, 20, of Plymouth, Mass., was killed near Fallujah. This week, the Marines took over authority in Fallujah and surrounding areas from the Army's 82nd Airborne Division. The city is situated in the so-called Sunni Triangle, where support for Saddam Hussein was strong and rebel attacks on American forces are frequent.
Homemade bombs continue to cause U.S. casualties. On Friday the Pentagon announced that Spc. Adam D. Froehlich, 21, of Pine Hill, N.J., died Thursday in Baqubah from injuries sustained when his patrol was hit by such a bomb, which the military calls an improvised explosive device.
Mid-March saw the heaviest death toll for any 10-day period since November, which was the deadliest month of the war.
Pentagon records say 24 American troops died in the March 13-22 period, including the first Marines to be killed in action in Iraq since last June 1, although six other Marines died last summer of non-hostile causes. The Marine Corps left Iraq last summer and returned just this month.
As of Friday, 585 U.S. service members -- not including the two civilians -- have died since military operations in Iraq began March 20, 2003, ac-cording to the Defense Department.
The death toll has followed an irregular pattern during the course of the war. The lowest monthly total was February's 21; the highest was November's 82. Even though February showed improvement, it was one of the deadliest months for
In addition to deaths from a range of hostile action, including Friday's fighting in Fallujah, there have been an unusually large number of non-hostile deaths this month. They include Spc. Clint Richard Matthews, 31, of Bedford, Pa., who died March 19 from injuries sustained when his Bradley troop carrier went over a 60-foot embankment and flipped over on March 17.
Also, 1st Lt. Michael R. Adams, 24, of Seattle, Wash., died March 16 when he was struck by the barrel of the .50-caliber weapon mounted on his armored vehicle. Pvt. Dustin L. Kreider, 19, of Riverton, Kan., died March 21 during what the military described as a "weapon test-firing incident."
Pfc. Ernest Harold Sutphin, 21, of Parkersburg, W.Va., died March 18 from injuries sustained in a vehicle accident a week earlier.
The deaths in March included one of the oldest troops to have died so far in Operation Iraqi Freedom: Army National Guard Master Sgt. Thomas R. Thigpen, 52, of Augusta, Ga. He died March 16 at a support base in Kuwait of non-combat-related injuries. Details were not made public.
$1,000 a day?
That is more than 80% of all CEO's in America make. Americans at home are in the wrong business...
Rice Rejects Calls for Public Testimony
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040329/ap_on_re_us/sept_11_commission&ci...
How Quickly-Lawmakers Rebuke Israeli Intelligence Services Over Iraq
By GREG MYRE
Published: March 29, 2004
ERUSALEM, March 28 — A parliamentary subcommittee on Sunday delivered a rare criticism of Israel's intelligence services, saying the agencies overestimated Iraq's weapons programs before the beginning of the war because they could not obtain "hard facts."
The subcommittee on Israel's intelligence agencies cited the same kinds of apparently inaccurate assessments on unconventional weapons that have also prompted inquiries in the United States and Britain.
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The lawmakers said they found no evidence that Israel's intelligence services intentionally misled the country's political leaders. They also noted that Israeli assessments did not play any significant role in the decision by the United States and Britain to go to war in Iraq.
"The most serious mistake was that we were not able to form a solid system for assessing Iraq's capabilities," said Yuval Steinitz, the chairman of the subcommittee and a leading member of the rightist Likud Party, which is led by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Despite Israel's vaunted reputation for gathering intelligence, particularly in the Middle East, Mr. Steinitz acknowledged that the United States and Britain were better positioned to evaluate Iraq.
With powerful satellites, the ability to send planes over Iraqi territory at will and troops on Iraq's border before the war, the United States and Britain had substantial intelligence advantages, Mr. Steinitz said.
The subcommittee found that Israel's intelligence had been strong in monitoring Iran's nuclear program but failed to detect Libya's nuclear efforts, which Libya says it has now abandoned.
"For Israel, it is intolerable that an Arab country like Libya can develop a nuclear program without the intelligence services providing current, up-to-date information," Mr. Steinitz said.
Though the report did not harshly criticize specific individuals or agencies, it was clear the findings were directed primarily at the Mossad, the external intelligence service, and the military's intelligence wing.
Israel was an enthusiastic supporter of the invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, regarded as one of the country's most serious threats.
In Israel, the faulty intelligence estimates contributed to government decisions to spend tens of millions of dollars to supply gas masks to the entire population and to inoculate 17,000 emergency workers with the smallpox vaccine.
In the Persian Gulf war in 1991, Iraq fired 39 Scud missiles with conventional warheads at Israel, causing damage but relatively few serious casualties. Israel feared a similar assault last year, with the possibility of chemical or biological weapons packed in the warheads.
The committee's report did not include classified findings that are being presented to the government. But the subcommittee cited several specific flaws in Israeli intelligence.
After the first gulf war, Western governments stated that Iraq still possessed an estimated 25 Scud missiles. As the war approached last year, Israeli intelligence estimated that Iraq had 50 missiles, and then raised the figure to 100, Mr. Steinitz said at a news conference.
The subcommittee found "no information to support this escalation," he said.
Information sharing among allies sometimes produces an information loop in which speculation just keeps getting passed on, he said. "Israel gave information to foreign intelligence services, which they used for their own purposes," Mr. Steinitz added. "Then it comes back around to Israel without any substantiation from the field."
A leftist lawmaker, Yossi Sarid, a critic of Mr. Sharon's government, has alleged that Israel knew Iraq had no unconventional weapons but did not tell the United States because Israel wanted the war to proceed.
Mr. Steinitz rejected that claim, saying that any mistakes "were made in good faith."
However, one opposition member of the subcommittee, Haim Ramon, issued a dissenting opinion and attacked both Israel's intelligence gathering and the government's handling of it.
"Just as British and U.S. intelligence failed, Israeli intelligence failed," Mr. Ramon said. "Unfortunately, I think we exaggerated the threat."
While Israel's prewar assessment of Iraq appeared to be generally in line with the United States', Mr. Steinitz cited at least one difference.
The United States claimed that Mr. Hussein was trying to rebuild his nuclear program, "but this was not the claim of Israeli intelligence," Mr. Steinitz noted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/29/international/middleeast/29ISRA.html?ex=1081227600&en=16d7010d...
Rice Rejects Calls for Public Testimony
10 minutes ago
By SCOTT LINDLAW, Associated Press Writer
CRAWFORD, Texas - White House allies and Republicans investigating the Sept. 11 attacks pressed Sunday to hear open testimony from national security adviser Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites), with one commissioner calling her refusal a "political blunder of the first order."
Rice said in a TV interview that she wants to meet with the families of the Sept. 11 victims because she knows they are disappointed she cannot testify publicly.
"Nothing would be better, from my point of view, than to be able to testify," Rice told CBS's "60 Minutes." "I would really like to do that. But there is an important principle involved here: It is a long-standing principle that sitting national security advisers do not testify before the Congress."
President Bush (news - web sites), spending a long weekend on his Texas ranch, gave no ground, and several aides said he will not change his mind on letting Rice testify. But Bush sent her and other top administration officials out for television interviews to rebut fresh attacks on the way his administration has handled the threat of terrorism.
Sharpening his criticism, former counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke said President Clinton (news - web sites) was more aggressive than Bush in trying to confront al-Qaida, Osama bin Laden (news - web sites)'s organization.
"He did something, and President Bush did nothing prior to September 11," Clarke told NBC's "Meet the Press."
"I think they deserve a failing grade for what they did before" Sept. 11, Clarke said of the Bush administration. "They never got around to doing anything."
But Rice said the Bush administration regarded terrorism as "an urgent problem."
Clarke said a sweeping declassification of documents would prove that the Bush administration neglected the threat of terrorism in the eight months leading up to the attacks.
He said he sought declassification of all six hours of his testimony before a congressional committee two years ago. Some Republicans have said that testimony about Sept. 11 contradicts Clarke's current criticism.
Clarke said he also wanted Rice's previous interview before the independent Sept. 11 commission declassified, along with e-mails between him and Rice, and other documents, including a memo he sent on Jan. 25, 2001 offering a road map to the new Bush administration on how to confront al-Qaida, and a directive that the National Security Council adopted on Sept. 4, 2001.
The material will prove "they wasted months when we could have had some action," Clarke said.
Rice says the approach formulated over the eight-month span was "a more comprehensive plan to eliminate al-Qaida."
Asked about Clarke's request for the declassification, Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) on CBS' "Face the Nation," said, "My bias will be to provide this information in an unclassified manner not only to the commission, but to the American people."
White House spokesman Jim Morrell said decisions on declassification "will be made in discussion with the 9/11 commission." One senior administration official said the White House and intelligence community would never agree to release the Sept. 4 national security directive, because it contains sensitive information on sources and methods.
Members of the Sept. 11 commissioner made clear they will not relent in their pursuit of public testimony from Rice, but said they were not inclined to subpoena her.
The White House has declined to let her appear at the commission's televised hearings, citing the constitutional principle of separation of powers; the panel was created by Congress.
"Condi Rice would be a superb witness. She is anxious to testify. The president would dearly love to have her testify," Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told reporters. "But the lawyers have concluded that to do so would alter the balance if we got into the practice of doing that."
Rice was interviewed by the panel behind closed doors on Feb. 7. The administration has offered a second private session with Rice, but the commission has not accepted.
Rice was "very, very forthcoming in her first meeting with us," said former New Jersey Gov. Thomas Kean, a Republican named by Bush to lead the commission.
"But we do feel unanimously as a commission that she should testify in public. We feel it's important to get her case out there. We recognize there are arguments having to do with separation of powers. We think in a tragedy of this magnitude that those kind of legal arguments are probably overridden," Kean told "Fox News Sunday."
Commissioner John Lehman, another Republican, said Rice "has nothing to hide, and yet this is creating the impression for honest Americans all over the country and people all over the world that the White House has something to hide, that Condi Rice has something to hide."
"And if they do, we sure haven't found it. There are no smoking guns. That's what makes this so absurd. It's a political blunder of the first order," Lehman told ABC's "This Week."
A White House ally, Richard Perle, said, "I think she would be wise to testify."
Perle, who resigned last month as an adviser to the Pentagon (news - web sites), said he recognized the constitutional concerns at issue. "Sometimes you have to set those aside because the circumstances require it," he told CNN's "Late Edition."
Richard Ben-Veniste, a Democratic commissioner, noted in an interview with The Associated Press that several White House staff in recent years have appeared before legislative bodies, including former national security adviser Sandy Berger when he was in office. Rice's several media appearances also undermine the White House's position, he said.
"I fail to see the logic on the one hand relying on the confidentiality of such communications with the president and yet appearing everywhere except the one entity that has been created for the express purpose of investigating and holding public hearings on 9/11," he said.
___
Associated Press Writer Hope Yen in Washington contributed to this report.
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Rice: 'Nothing to hide' from 9/11 commission
Panel's chairman says White House should waive concerns
National security adviser Condoleezza Rice gave private testimony to the 9/11 commission.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- National security adviser Condoleezza Rice said Sunday night that she "has nothing to hide" from the independent commission investigating the September 11 attacks, even as calls intensified for her to testify before the panel in public.
Appearing on the CBS news magazine "60 Minutes," Rice also denied the Bush administration put the war on terror on a "back burner" before the tragedy, as alleged by former White House aide Richard Clarke in a new book and in testimony before the 9/11 commission last week.
Clarke's interview on the program last week launched the current controversy.
When asked whether she would have done anything differently about potential terrorism threats between President Bush's inauguration in January 2001 and the attacks on New York and Washington nine months later, Rice said, "We were where we were. I know what we did.
"I know that shortly after we came into office I asked the counterterrorism team -- which we kept in place from the Clinton administration in order to provide continuity and experience -- we asked them what policy initiatives should we take."
She said Bush officials were given a list of policy initiatives, which they followed, and that they put in motion a strategy to eliminate al Qaeda.
The strategy was in place before the attacks, she said.
In his book, "Against All Enemies," Clarke says members of the Bush administration, including Rice, did not act on repeated warnings before September 11 that an al Qaeda attack could be imminent.
Clarke was White House counterterrorism coordinator in the Clinton and Bush administrations.
He repeated his criticism last week in testimony before the 9/11 commission, saying the administration considered terrorism an important issue, but not an "urgent" issue.
He also told the commission that Bush "has greatly undermined the war on terrorism" by ordering the invasion of Iraq.
White House officials tried to portray Clarke as a disgruntled former employee with a book to sell, releasing earlier statements and documents they say undercut his credibility.
Rice called Clarke's allegations "scurrilous" and made the rounds of news shows last week to challenge his credibility.
Earlier Sunday, the top two leaders of the bipartisan 9/11 panel, formally titled the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, urged Rice to appear before it to rebut Clarke's testimony.
Chairman Thomas Kean, a former Republican governor of New Jersey, said White House concerns about executive privilege should be waived to help the commission get to the bottom of what led to the attacks.
"We recognize there are arguments having to do with separation of powers," Kean said on "Fox News Sunday." "We think in a tragedy of this magnitude that those kind of legal arguments are probably overridden."
The panel's vice chairman, Lee Hamilton, said on CNN's "Late Edition" that it would to be the administration's advantage to have Rice testify in public, "but they've refused to do that."
Hamilton, a former Democratic congressman from Indiana, said Rice "has been very helpful to us" in private sessions.
"She's told us she's happy to have us come back, so we're going to get the information that we want in the commission," Hamilton said.
"But there's another whole dimension here, and that dimension is the public dimension -- and I think the American public would benefit from hearing Condi Rice testify under oath."
Sunday, Rice told "60 Minutes" that testifying in public was not possible, given her position. She has already given four hours of private testimony to the panel.
The White House argues that as a member of the White House staff, Rice should not be called to testify publicly under the principle of executive privilege.
"There's an important principle involved here. We have separate branches of government -- the legislative branch and the executive branch," Rice said.
"This commission, it takes its authority, derives its authority, from the Congress, and it is a long-standing principle that sitting national security advisers do not testify before the Congress.
"I'm more than happy to spend as much time as they would like answering further questions," Rice said.
Powell, Rumsfeld defend Rice
Secretary of State Colin Powell said Sunday he would not have testified publicly when he was national security adviser under President Reagan in the late 1980s.
"The president has to have a unique and confidential and private relationship with his immediate staff," Powell said on CBS's "Face the Nation."
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, speaking to reporters Sunday, said Rice "would be a superb witness. She is anxious to testify. The president would dearly love to have her testify."
But the administration's lawyers have determined that her testifying "would leave the institution different than it was," he said.
Her testimony "would put an end to a lot of the controversy," Rumsfeld said.
Powell said he believes Rice "is getting a bit of a bum rap" because of Clarke's complaints.
"Condi was on this from the very beginning," Powell said. "Unfortunately, we never got the information or intelligence that we needed to tell us that these 19 guys were in the country and already there was a plot under way."
"We all knew it was a threat. We didn't need just Dick Clarke to tell us that terrorism was a threat," he said, noting that the USS Cole had been blown up in 2000 and two U.S. embassies were bombed in 1998.
Organizations representing families of those killed in the attacks have urged Rice to testify before the commission in a public setting.
The 9/11 Families Steering Committee issued such a statement Saturday.
"Dr. Rice should testify to set a moral precedent that is aptly warranted by the murder of 3,000 people," the statement said.
"Voluntarily coming forward to testify under oath during a public hearing without the use of a subpoena would simply set a rare, refreshing, and appropriate moral precedent for all of history to judge."
U.S. shuts down Internet 'phishing' scam
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The U.S. government said Monday it had arrested a Texas man who crafted fake e-mail messages to trick hundreds of Internet users into providing credit card numbers and other sensitive information.
Zachary Hill of Houston pleaded guilty to charges related to a "phishing" operation, in which he sent false emails purportedly from online businesses to collect sensitive personal information from consumers, the Federal Trade Commission said.
According to the FTC, Hill sent out official-looking e-mail notices warning America Online and Paypal users to update their accounts to avoid cancellation.
Those who clicked on a link in the message were directed to a Web site Hill set up that asked for Social Security numbers, mothers' maiden names, bank account numbers and other sensitive information, the FTC said.
Phishing has emerged as a favorite tool of identity thieves over the past several years and experts say it is a serious threat to consumers.
Hill used the information he collected to set up credit-card accounts and change information on existing accounts, the FTC said. He duped 400 users out of at least $75,000 before his operation was shut down December 4, FTC attorneys said.
Hill will be sentenced on May 17, according to court documents.
A lawyer for Hill was not immediately available for comment.
Scam artists have posed as banks, online businesses and even the U.S. government to gather personal information, setting up Web pages that closely mirror official sites.
FTC officials said consumers should never respond to an e-mail asking for sensitive information by clicking on a link in the message. "If you think the company needs your financial information, it's best to contact them directly," FTC attorney Lisa Hone said.
Those who believe they may be victims of identity theft should visit the FTC's Web site (www.consumer.gov/idtheft), she said.
America Online is a division of Time Warner Inc., as is CNN. Paypal is owned by eBay Inc.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/internet/03/22/crime.phishing.reut/index.html
FBI adds to wiretap wish list
By Declan McCullagh and Ben Charny
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
http://news.com.com/2100-1028-5172948.html
Story last modified March 12, 2004, 1:05 PM PST
A far-reaching proposal from the FBI, made public Friday, would require all broadband Internet providers, including cable modem and DSL companies, to rewire their networks to support easy wiretapping by police.
A far-reaching FBI proposal would require all broadband Net providers, including cable modem and DSL companies, to rewire their networks to support easy wiretapping by police.
Bottom line:
If approved as drafted, the proposal could dramatically expand the scope of the agency's wiretap powers, raise costs for cable broadband companies and complicate Internet product development.
More stories on this topic
The FBI's request to the Federal Communications Commission aims to give police ready access to any form of Internet-based communications. If approved as drafted, the proposal could dramatically expand the scope of the agency's wiretap powers, raise costs for cable broadband companies and complicate Internet product development.
Legal experts said the 85-page filing includes language that could be interpreted as forcing companies to build back doors into everything from instant messaging and voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) programs to Microsoft's Xbox Live game service. The introduction of new services that did not support a back door for police would be outlawed, and companies would be given 15 months to make sure that existing services comply.
"The importance and the urgency of this task cannot be overstated," says the proposal, which is also backed by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Drug Enforcement Administration. "The ability of federal, state and local law enforcement to carry out critical electronic surveillance is being compromised today."
Because the eavesdropping scheme has the support of the Bush administration, the FCC is expected to take it very seriously. Last month, FCC Chairman Michael Powell stressed that "law enforcement access to IP-enabled communications is essential" and that police must have "access to communications infrastructure they need to protect our nation."
The request from federal police comes almost a year after representatives from the FBI's Electronic Surveillance Technology Section approached the FCC and asked that broadband providers be required to provide more efficient, standardized surveillance facilities. Such new rules were necessary, the FBI argued, because terrorists could otherwise frustrate legitimate wiretaps by placing phone calls over the Internet.
"It is a very big deal and will be very costly for the Internet and the deployment of new technologies," said Stewart Baker, who represents Internet providers as a partner at law firm Steptoe & Johnson. "Law enforcement is very serious about it. There is a lot of emotion behind this. They have stories that they're very convinced about in which they have not achieved access to communications and in which wiretaps have failed."
Broadband in the mix
Broadband providers say the FBI's request would, for the first time, force cable providers that sell broadband to come under the jurisdiction of 1994's Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA), which further defined the already existing statutory obligations of telecommunications carriers to help police conduct electronic surveillance. Telephone companies that use their networks to sell broadband have already been following CALEA rules.
"For cable companies, it's all new," said Bill McCloskey, a BellSouth spokesman.
Several cable providers, including Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Cablevision Systems, had no immediate comment on the FBI's request.
The FBI proposal would also force Vonage, 8x8, AT&T and other prominent providers of broadband telephone services to comply with CALEA. Executives from these companies have said in the past that they all intend to comply with any request law enforcement makes, if technically possible.
Broadband phone service providers say they are already creating a code of conduct to cover some of the same issues the FBI is addressing--but on a voluntary basis, according to Jeff Pulver, founder of Free World Dialup. "We have our chance right now to prove to law enforcement that we can do this on a voluntary basis," Pulver said. "If we mandate and make rules, it will just complicate things."
Under CALEA, police must still follow legal procedures when wiretapping Internet communications. Depending on the situation, such wiretaps do not always require court approval, in part because of expanded wiretapping powers put in place by the USA Patriot Act.
A Verizon representative said Friday that the company has already complied with at least one law enforcement request to tap a DSL line.
This week's proposal surprised privacy advocates by reaching beyond broadband providers to target companies that offer communications applications such as instant-messaging clients.
"I don't think it's a reasonable claim," said Marc Rotenberg, director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center. "The FCC should seriously consider where the FBI believes its authority...to regulate new technologies would end. What about Bluetooth and USB?"
Baker agrees that the FBI's proposal means that IP-based services such as chat programs and videoconferencing "that are 'switched' in any fashion would be treated as telephony." If the FCC agrees, Baker said, "you would have to vet your designs with law enforcement before providing your service. There will be a queue. There will be politics involved. It would completely change the way services are introduced on the Internet."
As encryption becomes glued into more and more VoIP and instant-messaging systems like PSST, X-IM and CryptIM, eavesdropping methods like the FBI's Carnivore system (also called DCS1000) become less useful. Both Free World Dialup's Pulver, and Niklas Zennstrom, founder of Skype, said last month that their services currently offer no easy wiretap route for police, because VoIP calls travel along the Internet in tens of thousands of packets, each sometimes taking completely different routes.
Skype has become a hot button in the debate by automatically encrypting all calls that take place through the peer-to-peer voice application.
The origins of this debate date back to when the FBI persuaded Congress to enact the controversial CALEA. Louis Freeh, FBI director at the time, testified in 1994 that emerging technologies such as call forwarding, call waiting and cellular phones had frustrated surveillance efforts.
Congress responded to the FBI's concern by requiring that telecommunications services rewire their networks to provide police with guaranteed access for wiretaps. Legislators also granted the FCC substantial leeway in defining what types of companies must comply. So far, the FCC has interpreted CALEA's wiretap-ready requirements to cover only traditional analog and wireless telephone service, leaving broadband and Internet applications in a regulatory gray area.
Under the FBI's proposal, Internet companies would bear "sole financial responsibility for development and implementation of CALEA solutions" but would be authorized to raise prices to cover their costs.
Related News
VoIP: It's not so easy to listen in February 13, 2004
http://news.com.com/2100-7352-5159159.html
Feds seek wiretap access via VoIP January 8, 2004
http://news.com.com/2100-7352-5137344.html
FBI targets Net phoning July 29, 2003
http://news.com.com/2100-1028-5056424.html
FBI wants Carnivore powers for phone taps November 21, 2001
http://news.com.com/2100-1033-276115.html
Get this story's "Big Picture"
http://news.com.com/2104-1028-5172948.html
FBI adds to wiretap wish list
By Declan McCullagh and Ben Charny
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
http://news.com.com/2100-1028-5172948.html
Story last modified March 12, 2004, 1:05 PM PST
A far-reaching proposal from the FBI, made public Friday, would require all broadband Internet providers, including cable modem and DSL companies, to rewire their networks to support easy wiretapping by police.
A far-reaching FBI proposal would require all broadband Net providers, including cable modem and DSL companies, to rewire their networks to support easy wiretapping by police.
Bottom line:
If approved as drafted, the proposal could dramatically expand the scope of the agency's wiretap powers, raise costs for cable broadband companies and complicate Internet product development.
More stories on this topic
The FBI's request to the Federal Communications Commission aims to give police ready access to any form of Internet-based communications. If approved as drafted, the proposal could dramatically expand the scope of the agency's wiretap powers, raise costs for cable broadband companies and complicate Internet product development.
Legal experts said the 85-page filing includes language that could be interpreted as forcing companies to build back doors into everything from instant messaging and voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) programs to Microsoft's Xbox Live game service. The introduction of new services that did not support a back door for police would be outlawed, and companies would be given 15 months to make sure that existing services comply.
"The importance and the urgency of this task cannot be overstated," says the proposal, which is also backed by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Drug Enforcement Administration. "The ability of federal, state and local law enforcement to carry out critical electronic surveillance is being compromised today."
Because the eavesdropping scheme has the support of the Bush administration, the FCC is expected to take it very seriously. Last month, FCC Chairman Michael Powell stressed that "law enforcement access to IP-enabled communications is essential" and that police must have "access to communications infrastructure they need to protect our nation."
The request from federal police comes almost a year after representatives from the FBI's Electronic Surveillance Technology Section approached the FCC and asked that broadband providers be required to provide more efficient, standardized surveillance facilities. Such new rules were necessary, the FBI argued, because terrorists could otherwise frustrate legitimate wiretaps by placing phone calls over the Internet.
"It is a very big deal and will be very costly for the Internet and the deployment of new technologies," said Stewart Baker, who represents Internet providers as a partner at law firm Steptoe & Johnson. "Law enforcement is very serious about it. There is a lot of emotion behind this. They have stories that they're very convinced about in which they have not achieved access to communications and in which wiretaps have failed."
Broadband in the mix
Broadband providers say the FBI's request would, for the first time, force cable providers that sell broadband to come under the jurisdiction of 1994's Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA), which further defined the already existing statutory obligations of telecommunications carriers to help police conduct electronic surveillance. Telephone companies that use their networks to sell broadband have already been following CALEA rules.
"For cable companies, it's all new," said Bill McCloskey, a BellSouth spokesman.
Several cable providers, including Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Cablevision Systems, had no immediate comment on the FBI's request.
The FBI proposal would also force Vonage, 8x8, AT&T and other prominent providers of broadband telephone services to comply with CALEA. Executives from these companies have said in the past that they all intend to comply with any request law enforcement makes, if technically possible.
Broadband phone service providers say they are already creating a code of conduct to cover some of the same issues the FBI is addressing--but on a voluntary basis, according to Jeff Pulver, founder of Free World Dialup. "We have our chance right now to prove to law enforcement that we can do this on a voluntary basis," Pulver said. "If we mandate and make rules, it will just complicate things."
Under CALEA, police must still follow legal procedures when wiretapping Internet communications. Depending on the situation, such wiretaps do not always require court approval, in part because of expanded wiretapping powers put in place by the USA Patriot Act.
A Verizon representative said Friday that the company has already complied with at least one law enforcement request to tap a DSL line.
This week's proposal surprised privacy advocates by reaching beyond broadband providers to target companies that offer communications applications such as instant-messaging clients.
"I don't think it's a reasonable claim," said Marc Rotenberg, director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center. "The FCC should seriously consider where the FBI believes its authority...to regulate new technologies would end. What about Bluetooth and USB?"
Baker agrees that the FBI's proposal means that IP-based services such as chat programs and videoconferencing "that are 'switched' in any fashion would be treated as telephony." If the FCC agrees, Baker said, "you would have to vet your designs with law enforcement before providing your service. There will be a queue. There will be politics involved. It would completely change the way services are introduced on the Internet."
As encryption becomes glued into more and more VoIP and instant-messaging systems like PSST, X-IM and CryptIM, eavesdropping methods like the FBI's Carnivore system (also called DCS1000) become less useful. Both Free World Dialup's Pulver, and Niklas Zennstrom, founder of Skype, said last month that their services currently offer no easy wiretap route for police, because VoIP calls travel along the Internet in tens of thousands of packets, each sometimes taking completely different routes.
Skype has become a hot button in the debate by automatically encrypting all calls that take place through the peer-to-peer voice application.
The origins of this debate date back to when the FBI persuaded Congress to enact the controversial CALEA. Louis Freeh, FBI director at the time, testified in 1994 that emerging technologies such as call forwarding, call waiting and cellular phones had frustrated surveillance efforts.
Congress responded to the FBI's concern by requiring that telecommunications services rewire their networks to provide police with guaranteed access for wiretaps. Legislators also granted the FCC substantial leeway in defining what types of companies must comply. So far, the FCC has interpreted CALEA's wiretap-ready requirements to cover only traditional analog and wireless telephone service, leaving broadband and Internet applications in a regulatory gray area.
Under the FBI's proposal, Internet companies would bear "sole financial responsibility for development and implementation of CALEA solutions" but would be authorized to raise prices to cover their costs.
Related News
VoIP: It's not so easy to listen in February 13, 2004
http://news.com.com/2100-7352-5159159.html
Feds seek wiretap access via VoIP January 8, 2004
http://news.com.com/2100-7352-5137344.html
FBI targets Net phoning July 29, 2003
http://news.com.com/2100-1028-5056424.html
FBI wants Carnivore powers for phone taps November 21, 2001
http://news.com.com/2100-1033-276115.html
Get this story's "Big Picture"
http://news.com.com/2104-1028-5172948.html
"The Bush Administration's pursuit of American Supremacy can now be seen for what it is: a dangerous aberration. The tide is turning. People who have lined up behind the President after September 11 are beginning to realize that they have been misled. Their unquestioning allegiance is turning to anger....We have fallen into a trap".
George Soros from "The Bubble of American Supremacy" Correcting the Misuse of American Power published by "Public Affairs".
http://www.publicaffairsbooks.com/publicaffairsbooks-cgi-bin/display?book=1586482173
INTERNATIONAL BARC REISSUES CALLS FOR THE RESIGNATION OF SHARON AND BERLUSCONI.
Rome, Italy and Jerusalem, Israel - - The head of the International Bank Activities Reform Commission, (IBARC) Gabor S. Acs, a Hungarian born reformist whose recent $7 billion publicly announced paper wager with George Soros has been informally rejected by a representative of the Soros Organization in New York, has called for the underground volunteers of both the Italian and Israeli arms of those organizations to begin public demonstrations in front of their respective national and central banks and to continue until the formal resignation of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Widening investigations into Italian and Israeli financial and government corruption is gradually being brought to the light of the world and “we have it on good intelligence that these resignations are necessary and proper in order to prevent further corruption and the potential collapse of these economies”, said a spokesman for Mr. Acs.
Acs, who also recently condemned the glorification of violence through the endorsement by the Vatican of Mel Gibson’s blockbuster film “The Passion of Christ” last month advised the Vatican leadership to "throw the money changers out of Rome" in its most recent issue of its’ internationally distributed electronic newsletter, the Free and Clear Intelligence Review.
“I saw the movie only recently, it is however deplorable that there exist millions of humans who would be so blood crazed to go and watch the slow torture of a man crucified for his words rather than follow his words to the letter. It only adds further to the mythology of Christ. We have a long way to go to pull out of our international barbarism”, said Acs.
Acs has also recently publicly predicted the demise of the Pope due to his ill health, and the death of Sharon by assassination within the next year and is concerned that terrorists now see both the Roman and Israeli leadership as prime targets in their counter attacks against the growing threat of Western Imperialist Supremacist ideologies.
The $7 billion wager stands as a public guarantee that George Bush will be defeated in the next election in the United States and that the Bubble of American Supremacy has already been pierced as the public gradually becomes aware of the infiltration of Israeli and Italian personnel within the United States government over the next several months.
The American Bank Activities Reform Commission (ABARC) in Washington D.C. and the Bank Activities Reform Commission (BARC) in Portland, Oregon, both sponsored by IBARC, have taken on several major supportive projects in the United States.
One of these is the organization of a $5 trillion negligence suit against the Securities and Exchange Commission and the United States Federal Government. The suit will allege that the Bush Administration has engaged in a widening range of money laundering activities and racketeering activities through the deception of “national security” by funding military industrial financial media complex contracts while taking kickbacks in the form of political donations from the same organizations supported by insiders at the direction of Bush.
The first Bank Activities Reform Commission was started in 1993 in Portland, Oregon by a group of disgruntled homeless people who had lost their economic means due to inflation, abusive banking practices, and corruption in the global financial system.
After ten years of research and development, the group has grown international in scope and has gathered sufficient evidence on many different fronts that it believes will support the radical reform of the entire global banking establishment making it far more transparent than as currently exists.
The long-range goal of the International Bank Activities Reform Commission is to put ethics in on the global financial system. The effects of its work are beginning to be felt around the world as more volunteers blow the whistle on corruption at the highest levels of various governments on the planet. “Italy, Russia, Israel, India, and the United States have the highest per capita concentration of banking and political corruption in the world”, said Acs.
Already Submitted to various alternative news organizations around the world...
It is absolutely shocking to note that the Government of India has extended an invitation to Mr. Ariel Sharon, Prime Minister of Israel, to pay an official visit to India. This fact was first revealed by Mr. Brajesh Mishra, India's 'National Security Advisor', on 8 May 2003 in New York, while addressing the gathering at the Annual Dinner held by the American Jewish Committee (AJC), a rabid Zionist organization [1].
Promoting better relations with the people of Israel is one thing but trying to white-wash the heinous crimes of Ariel Sharon, and those of the fascist Likud Party he represents, is quite another. By extending an invitation to Ariel Sharon to visit India, the Indian Government has committed the cardinal sin of bestowing honour on a war-criminal, who is deeply detested by the vast majority of the global community because of his unsavoury reputation. In fact Sharon cannot travel to most countries even in Europe because of the extreme passions such a visit would arouse. It cannot be that the Government of India is unaware of the criminal record of Ariel Sharon or of the notorious Likud Party he has been leading. Therefore, the motives for inviting Ariel Sharon to India are highly suspicious.
During his speech at the said Annual Dinner of the AJC, Mr. Brajesh Mishra had rightly claimed that India "is one of very few countries in the world with no history of anti-Semitism." However, Mr. Mishra very conveniently forgot to add that India was one country that had been consistently anti-Zionist since the early days of its national movement under Mahatma Gandhi. It is primarily after the right-wing BJP [Bharathiya Janata Party]-led alliance assumed office that the Indian Government has started taking an increasingly pro-Zionist stance.
Mr. Mishra had also gone on to add that: "India, the United States and Israel have some fundamental similarities. We are all democracies, sharing a common vision of pluralism, tolerance and equal opportunity." Since when has Israel started promoting "a... vision of pluralism, tolerance and equal opportunity"! ? Is it not a fact that the bulk of the Palestinian population were violently displaced from the area allocated to Israel under the UN Partition Plan of 1947? Is it not a fact that the Palestinian people are under the brutal occupation of Israel, especially since 1967? Is it not a fact that more than half the 8 million Palestinian population are forced to live as refugees both inside and outside Palestine? Is it not a fact that the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP, a committee consisting of 25 UN members including India) has repeatedly voiced its grave concern at the horrendous treatment of the Palestinians by the occupying Israeli Defence Forces (IDF)? [2] Then by what yardstick is Mr. ! Mishra claiming that the State of Israel has been promoting "pluralism, tolerance and equal opportunity"?
Mr. Mishra's claim of shared vision obviously rests on the ignoble Sangh Parivar's (self-proclaimed group of fanatical "Hindu" organizations) version of history [3]. According to them: "Just as the Hindus of India are fighting for their survival in the very land of their origin and forefathers, so too are the Jews of Israel confronting the very same threats to the nation that is theirs by historical and religious birthright. Hindus and Jews both face exactly the same danger: Islam.... The desire to reassert what is their rightful pride in land, culture and religion has awakened in the heart of the common Isra! eli and Indian. The results are obvious, the unabashedly Jewish Likud Party was voted into power in Israel and the political party that represents the reemergence of Hinduism, the BJP has been voted into power in India.... Considering the import of shared experiences, ideas and situations that links Indians and Israelis, it is about time that solid chains of friendship were forged." [4] Kowtowing to such pressure sullies not only the image of the Indian Government but that of the entire Secular Democratic Republic of India. The Sharon visit will also create utter dismay in the Sout h Asian region as a whole and will be disastrous for peace and democracy in the subcontinent.
There is little doubt, therefore, that it is the BJP's fascistic ideological affinity with the Likud Party which is the driving force behind this attempt to forge "solid chains of friendship". Just as the BJP emerged out of the erstwhile Bharathiya Jan Sangh, the Likud ("Unity") Party too emerged out of the erstwhile Tnuat Haherut ("Freedom") Party. The "Freedom" Party was headed by Menachem Begin, who also later went on to head the Likud Party. The Likud Party first came to power in 1977 with Begin as Prime Minister. It may be noted that nearly 30 years earlier many eminent US intellectuals of Jewish origin, including the noted scientist Albert Einstein,! had protested against the visit of Begin, while he was in the United States in 1948 on a fund raising campaign, for his role in the Deir Yassin massacre (see below). In their protest letter, which was published in the New York Times, they spoke plainly urging the US citizens not to support Begin or the fascist political movement he represented. The letter stated as follows:
"Among the most disturbing political phenomena of our time is the emergence in the newly created State of Israel of the "Freedom Party" (Tnuat Haherut), a political party closely akin in its organization, methods, political philosophy and social appeal to the Nazi and Fascist parties. It was formed out of the membership and following of the former Irgun Zvai Leumi, a terrorist, right-wing, chauvinist organization in Palestine. ...Before irreparable damage is done by way of financial contributions...the American public must be informed as to the record and objectives of <Mr.Begin>'s and his movement. ...Today they speak of freedom, democracy and anti-imperialism, whereas until recently they openly preached the doctrine of the Fascist state.... A shocking example was their behaviour in the Arab village of Deir Yassin.... On April 9 (THE NEW YORK TIMES) terrorist bands attacked this peaceful village, killed most of its inhabitants--240 men, women and children--and kept a few of them alive to parade them as captives through the streets of Jerusalem. Most of the Jewish community was horrified at the deed, and the Jewish Agency sent a telegram of apology to King Abdulla of Transjordan. .... But the terrorists far from being ashamed of their act, were proud of this massacre, publicised it widely, and invited all the foreign correspondents present in the country to view the heaped corpses and the general havoc at Deir Yassin. The Deir Yassin incident exemplifies the character of the Freedom Party....The undersigned therefore take this means of publicly presenting a few salient facts concerning Begin and his party; and of urging all concerned not to support this latest manifestation of fascism." [5]!
As mentioned above, it is the same fascist "Freedom" Party that has re-emerged as the Likud Party, which has been ruling Israel for the last several years. At least three of its members who have occupied the Prime Ministerial post--Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Shamir (who had plotted the murder of the UN mediator for Palestine, Count Bernadotte, on 17 September 1948 [6]) and Aerial Sharon--have blood on their hands. It is undisputed that, when he was just 25-year old, Sharon was directly involved in the massacre of some 69 Palestinian civilians in the West Bank village of Qibiya during the night of 14-15 October 1953 as the bloody operation was carried out by an Israeli army unit led by him [7]. Later, as the Defence Minister of Israel, Sharon was instrumen! tal in plotting the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982. There are various reports that vividly describe the result of his ruthless actions in Lebanon. According to the information compiled by the US Library of Congress:
"Beirut suffered grievously between June 6, 1982, when Israeli troops first crossed the Lebanese border, and September 16, when they completed their seizure of West Beirut. Normal economic activity was brought to a standstill. Factories that had sprung up in the southern suburbs were damaged or destroyed, highways were torn up, and houses were ruined or pitted by artillery fire and rockets. Close to 40,000 homes--about one-fourth of all Beir! ut's dwellings--were destroyed. Eighty-five percent of all schools south of the city were damaged or destroyed." [8]
The same report further added: "Taking stock of the war's toll, Israel announced that 344 of its soldiers had been killed and over 2,000 wounded.... Lebanese estimates, compiled from International Red Cross sources and police and hospital surveys, calculated that 17,825 Lebanese had died and over 30,000 had been wounded." [9] But this was not all. "On the evening of September 16, 1982, the IDF, having surrounded the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila, dispatched approximately 300 to 400 Christian militiamen into the camps to rout what was! believed to be the remnant of the Palestinian forces. The militiamen were mostly Phalangists under the command of Elie Hubayka (also seen as Hobeika), a former close aide of Bashir Jumayyil, but militiamen from the Israeli-supported SLA were also present. The IDF ordered its soldiers to refrain from entering the camps, but IDF officers supervised the operation from the roof of a six-story building overlooking parts of the area. According to the report of the Kahan Commission established by the government of Israel to investigate the events, the IDF monitored the Phalangist radio network and fired illumination flares from mortars and aircraft to light the area. Over a period of two days, the Christian militiamen massacr! ed some 700 to 800 Palestinian men, women, and children." [10] Palestinian sources, however, claim that the death toll was over 3500.
Due to his despicable role in the Sabra and Shatila massacre, efforts were on to try Sharon as a war criminal in a Belgian court of law [11]. On 18 June 2001, 23 survivors of the 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacres lodged a case in Belgium accusing Ariel Sharon (then Defense Minister and currently Prime Minister of Israel) with war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide related to the massacres committed during 16-18 September 1982. The other accused include Amos Yaron (then Brigadier Genera! l commanding the Israeli division's forward command post in Beirut which was located just 200 metres from the Sabra and Shatila camps and currently Director General of Israel's Ministry of Defense), Elias Hobeika and other Lebanese Phalangist militia leaders. (The Sabra and Shatila survivors lodged the charges under 1993 and 1999 Belgian legislations that incorporates the principle of Universal Jurisdiction for war-crimes and crimes against humanity into Belgian criminal law.) Even the BBC has produced a documentary on Sharon titled "The Accused", which deals with his complicity in the Shabra and Shatila massacre [12].
According to activists who are campaigning to indict Sharon: "The central figure is unquestionably General Ariel Sharon, then Israeli Defence Minister, who personally directed the military operations in Lebanon and who was in Beirut at the time of the events.....Certain information indicates that Mr Sharon, although preferring to allow his local collaborators to perform the massacre in the camps, might have planned it with a view to terrorising the entirety of the Palestinian population of the Lebanon into leaving, or retreating to the north of the country.....Concerning the Phalangist militia, they could be considered de facto auxiliary forces to the military power occupying South Lebanon and Beirut at the time. These militia were armed and trained by Israel. Their leaders would not have been able to take any initiative that contradicted the will of the occupying power [Israel], and the operations they carried out were devised and prepared in collaboration with the Israeli military leaders." [13]
It is rather unfortunate that because of intense pressure from the US Government, the Belgian Government has now agreed to change its laws in such a way that Sharon and his co-conspirators cannot be tried in Belgium for war crimes anymore [14]. But despite this setback there is unlikely to be any letup in the efforts of the survivors of the Sabra and Shatila massacre to put Sharon on trial. It may, however, be noted that Sharon was indeed castigated for his role in the massacre by Israel's own commission of enquiry headed by the then President of the Israeli Supreme Court, Yitzhak Kahane, an! d he was forced to resign from his post as Defense Minister in 1983 [15]. Nevertheless, the situation in Israel is such that Sharon had little difficulty in bouncing back to power within a short time.
Meanwhile, Israel has had the dubious distinction of attaining "pariah" status in the UN because of the despicable deeds of its government. According to American Jewish Committe's (AJC) own admission: "... since the fall of 1996... the world body has entered a new and regrettably familiar phase, reminiscent of the UN in the 1970s and 1980s.... In this vast and strife-torn world, no other country is subject to the relentless, indeed obsessive, attention that is focused on Israel, ! year in and year out, in the General Assembly and other UN bodies. No other country is the subject of an even remotely similar number of critical resolutions, agenda items, committees of the Secretariat, and intolerant remarks"[16]. Seven years later the AJC could not but add that: "There are many others ways in which Israel has been singled out for special treatment at the UN, making it a pariah state." [17]
According to another Zionist sympathizer, only the United States "can be counted on to quickly and unambiguously express its understanding of Israel's situation and defend Israel's right to strike back.... Europeans, by contrast! , stumble all over themselves, trying, but never convincingly, to show sympathy for the Israeli victims, but unable to hide their profound antipathy for the Sharon-led government and their general dislike of military responses to what they believe to be political problems." The same report also went on to add: "...the Geneva-based Commission on Human Rights, for example, was able to devote about 35 percent of its time at this year's six-week session to bashing Israel. It passed no fewer than eight anti-Israel resolutions, when no other problematic regional situation was the object of more ! than one resolution, if that." [18]
Zionist Israel is despised the world-over precisely because of its forcible occupation of Palestine and its most inhuman treatment of the Palestinian people for the last 55 years. Ariel Sharon's infamy goes back even further. Sharon has never lost an opportunity to spill the blood of Palestinians ever since he joined the Haganah, the terrorist wing of the Zionist movement, way back in 1942. The scale of his cruelty has only increased with time. Thus, Sharon's current role as Prime Minister has been equally appalling. The massacre of Palestinians in the refugee camps in the West Bank town of Jenin in April 2002 is yet another exa! mple of the brutality with which IDF under Sharon has been treating the hapless Palestinians. It is this bloodthirsty leader of the Likud Party that the Government of India has chosen to bestow an honour by inviting him to India at this juncture. This thoughtless decision of the Indian Government stigmatizes all conscientious Indians.
Under the circumstances, if the Government of India does not withdraw the said invitation to Ariel Sharon forthwith, it would be a severe blot on the entire Indian nation. Any hesitancy on the part of the Government of India to do so would only mean that the Government has chosen to turn a blind eye to the horrendous crimes being perpetrated by Ariel Sharon and his fascist clique on the unfortunate people of Palestine, who are under the yoke of Israeli occupation. It would also mean that the present Government has chosen to completely overturn the principled policies followed by all previous governments in India, which have fervently supported the just cause of the Palestinian people.
It was reported that Ariel Sharon is scheduled to visit India from 9 to 11 September 2003, but the Government of India, however, claims that the dates are yet to be finalized [19]. If the dates are never finalized, it would save the Indian Government the embarrassment of inviting a war criminal to India. But unless enough public pressure is mounted on the Indian Government to stick to its earlier principled stand, the pro-Zionist lobby will not desist from imposing its will.
References:
[1] See http://www.indianembassy.org/i
[2] See The Palestinian Saga.
[3] On June 2, 2001, The New York Times reported in its New York Report Section ("Two Unlikely Allies Come Together in Hatred of Muslims," Page A13), that a group of extremist Queens-Long Island Hindus (HinduUnity.org), who presume to speak for all their fellow believers, have joined forces with the Brooklyn followers of the late Rabbi Meir David Kahane (<Kahane.org>). The two groups have agreed to share their resources and strategies even as they help each other to maintain their hate websites. (See Amritjit Singh: "Is Islam Really a Problem for Jews and Hindus?"
[4] Aditi Chaturvedi, 'India and Israel--Destined for true friendship', March 22nd, 1999, at < (This website is funded by yet another Zionist organization: The Freeman Center for Strategic Studies, Huston, Texas, USA)
[5] Albert Einstein and twenty-eight others, New York Times, 4 December 1948
[6] For more details see: http://www.us-israel.org
[7] See http://electronicintifada.net/ and
http://www.palestinefacts.org/ (a Zionist web-site)
[8] (US Library of Congress / Federal Research Division / Country Studies / Area Handbook Series /Lebanon / Chapter 3 / The Economy / Recent Economic History / Invasion and Trauma, 1982-87, Para1)
[9] (US Library of Congress / Federal Research Division / Country Studies / Area Handbook Series /Lebanon / Chapter 5 / National Security/The 1982 Israeli Invasion And Its Aftermath /The Siege of Beirut, Para 5)
[10] Ibid, Para 9
[11] For more details, see http://www.indictsharon.net
[12] See http://news.bbc.co.uk/
(BBC Panaroma, 17 June 2001)
[13] (The Case Against the Accused / Responsibilities)
[14] See Reuters 12 July 2003 at and The Hindu, Delhi, 14 July 2003. Also see The Daily Star, Beirut, 21July 2003.
[15] Israel's Foreign Relations, Selected Documents, 104. Report of the Commission of Inquiry into the events at the refugee camps in Beirut, 8 February 1983.
[16]American Jewish Committee, 23 September 1997.
[17] http://www.ajc.org/Israel/IsraelAndTheUN.asp, 29 May 2003
[18] David A. Harris, 'Israel nearly alone in its war for survival', Miami Herald, 3 September 2002.
[18] See The Hindu, Delhi, 22 July 2003
N.D.Jayaprakash is a member of the Delhi Science Forum and can be reached at: jpdsf@hotmail.com
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=32&ItemID=4006
DoD Identifies Army Casualty
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
SSgt. Wentz Jerome Henry Shanaberger III, 33, of Naples, Fla., died March 24 in Iraq when he was investigating a suspicious vehicle and came under attack by individuals using small arms and an improvised explosive device (IED). SSgt. Shanaberger was assigned to the Army’s 21st Military Police Company, 16th Military Police Brigade, XVIIIth Airborne Corps, Fort Bragg, N.C.
For further information related to this release, contact Army Public Affairs at (703) 692-2000.
http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2004/nr20040328-0494.html
I have already publicly called for Sharon's resignation as well as Berlusconi's. Both are as corrupt as you can get when it comes to politics, economics and leadership. The well oiled machines of international whistle blowers is doing its job although slowly their mills grind. In the old days we just beheaded them, in civil society we must follow the roads of due political and judicial process.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) issued removal and prohibition orders against Glenn M. Gallant and Douglas R. Baetz.
Gallant and Baetz owned Century Financial Group, which operated the subprime credit card operations of the failed BestBank of Boulder, Boulder, CO.
They consented to the orders without admitting or denying culpability. The FDIC's action is based on allegations that Gallant and Baetz engaged in reckless mismanagement of the credit card program that rendered the bank insolvent.
Under the orders, they are prohibited from further participation in the banking industry without FDIC approval. BestBank was closed by Colorado regulators on July 23, 1998.
The orders are attached.
FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION
WASHINGTON, D.C.
In the Matter of
DOUGLAS R. BAETZ,
individually, and as an
institution-affiliated party of
BESTBANK
BOULDER, COLORADO
(Insured State Nonmember Bank)
ORDER OF PROHIBITION
FROM FURTHER PARTICIPATION
FDIC-03-208e
In the Matter of
GLENN M. GALLANT,
individually, and as an
institution-affiliated party of
BESTBANK
BOULDER, COLORADO
(Insured State Nonmember Bank)
ORDER OF PROHIBITION
FROM FURTHER PARTICIPATION
FDIC-03-208e
Douglas R. Baetz (the "Respondent") has been advised of the right to receive a NOTICE OF INTENTION TO PROHIBIT FROM FURTHER PARTICIPATION ("NOTICE") and FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW issued by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ("FDIC") detailing the alleged violations of law or regulations and/or unsafe or unsound banking practices for which an ORDER OF PROHIBITION FROM FURTHER PARTICIPATION may be issued, and has been further advised of the right to a hearing on the alleged charges under sections 8(e)of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act ("Act"), 12 U.S.C. §§ 1818(e), and the FDIC's Rules of Practice and Procedure, 12 C.F.R. Part 308. Having waived those rights solely with respect to this administrative proceeding, the Respondent entered into a STIPULATION AND CONSENT TO PROHIBITION FROM FURTHER PARTICIPATION ("CONSENT AGREEMENT") with a representative of the Legal Division of the FDIC, whereby solely for the purpose of this proceeding and without admitting any violations of law or regulations and/or unsafe or unsound banking practices, and without agreeing to any of the determinations of the FDIC set forth below, the Respondent consented to the issuance of an ORDER OF PROHIBITION FROM FURTHER PARTICIPATION (“ORDER”) by the FDIC.
The FDIC considered the matter and determined it had reason to believe that:
(a) The Respondent has recklessly engaged or participated in the violations of law and/or regulations and unsafe or unsound banking practices as an institution-affiliated party of BestBank, Boulder, Colorado, now in receivership, (the “Bank”);
(b) By reason of such violations of law and/or regulations and unsafe or unsound banking practices the Bank has suffered financial loss or other damage, the interests of the Bank’s depositors have been prejudiced, and the Respondent received financial gain or other benefit; and
(c) Such violations of law and/or regulations and unsafe or unsound banking practices, if established, would demonstrate the Respondent’s willful and/or continuing disregard for the safety or soundness of the Bank.
The FDIC further determined that such violations of law and/or regulations and unsafe or unsound banking practices, if established, would demonstrate the Respondent's unfitness to serve as a director, officer, person participating in the conduct of the affairs or as an institution-affiliated party of the Bank, any other insured depository institution, or any other agency or organization enumerated in section 8(e)(7)(A) of the Act, 12 U.S.C. § 1818(e)(7)(A).
Therefore, the FDIC accepts the CONSENT AGREEMENT and issues the following:
ORDER OF PROHIBITION FROM FURTHER PARTICIPATION
1. IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, that Douglas R. Baetz, without the prior written approval of the FDIC and the appropriate Federal financial institutions regulatory agency, as that term is defined in section 8(e)(7)(D) of the Act, 12 U.S.C. § 1818(e)(7)(D), is prohibited from:
(a) participating in any manner in the conduct of the affairs of any financial institution or organization enumerated in section 8(e)(7)(A) of the Act, 12 U.S.C. § 1818(e)(7)(A);
(b) soliciting, procuring, transferring, attempting to transfer, voting, or attempting to vote any proxy, consent or authorization with respect to any voting rights in any financial institution enumerated in section 8(e)(7)(A) of the Act, 12 U.S.C. § 1818(e)(7)(A);
(c) violating any voting agreement previously approved by the appropriate Federal banking agency; or
(d) voting for a director, or serving or acting as an institution-affiliated party.
2. This ORDER will become final and effective upon its issuance by the FDIC. The provisions of this ORDER will remain effective and enforceable except to the extent that, and until such time as, any provision of this ORDER shall have been modified, terminated, suspended, or set aside by the FDIC.
Pursuant to delegated authority.
Dated this 11th day of February, 2004.
http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/enforcement/NewOrders/03-208e.html
The OCC has updated two annual publications: Significant Precedents, a compilation of precedential legal determinations, corporate licensing decisions and community development investments permitted by the OCC, and Activities Permissible for a National Bank, a compilation of the OCC's authorizations of activities that the agency has determined to be part of, or incidental to, the business of banking.
http://www.occ.treas.gov/sigpre.pdf
http://www.occ.treas.gov/corpapps/BankAct.pdf
March 26, 2004 - Donald E. Powell Chairman Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Remarks Before The National Association For Business Economics March 26, 2004 Washington, DC. www.fdic.gov/news/news/press/2004/pr3004.html
March 26, 2004 - Legal Interpretations Provision of fleet management services to some non-leased vehicles. www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/legalint/bhc_changeincontrol/2003/20031219/
March 26, 2004 - The Federal Reserve Board on Friday announced that public meetings will be held next month in New York and Chicago on the proposal by J. P. Morgan Chase & Co. to merge with Bank One Corporation. www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/press/orders/2004/20040326/default.htm
March 26, 2004 - Remarks by Governor Edward M. Gramlich At the Federal Reserve Board Models and Monetary Policy Conference, Washington, D.C. www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/speeches/2004/20040326/default.htm
March 26, 2004 - The Federal Reserve Board on Friday issued revisions to Regulation Z, which implements the Truth in Lending Act, and to the official staff commentary that applies and interprets the requirements of the regulation. www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/press/bcreg/2004/20040326/default.htm
March 25, 2004 - First Senior Deputy Comptroller Julie L. Williams Sets the Record Straight Regarding Nature, Consequences of OCC's Recent Preemption Regulations.
Press Release: www.occ.treas.gov/scripts/newsrelease.aspx?Doc=ZHFIGBB6.xml
Attachment: www.occ.treas.gov/ftp/release/2004-25a.pdf
March 25, 2004 - St. Louis Fed's Poole - Outsourcing, Globalization Bring "Important Long-Run Benefits" To United States as a Whole - Much of what William Poole hears and reads about international trade these days makes him apprehensive. Poole, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, addressed trade, wages and employment in remarks to students, faculty and businesspeople at LeMoyne-Owen College. www.stlouisfed.org/news/releases/2004/03_25_04.htm
March 25, 2004 - The Federal Reserve Board on Thursday released the minutes of its discount rate meetings from December 15, 2003, through January 26, 2004. www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/press/monetary/2004/20040325/default.htm
March 25, 2004 - Governor Donald L. Kohn Monetary Policy in a Time of Macroeconomic Transition At the 2004 Washington Economic Policy Conference, presented by the National Association for Business Economics and the Association for University Business and Economic Research, Washington, D.C. www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/speeches/2004/200403252/default.htm
March 25, 2004 - Chairman Alan Greenspan - Rural economic issues At New Approaches to Rural Policy: Lessons from Around the World, an international conference convened by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Rural Policy Research Institute, and The Countryside Agency, Warrenton, Virginia www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/speeches/2004/20040325/default.htm
March 24, 2004 - OCC Issues Proposed Rule to Assist Consumers in Identifying Operating Subsidiaries Subject to OCC Supervisory Authority - The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency today published a proposed rule to assist consumers in identifying national bank operating subsidiaries that are subject to OCC supervisory authority.
Press Release: www.occ.treas.gov/scripts/newsrelease.aspx?Doc=TLMZJPDT.xml
Attachment: www.occ.treas.gov/ftp/release/2004-24a.pdf
March 24, 2004 - The Federal Reserve Board on Wednesday announced the execution of a Written Agreement by and between the Planters Bank and Trust Company, Staunton, Virginia and the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/press/Enforcement/2004/20040324/default.htm
March 24, 2004 - The Federal Reserve Board on Wednesday announced the execution of a Written Agreement by and between the Virginia Heartland Bank, Fredericksburg, Virginia and the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/press/Enforcement/2004/200403242/default.htm
March 24, 2004 - The Federal Reserve Board on Wednesday announced the execution of a Written Agreement by and among Midwest Banc Holdings, Inc., Melrose Park, Illinois; the Midwest Bank and Trust Company, Elmwood Park, Illinois; the State of Illinois Office of Banks and Real Estate, Springfield, Illinois; and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/press/Enforcement/2004/200403243/default.htm
March 23, 2004 - OCC Issues Contact Information for Questions Concerning Tying - The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is publishing contact points at the OCC for banks and customers with questions and concerns about tying. The term "tying" refers to practices where the availability or price of one product or service is conditioned or "tied" to a customer also obtaining another product or service from the bank. Some types of tying are permissible, while others are prohibited. www.occ.treas.gov/scripts/newsrelease.aspx?Doc=5585SPNY.xml
March 23, 2004 - FDIC Bars from Banking Two Involved in Bestbank Failure - The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation issued removal and prohibition orders against Glenn M. Gallant and Douglas R. Baetz. www.fdic.gov/news/news/press/2004/pr2904.html
March 23, 2004 - FDIC Issues Removal and Prohibition Order Against Former Minnesota Banker - The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation issued a removal and prohibition order against Bradley J. Oeltjenbruns. www.fdic.gov/news/news/press/2004/pr2804.html
March 23, 2004 - FDIC Takes Disciplinary Action Against Former Massachusetts Banker - The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has reached agreement on a civil money penalty with Kenneth B. Osborn www.fdic.gov/news/news/press/2004/pr2704.html
March 23, 2004 - FDIC Issues Removal and Prohibition Order Against Former Tennessee Banker - The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation issued a removal and prohibition order against Jimmy Lee Birdwell. www.fdic.gov/news/news/press/2004/pr2604.html
March 23, 2004 - FDIC Issues Removal and Prohibition Order Against Former Arkansas Banker - The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation issued a removal and prohibition order against Linda G. Cameron. www.fdic.gov/news/news/press/2004/pr2504.html
March 23, 2004 - Exhibit Elements Fed Center - Exploring Our Nation's Central Bank - The Fed Center was designed to engage high school students and life long learners in the role the Federal Reserve plays in the regional and national economies. Thought-provoking icons and compelling interactive exhibits invite visitors to discover the importance of the Federal Reserve by making functions such as monetary policy, the payments system, and banking supervision and regulation understandable and relevant to our lives. www.frbsf.org/news/releases/2004/322elements.pdf
March 23, 2004 - Fed Center - Exploring Our Nation's Central Bank - The Fed Center is an interactive exhibit and museum designed to teach diverse audiences about the role the Federal Reserve plays in the national and regional economies. www.frbsf.org/news/releases/2004/322factsheet.pdf
March 22, 2004 - Cuban Asset Control Regulations - The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control has updated its list of approved service providers to Cuba. http://www.fdic.gov/news/news/financial/2004/fil3204.html
March 22, 2004 - Statistical Release - E.2 Survey of Terms of Business Lending www.federalreserve.gov/releases/e2/current/default.htm
March 22, 2004 - The Federal Reserve Board on Monday announced the appointment of Sandra F. Braunstein as Director of the Division of Consumer and Community Affairs, effective April 1, 2004. www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/press/other/2004/20040322/default.htm
March 22, 2004 - Reports of Condition and Income for First Quarter 2004 - The enclosed materials pertain to the Reports of Condition and Income for the March 31, 2004, report date. www.fdic.gov/news/news/financial/2004/fil3104.html
Merger Activity Seen Cooling
Sunday March 28, 6:22 pm ET
By Sophy Tonder and Jessica Hall
LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investment bankers are feasting on the biggest glut of mergers since the late 1990s, but recent market volatility and geopolitical upheaval have tempered the frenetic deal pace, and cast some doubt on the outlook for the rest of 2004.
Through Friday, global merger and acquisition volume jumped more than 90 percent in the first quarter to $514.6 billion, compared with $265.4 billion in last year's first quarter, according to preliminary figures from research firm Thomson Financial.
The spike in deal flow comes after a three-year slump in takeover activity, which stung investment banks that had come to rely on lucrative advisory fees during the merger craze of 1999 and 2000.
Bankers do not expect to see a return to the days of merger mania, as corporate chiefs are still cautious about embarking on expensive acquisitions. But the fast start to the year had left many dreaming of better days, and bonuses, ahead.
"There is a better tone in boardrooms around the world as to considering M&A now, but people are much more cautious than they were at the height of the M&A boom," said Anthony Alt, chairman of investment banking at Rothschild.
BIG DEAL
Bankers say the flurry of mega bids worth tens of billions of dollars each that have swollen M&A volumes so far this year will be hard to sustain due to faltering markets, uncertain political situations in several countries and the continued fear of terror attacks around the globe.
"I don't think we are going to continue with the kind of run rates that we've seen in the first few months," said Heino Teschmacher, European head of M&A at UBS.
Europe and the United States have produced four $40 billion-plus bids so far this year, including a 46-billion-euro ($56.03 billion) bid for French drug group Aventis (Paris:AVEP.PA - News) from its rival Sanofi Synthelabo (Paris:SASY.PA - News).
"There are more of those kind of deals in the pipeline, but at the end of the year, I can see market volume up by about 25 (percent) to 35 percent, instead of the 80 (percent) to 90 percent (increase) of the first quarter," said Teschmacher of UBS.
After a strong start to the year, the U.S. stock market stumbled in early March, erasing its 2004 gains. Shares cooled further after a wave of high-profile attacks spooked investors around the globe and weighed on financial markets.
A deadly March 11 bombing in Madrid was followed by an assassination attempt on the life of Taiwan's president and last week's assassination by Israel of Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.
Despite some gains in U.S. stocks on Friday, the markets' overall weakness and geopolitical unrest have made companies less interested in making bold and flashy merger announcements, investment bankers said.
Confidence could return, but for now the economic uncertainty has pushed some deals to the sidelines, they said.
WATCH AND WAIT
Companies also have become wallflowers instead of actively looking for partners as they watch several large, hostile takeover battles play out.
Comcast Corp.'s (NasdaqNM:CMCSA - News) $48 billion hostile bid for The Walt Disney Co. (NYSE:DIS - News), for example, would transform industries from cable TV to entertainment and broadcasting. So companies are waiting to see how their sectors would be changed before making their next move, bankers said.
Bankers say the return of the hostile bid, such as Sanofi's bid for Aventis, illustrates how the M&A market has turned.
Hostile bids are usually a feature of the top or the bottom of the market, bankers say, and they are encouraged that companies are now willing to pay up to get their hands on favorite targets.
Paolo Pereira, Morgan Stanley's head of European mergers and acquisitions, is confident 2004 will continue to produce a strong deal flow.
"We expect the current M&A market recovery to continue, driven by ... economic and capital markets recovery, as well as by sector-specific dynamics," Pereira said.
He expects financial institutions, health care, utilities and TMT (telecoms, media and technology) to be the most active sectors. (Additional reporting by Julie MacIntosh in New York)
ProActive Computer Services, Inc. Names Taylor Capitol, Inc. as their Primary Investor Relations Group
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24 March 2004, 10:18am ET
HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 24, 2004--ProActive Computer Services Inc. (PAVP:Pink Sheets) is pleased to announce Taylor Capitol, Inc. as their primary investor relations group. Taylor Capitol, Inc. has a wide network of connections in the investment community. This network ranges from Retail Brokers, Fund Managers, Market Makers, Market Awareness companies, Investment Banks and Senior Level Management Consultants. Stephen Taylor, President of Taylor Capitol, Inc. has a background of working for UBS PaineWebber where he provided Equity Research and experience as an Investment Banker in which capacity he handled numerous Mergers and Acquisitions.
Mentioned Last Change
PAVP 0.005 0.0002dollars or (3.84%)
Taylor Capitol, Inc. President, Stephen Taylor states: "Based on initial discussions with ProActive Computer Services CEO, Andrea Cortellazzi, PAVP appears to be a true, emerging growth company. I have spoken with a majority of the senior management and have become very interested in all aspects of the company, especially the fingerprint technology. We have several initiatives planned for PAVP in the near future and look forward to working with Mr. Cortellazzi and his management in taking his Company to the next level."
For further information please contact Investor Relations at 973-351-3868.
Forward-Looking Statements
Please be advised that statements made herein, other than historical data, constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those stated or implied by such forward-looking statements. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, potential volatility in the company's stock price, increased competition, customer acceptance of new products and services offered by the company, and uncertainty of future revenue and profitability and fluctuations in its quarterly operating results. More information about potential factors that could affect the company's business and financial results may be obtained by contacting the company by phone at 973-351-3868. Please also be advised that the company's stock is not currently registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
CONTACT: Taylor Capitol, Inc.
Stephen Taylor, 973-351-3868
STEPHTAYL9@AOL.COM
www.IPOmovers.com
SOURCE: ProActive Computer Services Inc.
NB Taylor Capital Shut down a hedge fund operation last year for its inability to raise capital according to sources in Washington D.C.
ProActive Computer Services, Inc. Names Taylor Capitol, Inc. as their Primary Investor Relations Group
E-mail or Print this story
24 March 2004, 10:18am ET
HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 24, 2004--ProActive Computer Services Inc. (PAVP:Pink Sheets) is pleased to announce Taylor Capitol, Inc. as their primary investor relations group. Taylor Capitol, Inc. has a wide network of connections in the investment community. This network ranges from Retail Brokers, Fund Managers, Market Makers, Market Awareness companies, Investment Banks and Senior Level Management Consultants. Stephen Taylor, President of Taylor Capitol, Inc. has a background of working for UBS PaineWebber where he provided Equity Research and experience as an Investment Banker in which capacity he handled numerous Mergers and Acquisitions.
Mentioned Last Change
PAVP 0.005 0.0002dollars or (3.84%)
Taylor Capitol, Inc. President, Stephen Taylor states: "Based on initial discussions with ProActive Computer Services CEO, Andrea Cortellazzi, PAVP appears to be a true, emerging growth company. I have spoken with a majority of the senior management and have become very interested in all aspects of the company, especially the fingerprint technology. We have several initiatives planned for PAVP in the near future and look forward to working with Mr. Cortellazzi and his management in taking his Company to the next level."
For further information please contact Investor Relations at 973-351-3868.
Forward-Looking Statements
Please be advised that statements made herein, other than historical data, constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those stated or implied by such forward-looking statements. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, potential volatility in the company's stock price, increased competition, customer acceptance of new products and services offered by the company, and uncertainty of future revenue and profitability and fluctuations in its quarterly operating results. More information about potential factors that could affect the company's business and financial results may be obtained by contacting the company by phone at 973-351-3868. Please also be advised that the company's stock is not currently registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
CONTACT: Taylor Capitol, Inc.
Stephen Taylor, 973-351-3868
STEPHTAYL9@AOL.COM
www.IPOmovers.com
SOURCE: ProActive Computer Services Inc.
NB Taylor Capital Shut down a hedge fund operation last year for its inability to raise capital according to sources in Washington D.C.
ProActive Computer Finalizes Acquisition of Coastal Holdings, Inc. Will Open Offices in Houston, TX and Montreal, PQ
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23 March 2004, 3:04pm ET
HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 23, 2004--ProActive Computer Services Inc. (PAVP: Pink Sheets) today is pleased to announce that it has finalized the acquisition of Coastal Holdings, Inc. (CSJJ: Pink Sheets). CSJJ is a debt-free public shell that is in good standing with no past or present legal problems with the SEC. In addition, all transfer and minute book records are up-to-date. Due to these qualities, CSJJ is a prime candidate to attain OTC Bulletin Board status in the near term. In a special meeting of the board of directors, Mr. Andrea Cortellazzi has been appointed the new chairman and CEO of the company. Andrea's goal is to transform CSJJ into a viable holding company that will invest in leading-edge and innovative technologies. CSJJ is in merger and acquisition negotiations with various private and public technology companies. Further details will be released once a binding letter of intent is signed with any of these companies.
Mentioned Last Change
PAVP 0.005 0.0002dollars or (3.84%)
PAVP shareholders will benefit from this acquisition of CSJJ. Shares of CSJJ will be distributed to PAVP shareholders of record as of the close of business on April 9, 2004. PAVP shareholders will receive 1 share of CSJJ common stock for every 100 shares of PAVP common stock owned. There will be no change to PAVP shareholders' positions.
PAVP is in the process of securing leases for company offices in downtown Houston, TX and Montreal, PQ. The addresses of these locations will be released shortly once the contracts have been signed. In addition, PAVP is in negotiations to hire a new Investor Relations firm to strengthen its IR initiative and solidify investor confidence in the company. The firm is a well-respected one with a wealth of experience providing investor relations services to successful OTC companies. The firm will be announced in the next day or so once a legal contract is signed by both parties.
Forward-Looking Statements
Please be advised that statements made herein, other than historical data, constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those stated or implied by such forward-looking statements. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, potential volatility in the company's stock price, increased competition, customer acceptance of new products and services offered by the company, and uncertainty of future revenue and profitability and fluctuations in its quarterly operating results. More information about potential factors that could affect the company's business and financial results may be obtained by contacting the company at by phone at 514-830-3348. Please also be advised that the company's stock is not currently registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
CONTACT: ProActive Computer Services Inc.
Andrea Cortellazzi, 514-830-3348
cortdev@sympatico.ca
SOURCE: ProActive Computer Services Inc.
ProActive Computer Reaches Agreement for Acquisition of Public Shell; Signs Letter of Intent to Secure Financing for Shell
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19 March 2004, 2:48pm ET
HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 19, 2004--ProActive Computer Services Inc. (PAVP: Pink Sheets) today announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire a controlling interest in a public shell for cash. The anticipated completion date when all shares will be delivered to PAVP is March 23, at which time the name and ticker symbol will be released. This is a debt-free public shell that is in good standing with no past or present legal problems with the SEC. In addition, all transfer and minute book records are up-to-date. Due to these qualities, this shell is a prime candidate to attain OTC Bulletin Board status in the near term. Mr. Andrea Cortellazzi will be appointed the new chairman and CEO of the company. Andrea's goal is to transform the shell into a viable holding company that will invest in leading-edge and innovative technologies. The shell's mandate will be to acquire and invest in private technology companies that possess valuable intellectual property and patents. These companies should also possess a competitive advantage in their field, a comprehensive strategic plan and a strong management team.
CEO Andrea Cortellazzi has signed a letter of intent with a major Israel-based investment group for a $500,000 equity investment in the shell, with the option of increasing it to $2M. This group has a staff of respected leaders in high-tech financing and capital markets law. The investment will be in the form of restricted shares of the shell for a term of not less than one year. These funds will be used by the shell to make its first major investment. Andrea and his advisors are currently evaluating firms that own intellectual property that is valued at over $15M and have been very successful in attracting major investors to finance their projects. Full disclosure of this investment will be done upon completion of due diligence.
Mentioned Last Change
PAVP 0.005 0.0002dollars or (3.84%)
As per the March 9 press release, there will be a spin-off of this shell with PAVP shareholders of record benefiting from it. Shares of the shell will be distributed to PAVP shareholders of record as of the close of business on April 9, 2004. PAVP shareholders will receive 1 share of the shell's common stock for every 100 shares of PAVP common stock owned.
PAVP anticipates that its name and ticker symbol will be officially changed to CortDev Inc. on March 23. At that time, PAVP will also provide an update on the recent developments with respect to the re-development of the St. Hubert airport.
It has come to our attention that certain parties are posting negative, harmful and inaccurate information on financial websites and message boards. Anyone posting false information regarding PAVP will be subject to legal action on a swift basis. PAVP's legal department has been notified of such postings and will take legal action if necessary to protect the company from these slanderous and baseless allegations.
PAVP corrects the statements made in our March 12 press release regarding Digitalus Technology Inc. (DTI). PAVP was misinformed by DTI's principals regarding the Fx Lock product. It is in fact not developed by DTI but by Biometrika. DTI is in the process of developing its own proprietary technology and products, which will be made public once the blueprints are completed. PAVP regrets having made the error of not thoroughly reviewing all the documents provided by DTI regarding the Fx Lock and assures all shareholders that this will not happen again.
For more information, please call Andrea Cortellazzi at 514-830-3348 after 8PM EST on March 22 as he is presently engaged in business meetings in Houston, TX. Alternatively, you may e-mail the company at cortdev@sympatico.ca for an immediate response.
Forward-Looking Statements
Please be advised that statements made herein, other than historical data, constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those stated or implied by such forward-looking statements. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, potential volatility in the company's stock price, increased competition, customer acceptance of new products and services offered by the company, and uncertainty of future revenue and profitability and fluctuations in its quarterly operating results. More information about potential factors that could affect the company's business and financial results may be obtained by contacting the company at by phone at 514-830-3348. Please also be advised that the company's stock is not currently registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
CONTACT: ProActive Computer Services Inc.
Andrea Cortellazzi, 514-830-3348
cortdev@sympatico.ca
SOURCE: ProActive Computer Services Inc.
ProActive Computer Nears OTC Bulletin Board Status
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16 March 2004, 12:27pm ET
HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 16, 2004--ProActive Computer Services Inc. (PAVP: Pink Sheets) is nearing OTC Bulletin Board status. PAVP is aggressively taking the necessary steps to come off the pink sheets and list on the OTC Bulletin Board. The company's legal and accounting departments are in the process of completing the filings and fully audited statements, which should be finalized in the near term. PAVP firmly believes that listing on the OTC Bulletin Board will increase shareholder value and raise the exposure and credibility of the company.
Forward-Looking Statements
Mentioned Last Change
PAVP 0.005 0.0002dollars or (3.84%)
Please be advised that statements made herein, other than historical data, constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those stated or implied by such forward-looking statements. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, potential volatility in the company's stock price, increased competition, customer acceptance of new products and services offered by the company, and uncertainty of future revenue and profitability and fluctuations in its quarterly operating results. More information about potential factors that could affect the company's business and financial results may be obtained by contacting the company by phone at 514-830-3348. Please also be advised that the company's stock is not currently registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
CONTACT: KRGG Investor Relation Services
Kathleen Garza, 713-464-1553
krgg@sbcglobal.net
SOURCE: ProActive Computer Services Inc
ProActive Computer Plans Stock Buyback Program Hires Investor Relations Firm
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12 March 2004, 12:21pm ET
HOUSTON, March 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ProActive Computer Services Inc. (Pink Sheets: PAVP), is planning to initiate a stock buyback program. Under the program, shares may be purchased from time to time at prevailing market prices, through open market or unsolicited negotiated transactions, depending upon market conditions at the company's discretion. This buyback plan is in response to the company's strong conviction that the share price is undervalued at current levels. PAVP has made significant progress in adding value to the company by financing the CortDev Inc. project and also in its acquisition of Digitalus Technology Inc. CEO Andrea Cortellazzi stated: "We believe that common share repurchase is an excellent means of providing and maximizing shareholder value."
Investor Relations Firm
To effectively communicate with its ever-growing shareholder base, PAVP has hired KRGG Investor Relation Services ( http://www.investornews4u.com ). KRGG, as an investor relations advisor, will assist the Company by reviewing and restructuring relevant material/documents and applications in a manner consistent with shareholder concerns in the marketplace. This will include the writing of press releases and company profiles based on "full disclosure" according to the SEC guidelines or fielding directors and managing members' correspondences. KRGG will maintain a current database on all incoming communication means either by news posted on the P.R. Newswire or other news mediums. KRGG's services will allow PAVP's management team to channel their energies into running the company rather than into handling incoming correspondence. KRGG CEO Ms. Kathleen R. Garza possesses over 10 years experience in the investor relations field. She also has a strong corporate law background and a noteworthy presence in the international diplomatic relations arena. She will be an asset to PAVP not only in an investor relations role but also in assisting the company to secure investments and financing from countries in which she has already established a network, consisting of high-profile firms and individuals.
Mentioned Last Change
PAVP 0.005 0.0002dollars or (3.84%)
PAVP would also like to announce that effective immediately George Abisaleh (PR Advisor) has been promoted to the position of Director, Mergers and Acquisitions. George holds an MBA degree and possesses extensive experience in the investment banking industry as a financial analyst, and also as a successful entrepreneur. He will assist the company in identifying and evaluating merger and acquisition targets that will enhance shareholder value.
Digitalus Technology Inc. (DTI)
DTI's corporate website is currently under construction at www.digitalustechnology.com , not www.digitalustech.com as erroneously reported in the March 9th press release. The website should be completed by the end of next week. DTI is ahead of schedule in development of its innovative FX Lock product, which combines fingerprint, face and voice recognition in one device. DTI is in negotiations with several private and institutional investors, and major global manufacturers and distributors. These parties have expressed a strong interest in the product and its applications in the corporate and governmental security sectors. Further details on these negotiations will be released once a letter of intent is signed with any of the relevant parties.
Further Details on Public Shell
Unfortunately further details on the shell into which DTI will be merging are not available for public dissemination at this time. PAVP lawyers require a 5-day extension to finalize the transfer of ownership process. Thus the details will be announced by the end of next week.
Forward-Looking Statements
Please be advised that statements made herein, other than historical data, constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those stated or implied by such forward-looking statements. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, potential volatility in the company's stock price, increased competition, customer acceptance of new products and services offered by the company, and uncertainty of future revenue and profitability and fluctuations in its quarterly operating results. More information about potential factors that could affect the company's business and financial results may be obtained by contacting the company by phone at 514-830-3348. Please also be advised that the company's stock is not currently registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Contact:
KRGG Investor Relation Services
Kathleen Garza, 713-464-1553
krgg@sbcglobal.net
SOURCE ProActive Computer Services Inc.
-0- 03/12/2004
/CONTACT: Kathleen Garza of KRGG Investor Relation Services,
+1-713-464-1553,
krgg@sbcglobal.net
/
/Web site:
http://www.investornews4u.com
http://www.digitalustechnology.com
/
(PAVP)
CO: ProActive Computer Services Inc., KRGG Investor Relation Services,
Digitalus Technology Inc.
ST: Texas
IN: CPR OTC STW
SU: PER
GS
-- NYF061 --
6357 03/12/2004 12:21 EST
http://www.prnewswire.com
Clarification on Today's Press Release Issued for ProActive Computer Services Inc.
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9 March 2004, 4:08pm ET
HOUSTON, March 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- To address investor concerns regarding today's press release, ProActive Computer Services (PAVP: Pink Sheets) issues the following statements. As a result of the acquisition, PAVP's capital structure remains the same. There is no change to PAVP shareholders' holdings. The acquired fingerprint technology company Digitalus Technology Inc. will be merged into a public shell owned by PAVP. All shareholders of record as of the close of business on April 9, 2004 will receive 10 shares of the new company for every 1000 shares of PAVP owned. The name of the public shell and the trading symbol will be released by the end of the week.
For more information, please call 514-830-3348.
Forward-Looking Statements
Please be advised that statements made herein, other than historical data, constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those stated or implied by such forward-looking statements. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, potential volatility in the company's stock price, increased competition, customer acceptance of new products and services offered by the company, and uncertainty of future revenue and profitability and fluctuations in its quarterly operating results. More information about potential factors that could affect the company's business and financial results may be obtained by contacting the company by phone at 514-830-3348. Please also be advised that the company's stock is not currently registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Contact:
ProActive Computer Services Inc.
Andrea Cortellazzi, 514-830-3348
cortdev@sympatico.ca
SOURCE ProActive Computer Services Inc.
-0- 03/09/2004
/CONTACT: Andrea Cortellazzi of ProActive Computer Services Inc.,
+1-514-830-3348, or
cortdev@sympatico.ca
/
(PAVP)
CO: ProActive Computer Services Inc.
ST: Texas
IN: CPR STW OTC
SU:
AA
-- NYTU167 --
2493 03/09/2004 16:08 EST
http://www.prnewswire.com
ProActive Computer Finalizes Acquisition of Fingerprint Technology Company
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9 March 2004, 2:22pm ET
HOUSTON, March 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ProActive Computer Services Inc. (OTC Pink Sheets: PAVP) has finalized the acquisition of a privately-held fingerprint technology company, Digitalus Technology Inc. (DTI). Under the terms of the agreement, PAVP acquired DTI in exchange for cash.
About DTI
DTI is a provider of innovative and effective biometric solutions and products for commercial use. A corporate website is currently under construction at the following address, www.digitalustech.com . DTI specializes in advanced fingerprint technology and its applications in the public sector. The company is currently developing fingerprint-based biometric devices targeted to the airport and airline industries. These products would enable airports and aviation-related centres in the US to comply with the several pieces of legislation related to homeland security. In addition, these products will also capitalize on the initiative by President George Bush to protect the US-Mexico border by positively identifying and screening any travelers at the entry ports. DTI is also working on products/solutions to enhance PC/Network security in the government and corporate sectors. The company expects that these airport-security and PC/Network devices will be ready for commercialization by the fourth quarter of 2004. DTI will be hiring several vendors throughout the US to market the devices. DTI's goal is to achieve profitability by the end of 2005 with at least $15M in annual revenue.
Spin-Off Details
PAVP will perform a reverse-merger of Digitalus Technology Inc. into a public shell, which should be completed in two weeks. The name and trading symbol of the public shell will be released in a matter of days, once it receives legal clearance. Shares of the public shell will then be distributed to PAVP shareholders of record as of the close of business on April 9, 2004. PAVP shareholders will receive .01 shares of the public shell's common stock for each share of PAVP common stock owned.
Status of Name Change
A new CUSIP number has been assigned and the company is awaiting the new trading symbol, which should be available very soon. A press release will announce the new name and trading symbol once it is in effect.
Finally, CEO Andrea Cortellazzi would like to sincerely thank all the shareholders who e-mailed their contact information for the CortDev pamphlet and e-mail updates. PAVP is very committed to maintaining strong investor relations and maximizing shareholder value.
For more information, please call 514-830-3348.
Forward-Looking Statements
Please be advised that statements made herein, other than historical data, constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those stated or implied by such forward-looking statements. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, potential volatility in the company's stock price, increased competition, customer acceptance of new products and services offered by the company, and uncertainty of future revenue and profitability and fluctuations in its quarterly operating results. More information about potential factors that could affect the company's business and financial results may be obtained by contacting the company at by phone at 514-830-3348. Please also be advised that the company's stock is not currently registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Contact:
ProActive Computer Services Inc.
Andrea Cortellazzi, 514-830-3348
cortdev@sympatico.ca
SOURCE ProActive Computer Services Inc.
-0- 03/09/2004
/CONTACT: Andrea Cortellazzi of ProActive Computer Services Inc.,
+1-514-830-3348,
cortdev@sympatico.ca
/
/Web site:
http://www.digitalustech.com
/
(PAVP)
CO: ProActive Computer Services Inc.; Digitalus Technology Inc.
ST: Texas
IN: CPR STW HTS NET OTC
SU: TNM
DO
-- NYTU154 --
2354 03/09/2004 14:22 EST
http://www.prnewswire.com
ProActive Computer Secures $5M in Financing Plans to List on Major European Stock Exchanges
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4 March 2004, 3:30pm ET
HOUSTON, March 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ProActive Computer Services Inc. (PAVP: Pink Sheets) has reached an agreement with a major European Financial Institution. The Institution has committed to a $5M financing package for PAVP; consisting of $1M in cash to purchase equity in the company and a $4M revolving credit facility. As a result of this deal and PAVP's new presence in the European Union (EU) investment community, the company has decided to apply for listing on several major European stock exchanges. PAVP is intent on capitalizing on the enlargement of the EU to include ten new member states on May 1st, 2004. This is a great opportunity for the company to gain initial access to over 100M new investors entering these markets, following their accession to the EU. To take advantage of this unique situation, PAVP has applied for a listing on the Budapest Stock Exchange and the Prague Stock Exchange, with more to follow. PAVP has received preliminary acceptance of its application to the respective stock exchanges as it has met the basic listing requirements.
PAVP is in serious discussions with private and public parties in other countries that have expressed a strong interest in investing a significant amount of capital. Details of the negotiations will be released once a letter of intent is signed with any of these parties.
Update on Fingerprint Technology Acquisition
Lawyers on both sides have reached an agreement and are finalizing the documents to complete the acquisition. PAVP would have liked to release the full details of the acquisition today, but due to unforeseen administrative delays it will be made public on March 9. PAVP has successfully purchased a public shell as stated in the February 26th press release. The company name and ticker symbol will also be provided on March 9. The fingerprint business will undergo a reverse-merger into this shell with current PAVP shareholders receiving spin-off shares in the new company. The spin-off distribution ratio (i.e. number of distributed shares in new company for each PAVP share held) as well as the shareholder date of record has not yet been determined. The company expects to release these details as well on March 9.
Addressing of Shareholder Concerns
Mentioned Last Change
PAVP 0.005 0.0002dollars or (3.84%)
PAVP has received several calls regarding the status of the name change to CortDev Inc. Fees were paid two months ago to complete this process. The company is still awaiting the new CUSIP number and ticker symbol, which should be assigned in a matter of days. As stated in prior press releases, the company is determined to complete this name change as soon as possible in order to accurately reflect its current business operations. Shareholders have also expressed concerns regarding the number of outstanding shares. According to the transfer agent, as of February 27th, 2004, there are 603,169,465 total issued and outstanding shares. This figure includes all restricted shares that have been issued to consultants and those held by the management team and insiders, including the CEO. In an effort to keep all investors in PAVP updated and well-informed with respect to current and future company developments, CEO Andrea Cortellazzi requests that all interested shareholders e-mail their full name and address (residence and e-mail) to cortdev@sympatico.ca . They will be sent a pamphlet on the CortDev Inc. project, which will include architectural images of the airport property under redevelopment and further details on the timeline. In addition, timely updates on the company's progress with respect to the CortDev Inc. project and fingerprint technology business will be e-mailed to the shareholder list.
For more information, please call 514-830-3348.
Forward-Looking Statements
Please be advised that statements made herein, other than historical data, constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those stated or implied by such forward-looking statements. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, potential volatility in the company's stock price, increased competition, customer acceptance of new products and services offered by the company, and uncertainty of future revenue and profitability and fluctuations in its quarterly operating results. More information about potential factors that could affect the company's business and financial results may be obtained by contacting the company at by phone at 514-830-3348. Please also be advised that the company's stock is not currently registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Contact:
ProActive Computer Services Inc.
Andrea Cortellazzi, 514-830-3348
cortdev@sympatico.ca
SOURCE ProActive Computer Services Inc.
-0- 03/04/2004
/CONTACT: Andrea Cortellazzi of ProActive Computer Services Inc.,
+1-514-830-3348 or
cortdev@sympatico.ca
/
(PAVP)
CO: ProActive Computer Services Inc.; CortDev Inc.
ST: Oklahoma
IN: CPR STW ECM TLS MLM
SU: FNC
NM
-- NYTH156 --
7355 03/04/2004 15:30 EST
http://www.prnewswire.com
ProActive Computer Services: Fingerprint Technology Acquisition Finalized
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26 February 2004, 12:26pm ET
HOUSTON, Feb. 26, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- ProActive Computer Services Inc. (Pink Sheets:PAVP) has finalized the acquisition of a privately held fingerprint technology identification business. Further details will be released after the deal receives clearance from both parties' legal departments. This process should be completed in a matter of days.
Due to the high demand for this technology from the investment community, PAVP intends to spin-off this firm into a separate public entity. A public shell has been purchased by the company for that purpose. PAVP shareholders of record as of a certain date (to be announced after expected closure of deal and spin-off) would receive a specific number of shares in the public fingerprint company for each share of PAVP that they own.
Mentioned Last Change
PAVP 0.005 0.0002dollars or (3.84%)
CEO Andrea Cortellazzi stated: "Biometric technology is an attractive and high-growth area to be in right now and with this acquisition PAVP is gaining a strong foothold in an industry expected to be a multi-billion dollar one by 2007."
The multi-million dollar investment in PAVP is in final negotiations stages with the major European Financial Institution and private investors. The specifics on the contract will be released early next week once legal documents are finalized.
Forward-Looking Statements
Please be advised that statements made herein, other than historical data, constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those stated or implied by such forward-looking statements. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, potential volatility in the company's stock price, increased competition, customer acceptance of new products and services offered by the company, and uncertainty of future revenue and profitability and fluctuations in its quarterly operating results. More information about potential factors that could affect the company's business and financial results may be obtained by contacting the company at by phone at 514-830-3348. Please also be advised that the company's stock is not currently registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
CONTACT:
ProActive Computer Services Inc.
Andrea Cortellazzi
514-830-3348
cortdev@sympatico.ca
ProActive Computer Services Featured in Barron's
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24 February 2004, 1:13pm ET
Update on CortDev Inc. Project
HOUSTON, Feb. 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ProActive Computer Services Inc. (Pink Sheets: PAVP) was featured in the February 23rd edition of Barron's. An excerpt from its recent news release was included in the Technology Week insert under Current Corporate Reports (p.T2). Barron's is considered to be America's premier financial weekly publication with its readership including corporate decision-makers, institutional investors, individual investors and financial professionals. (Source: www.barrons.com ) As a result of this write-up PAVP has raised its credibility with the investment community and is attracting widespread investor interest. CEO Andrea Cortellazzi stated: "Since the issue hit the newsstands I have personally received numerous calls from institutional and private investors who expressed an interest to make a major investment in PAVP. I expect a number of these parties to invest in restricted stock in the near future, which will significantly increase our cash position and help us to fund our operations."
Mentioned Last Change
PAVP 0.005 0.0002dollars or (3.84%)
The CortDev Inc. project is proceeding ahead of schedule. Surveying of the St.Hubert airport and surrounding property is complete as well as the architectural drawings. A majority of the space has been tentatively pre-leased. PAVP is presently in negotiations with three contractors with respect to construction of the hangar, which the company expects to close in a couple of weeks. In addition, to assist with project management and logistics PAVP has hired engineering and financial consultants. They are being compensated with shares in the company. As a result of these transactions the number of outstanding shares has been increased. CEO Andrea Cortellazzi stated: "The airport re-development project is quickly materializing. We can't wait to provide images of the work-in-progress to shareholders, which will be posted on our new corporate website by mid-March."
For more information, please call 514-830-3348.
Forward-Looking Statements
Please be advised that statements made herein, other than historical data, constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those stated or implied by such forward-looking statements. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, potential volatility in the company's stock price, increased competition, customer acceptance of new products and services offered by the company, and uncertainty of future revenue and profitability and fluctuations in its quarterly operating results. More information about potential factors that could affect the company's business and financial results may be obtained by contacting the company at by phone at 514-830-3348. Please also be advised that the company's stock is not currently registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Contact:
ProActive Computer Services Inc.
Andrea Cortellazzi, 514-830-3348
cortdev@sympatico.ca
SOURCE ProActive Computer Services Inc.
-0- 02/24/2004
/CONTACT: Andrea Cortellazzi of ProActive Computer Services Inc.,
+1-514-830-3348,
cortdev@sympatico.ca
/
/Web site:
http://www.barrons.com
/
(PAVP)
CO: ProActive Computer Services Inc.; CortDev Inc.
ST: Texas
IN: CPR FIN OTC PUB
SU:
GS
-- NYTU158 --
6350 02/24/2004 13:13 EST
http://www.prnewswire.com
Beral Inc. in Negotiations with Major European Financial Institution
20 February 2004, 11:54am ET
Fingerprint Technology Acquisition Near Completion
HOUSTON, Feb. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Beral Inc. has entered into negotiations to secure a multi-million dollar investment in ProActive Computer Services Inc. (Pink Sheets: PAVP). The investors include a major European Financial Institution and private parties. The funds will be used to finance the CortDev Inc. airport re-development project, specifically to purchase capital assets. In addition, the funds will assist PAVP to attain OTC Bulletin Board status. CEO Andrea Cortellazzi is pleased with the progress that Beral Inc. has made in attracting international investors to his company. He stated: "This interest in making a major investment in PAVP is proof positive that our business plan is a viable one and has tremendous profit potential. These funds are essential to ensure that our strategy is executed and that we reach our short- and long-term goals." Beral Inc. expects to finalize this contract by the end of next week at which time further details will be released. Beral Inc. will then begin negotiations with other interested European investors.
Mentioned Last Change
PAVP 0.005 0.0002dollars or (3.84%)
Further details on the acquisition of the fingerprint technology identification business will be released on February 26. PAVP has been in intense negotiations with the target company over the past week and an agreement should be reached in a matter of days. According to CEO Andrea Cortellazzi, " ... the company is an innovative one with leading-edge biometric technology and an experienced management team. The partnership will be a win-win situation for both of us."
For more information, please call 514-830-3348.
Forward-Looking Statements
Please be advised that statements made herein, other than historical data, constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those stated or implied by such forward-looking statements. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, potential volatility in the company's stock price, increased competition, customer acceptance of new products and services offered by the company, and uncertainty of future revenue and profitability and fluctuations in its quarterly operating results. More information about potential factors that could affect the company's business and financial results may be obtained by contacting the company at by phone at 514-830-3348. Please also be advised that the company's stock is not currently registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Contact:
ProActive Computer Services Inc.
Andrea Cortellazzi, 514-830-3348
cortdev@sympatico.ca
SOURCE ProActive Computer Services Inc.
-0- 02/20/2004
/CONTACT: Andrea Cortellazzi, +1-514-830-3348,
cortdev@sympatico.ca
, for
ProActive Computer Services Inc./
(PAVP)
CO: ProActive Computer Services Inc.; Beral Inc.; CortDev Inc.
ST: Texas
IN: CPR OTC HTS BIO
SU: VEN TNM
KJ
-- NYF065 --
4851 02/20/2004 11:54 EST
http://www.prnewswire.com
Beral Inc. Finalizes Acquisition Strategy for ProActive Computer Services
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17 February 2004, 10:35am ET
Update on Name Change and New Corporate Website
HOUSTON, Feb. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Beral Inc. has developed an acquisition strategy for ProActive Computer Services Inc. (PAVP: Pink Sheets) following the announcement that it has become an active shareholder of the company. Beral Inc.'s strategy is to restructure PAVP as a merchant bank or a holding company for valuable international assets and ventures. Mr. Andrew Racz (International VP of Finance) has identified several European financial institutions and investment management companies that would like to transfer their assets, specifically those worth at least $1M USD, into PAVP. Negotiations are proceeding well with these firms and details of the acquisitions will be announced shortly once they are finalized. Beral Inc.'s fee for their services consists of warrants issued by PAVP that are exercisable at $0.10 per share. Thus, PAVP's cash flow is unaffected by its contract with Beral Inc.
Mentioned Last Change
PAVP 0.005 0.0002dollars or (3.84%)
PAVP has applied for a name and ticker symbol change and expects that it will be completed by the end of February. The new name will be CortDev Inc. in order to reflect its current business operations. A new corporate website is also under construction to replace the defunct PAVP website at www.pacsi.com . The website will reflect the new image of PAVP that is focused on building a profitable company with an emphasis on maximizing shareholder value. CEO Andrea Cortellazzi states: "We are working hard to regain the trust of long-time shareholders and to keep all investors informed of company developments. We want to ensure that they are comfortable with their investment and believe as much as we do in the long-term success of PAVP."
For more information, please call 514-830-3348.
Forward-Looking Statements
Please be advised that statements made herein, other than historical data, constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those stated or implied by such forward-looking statements. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, potential volatility in the company's stock price, increased competition, customer acceptance of new products and services offered by the company, and uncertainty of future revenue and profitability and fluctuations in its quarterly operating results. More information about potential factors that could affect the company's business and financial results may be obtained by contacting the company at by phone at 514-830-3348. Please also be advised that the company's stock is not currently registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Contact:
ProActive Computer Services Inc.
Andrea Cortellazzi, 514-830-3348
Aalabbate@sympatico.ca
SOURCE ProActive Computer Services Inc.
-0- 02/17/2004
/CONTACT: Andrea Cortellazzi of ProActive Computer Services Inc.,
+1-514-830-3348,
Aalabbate@sympatico.ca
/
/Web site:
http://www.pacsi.com
/
(PAVP)
CO: ProActive Computer Services Inc.; Beral Inc.
ST: Texas
IN: CPR STW FIN OTC
SU: TNM
DW
-- NYTU126 --
8942 02/17/2004 10:35 EST
http://www.prnewswire.com