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guess you could say that the IPOD battery
turned out to be bull soup instead of chicken salad ...
ff was there enough volume at those times to validify
"a market maker or off shore entity covering huge short positions. "
How about a plain old distribution based on a rising pps?
By: MUGSYMAC
24 Jan 2004, 10:35 AM EST
Msg. 10306 of 10515
(This msg. is a reply to 10276 by Rawnoc.)
Jump to msg. #
OT: rawnok; read this. you might learn something. you have been blowing alot of hot air here.
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Taking most market participants by surprise, the
National Association of Securities Dealers has drastically tightened one of
its rules governing short selling.
Known as affirmative determination, the NASD rule stipulates that brokers
and dealers engaged in a short sale transaction must make sure that shares
can be delivered by settlement time, three days later.
"We closed a loophole," said Steve Luparello, executive vice president of
Market Regulation at NASD.
Until now, non-NASD members, like specialists, option markets and foreign
brokers, weren't covered under the affirmative determination rule. That
means that non-NASD members didn't have to represent to the NASD broker
through which they conducted a short sale order that they would be able to
deliver the stock by settlement date.
A short seller typically borrows stock from a broker to sell it into the
market, betting that the share price will fall so that he can buy the stock
back at a lower price and pocket the difference.
The amended NASD affirmative determination rule, which was recently approved
by the Securities and Exchange Commission, will particularly affect short
sales conducted through foreign brokers, most specifically Canadian brokers
which have often been used by investors to sell short the stock of small
U.S. companies trading on the Over-the-counter Bulletin Board or OTCBB.
Because it's often impossible to borrow the shares of companies trading on
the OTCBB, investors and hedge funds looking to take negative bets on these
often-overvalued development-stage companies have traditionally been trading
through Canada where it's not required to borrow stock before selling it
short. The practice is known as naked shorting.
That trading avenue has now been effectively closed.
The new NASD rule doesn't cover Canadian brokers, since most are not members
of the association, instead it makes it the responsibility of U.S. brokers
trading with non-members to make sure that their counterparts will be able
to settle a transaction before completing a short sale.
"It's part of (a broker's) supervisory responsibilities," NASD's Luparello
said, adding that a non-member's previous failures to deliver should be a
good indication of whether or not it will in fact be able to complete the
transaction by the settlement date.
Market makers engaged in bone fide market making activities will continue to
be exempt from affirmative determination.
Luparello said that, unlike a parallel SEC initiative to tighten short
selling rules on the small-cap markets, the new NASD rules did not originate
from worries over mounting failures to deliver stock into the national
clearing system. But Luparello said the amended NASD rule fits nicely with
the new short selling regulations now under consideration by the SEC.
"I think it addresses a gap and (shows) that we, like the SEC, are looking
at a variety of things in this area," Luparello said.
The NASD proposal was first submitted to the SEC in November 2001, well
before alleged abuses of naked shorting became the focal point of a campaign
lead by some OTCBB companies in the U.S that say they have been victimized
by the practice.
While some investors argue that short sellers provide a needed service to
the markets, others have called for the complete abolition of short selling
because of the undue pressure its puts on the shares of companies.
While market participants in the U.S. and abroad are well aware of the new
short selling regulations being put forward by the SEC, known as Regulation
SHO, most said they knew nothing of the NASD's plan before it became final.
"It's taken us by surprise," said Richard Thomas, head of compliance at
Canadian brokerage firm Pacific International.
Although separate from it, the amended NASD rule fits tightly within the
SEC's SHO which is now under review by the SEC staff after a period during
which market participants were invited to comment on it.
As it stands, the new SEC short selling rules will make it easier to short
large-cap stocks since they would do away with the "uptick" rule, which bans
short selling on a stock when the price is falling.
But it when it comes to the small-cap markets, where it's often impossible
to borrow stock, the impact of SHO will be the opposite, making it harder to
short sale stock.
The new SEC rule sets a predetermined level of so-called clearing fails -
cases in which a broker or investor cannot deliver stock within two days
after settlement - which will trigger a 90-day blackout whereby the customer
will not be allowed to short sell that security. That 90-day exemption would
affect trading of U.S. securities in and outside the U.S.
The new NASD affirmative determination rule will take effect on Feb. 20.
I think we may record unexpected earnings ... it happens to
other companies.
What do you think about the 13 airlines?
why not highlite the key word?
"We found some minor software bugs"
Subject: RE: Music Biz Urges Download Harmony ...
From Gilgamash
PostID 311475 On Tuesday, February 03, 2004 (EST) at 2:33:53 PM
Response To: NEWeLONG PostID 311456
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Dave Fester, GM of Microsoft's Windows Digital Media division could have well said...
We collectively need to do the right thing for the (''Microsoft''), instead of consumer...
The competition between Bill Gates and Steve Jobs has a twisted history that is well known in Silicon Valley...
At some point, Bill Gates stopped trying to ''kill'' Steve Jobs and Apple, recognizing that he needed Apple to survive in order for Microsoft to flourish to its world dominanace...
Even after accountants took over Apple from Jobs and ran it into ground, Gates helped his nemesis Jobs with a $150 million loan to get Apple going again...
DABOSS is right. There will never be a ''convergence'' of Apple and Windows. Gates needs that degree of separation to fight his antitrust battles here and abroad...
Regards...Gilgamash...
thought that is what most expect to happen ...
never enuff ... when it doesn't ... never enuff
owd3 is mad about EDIG ... LOL
My apology for responding to you thru another poster ...
does anyone make an 8-track that plays MP3s? ... LOL
"Owd is questioning "
when Owd questions, he appears to be trying to establish
those questions as facts ... without proof
"Why else would they be "showing off" eCos instead of MicrOS?"
I'm surprised you don't know the answer to your own questions ...
this doesn't happen very often .
owd3 mad ....
NASD Notice to Members 04-03
SEC Approves NASD Rule Proposal Requiring Members to Make Affirmative
Determinations for Short Sale Orders Received from Non-Member
Broker/Dealers; Effective Date: February 20, 2004
Executive Summary
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved amendments to
Rule 3370 (Prompt Receipt and Delivery of Securities—the "Affirmative
Determination" Rule) that expand the scope of the affirmative determination
requirement to include orders received from non-member broker/dealers.1 As
revised, Rule 3370 applies to orders received by member firms from both
customers and non-member broker/dealers, as well as most firm proprietary
orders. The revisions also add an exception for "proprietary" short sales of non-
member broker/dealers provided the member can establish that the order meets
certain conditions.
The text of the amendments as provided in Attachment A become effective on
February 20, 2004.
Questions/Further Information
Questions concerning this Notice may be directed to Gary L. Goldsholle,
Associate General Counsel, Office of General Counsel, NASD Regulatory
Policy & Oversight, at (202) 728-8104.
Discussion
NASD Rule 3370 requires, among other things, that no member or person
associated with a member shall effect a "short" sale order for any customer in
any security unless the member or person associated with a member makes an
affirmative determination that the member will receive delivery of the security
from the customer or that the member can borrow the security on behalf of the
customer by settlement date. Because NASD's definition of "customer"
excludes a "broker" or "dealer," the affirmative determination requirements did
not apply to orders from "non-member broker/dealers."2 The failure to subject
short sales by such persons to the affirmative determination requirement affects
the integrity of the marketplace by increasing the possibility of failures to deliver
and also creates regulatory disparity by allowing certain firms to effect short
sales outside the purview of NASD's affirmative determination requirements.
To address these concerns, NASD has amended Rule 3370 to apply to short
sale orders for any customer or "non-member broker/dealer."
The amendments also provide an exemption for certain proprietary orders of
non-member broker/dealers. Specifically, Rule 3370(b)(2)(B) provides
exemptions for, among others, proprietary orders of member firms that are
bona fide market making transactions, or transactions that result in bona fide
fully hedged or arbitraged positions. Proprietary orders of a non-member
broker/dealer likewise are exempt from the affirmative determination
requirements if they meet the same conditions for the exemptions applicable to
proprietary orders of member firms, and the following two conditions are
satisfied: (1) the non-member broker/dealer must be registered with the SEC;
and (2) if using the market maker exemption, the non-member broker/dealer is
registered or qualified as a market maker in the securities and is selling such
securities in connection with bona fide market making.
Endnotes
1 File No. SR-NASD-2001-85 (Nov. 27, 2001), SEC Release No. 34-
48788 (Nov. 14, 2003), 68 Fed. Reg. 65978 (Nov. 24, 2003).
2 While NASD member broker/dealers are excluded from the definition
of "customer" under NASD Rule 0120(g), such firms have an independent
obligation to comply with NASD's Affirmative Determination Rule.
©2004. NASD. All rights reserved. Notices to Members attempt to present
information to readers in a format that is easily understandable. However,
please be aware that, in case of any misunderstanding, the rule language
prevails.
Attachment A
New text is underlined; deletions are in brackets.
3370. Prompt Receipt and Delivery of Securities
(a) No Change
(b) Sales
(1) No Change.
(2) "Short Sales"
(A) Customer and non-member broker/dealer short sales
No member or person associated with a member shall accept a "short" sale
order for any customer or non-member broker/dealer in any security unless the
member or person associated with a member makes an affirmative
determination that the member will receive delivery of the security from the
customer or non-member broker/dealer or that the member can borrow the
security on behalf of the customer or non-member broker/dealer for delivery by
settlement date. This requirement shall not apply, however, to transactions in
corporate debt securities or transactions in security futures, as defined in
Section 3(a)(55) of the Act, or proprietary orders of a non-member
broker/dealer that meet one of the exceptions in subparagraph (B) below,
provided, however, that (i) the non-member broker/dealer is registered with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, and (ii) if using the market maker
exception, the non-member broker/dealer is registered or qualified as a market
maker in the securities and is selling such securities in connection with bona fide
market making.
(B) No Change
(3) No change
(4) "Affirmative Determinations"
(A) No change
(B) To satisfy the requirement for an "affirmative determination" contained in
paragraph (b)(2) above for customer, non-member broker/dealer, and
proprietary short sales, the member or person associated with a member must
keep a written record [which] that includes:
(i) if a customer or non-member broker/dealer assures delivery, the present
location of the securities in question, whether they are in good deliverable form
and the customer's or non-member broker/dealer's ability to deliver them to the
member within three (3) business days; or
(ii) No change
Thomas J. Mazzarisi
Executive Vice President
& General Counsel
tjmazzarisi@jagmedia.biz
January 5, 2004
Via E-Mail/rule-comments@sec.gov
Securities and Exchange Commission
450 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20549-0609
Attention: Jonathan G. Katz, Secretary
Re: File No. S7-23-03/Regulation SHO
Ladies and Gentlemen:
We would first like to thank the Commission for the opportunity to comment on proposed Regulation SHO, which is intended, in part, to reform short selling rules to curb serious abuses resulting from illegal naked short selling. As our company is a small business issuer on the OTCBB, we will focus most of our comments on those portions of the proposed rule that relate to naked short selling and its effect on issuers on the OTCBB and their shareholders.
Historical Context
The OTCBB began operation in 1990 as a result of important OTC market reforms mandated by the Penny Stock Reform Act of 1990 (the "Penny Stock Act"). The Penny Stock Act sought to increase transparency in the OTC markets to combat pervasive penny stock fraud by, amongst others, requiring various disclosure requirements for broker-dealers of penny stocks and the development of an automated quotation system for penny stocks (which became the OTCBB). These reforms represented a quantum leap forward in the regulatory structure of the OTC market at the time.
With a basic quotation system in place and broker-dealers being required to make some disclosure to clients regarding the risks of investing in penny stocks, the next major reform regarding penny stocks came nearly a decade later, when in 1999 the Commission approved the OTCBB Eligibility Rule. On a phased-in basis, OTCBB companies were required to report their current financial information to the SEC in a timely manner, the same as listed exchange companies had long been required to do. These two reforms, which focused predominantly on issuers, formed the basic underpinnings of the regulatory structure with respect to the OTCBB as it exists today. While these reforms have greatly improved the integrity of the OTCBB and gone a long way in making it more difficult for parties to perpetrate the types of penny stock fraud that were prevalent in the 80's and early 90's, these reforms simply could not effectively address naked short selling, which is the new fraud of choice in the penny stock markets.
The single most important flaw in this regulatory structure is that it focuses only on protecting investors from unscrupulous penny stock issuers. While no legitimate OTCBB issuer would question the need for such protections, no penny stock reform can truly be effective unless it acknowledges that the OTCBB, while still far from perfect, has matured since 1990 giving rise to new risks for investors that result from the actions and inactions of parties other than issuers. Unless the Commission is willing to fully reflect this concept, not only in the proposed Regulation SHO, but also in its day-to-day policy decisions regarding OTC market regulation and enforcement, any reforms that are implemented will be strictly cosmetic and not provide penny stock investors with the protections they need and deserve.
The Problem
With the regulatory structure of the OTC markets keenly focused on issuers, it became apparent to many parties that there was a loophole in the system which presented them with the opportunity to reap windfall after windfall by financing OTCBB issuers through what has come to be commonly referred to as "toxic" or "death spiral" financing. These windfalls were made possible by the following factors coming together to create the ultimate golden goose:
A regulatory structure focused almost exclusively on protecting investors from unscrupulous issuers;
Parties having the ability to engage in toxic financing with cash strapped OTCBB companies where there is no downside limit on the price of the stock they were to receive for their financing;
Toxic financiers having the ability to naked short the stock of their OTCBB target without an affirmative determination ever being made that the stock they are shorting can be borrowed;
Broker-Dealers not requiring short sellers to buy-in their naked short positions and settle their trades for substantial periods of time, if ever;
Market makers having no real check on their ability to engage in naked short selling of OTCBB issues for purposes other than bona fide market making activity.
Reporting of short interest in OTCBB issues not being mandated (as it is for issues on listed exchanges), thereby allowing all of the above to take place under a veil of complete secrecy.
The Result
With the above factors festering for years, whatever integrity was brought to the OTC markets by the Penny Stock Act and the OTCBB Eligibility Rule has largely been eradicated and we now have a market where investors cannot be certain of something as fundamental as whether they truly own the shares of the company on which they have spent their hard earned money. Some of the results of unchecked naked short selling include the following:
Issuers and investors are unable to determine the true number of shares outstanding in their stock on any given day. In determining an issuer's outstanding shares, the transfer agent takes into account the number of registered shares on the transfer agent's books and adds to that the position it maintains on its records for CEDE & Co., the nominee for "the street." While shares can move between the transfer agent's registered stockholder list and the CEDE & Co. position, in no instance can the number of outstanding shares lawfully increase unless new shares are issued by the company. However, on any given day when naked short positions are created, short sellers, broker-dealers and market makers create the appearance and effect of newly issued shares but are never required to account for the additional dilution which they create.
Since naked short positions (or normal short positions for that matter) are not reported by the OTCBB, disclosure is inherently deficient for OTCBB investors, since they are deprived of the opportunity of making informed decisions regarding the effect that naked short selling may have on the company in which they have invested.
The counterfeit shares created by naked short selling have a trickle down effect on investors and issuers. For example, investors who believe they are shareholders in a company, but who bought from naked short sellers, are routinely deprived of the right to vote on important corporate matters that affect their investment. If a company has 20 million shares outstanding and on any given day a naked short position of 10 million shares, there are now 10 million additional shares which cannot be lawfully voted since votes on any corporate matter cannot exceed the number of outstanding shares as reflected on the books of the transfer agent. What results from such situations is that broker-dealers must arbitrarily determine which shares are voted.
Just as investors can be stripped of their voting rights, as described above, investors can also be denied dividend distributions due to naked short positions. Using the example in 2. above, a company would only be able to issue a dividend to the holders of its 20 million lawfully outstanding shares. Therefore, once again broker-dealers must step in and arbitrarily determine which of their clients receives the dividend and which holders of the 10 million counterfeit shares will be excluded from participating in the dividend.
Each day that the naked short position of 10 million shares, in our example above, is not bought-in the issuer experiences a real dilutive effect, which it would not have experienced but for the naked short position. Most OTCBB issuers go to great lengths to control dilution to protect shareholder value and make day-to-day decisions that take into account the potential dilutive effect of certain actions. For example, the OTCBB company with 20 million shares outstanding may decide to reduce expenditures or delay potential growth initiatives in order to not incur significant dilution at that point in time. And all along, while the issuer is struggling to control dilution, naked short sellers, broker-dealers and market makers are creating, with total impunity, the dilution which the issuer has struggled to avoid. In addition to such dilution being involuntarily created, both the issuer and its shareholders experience this very real dilutive effect while receiving absolutely nothing for that dilution. This is hardly the telltale sign of an efficient and transparent market.
Naked short selling makes it more costly and difficult for OTCBB issuers to raise money, which is the life blood of small developing OTCBB companies.
A large number of companies are left with no alternative but to devote company resources to protecting their shareholders against naked short selling practices, which, were it not for such practices, could be devoted to more constructive ends.
The proliferation of lawsuits which have been initiated relating to naked short selling and toxic financing have a chilling affect on legitimate financiers who would otherwise be interested in financing OTCBB companies, but elect to forego such opportunities for fear of being embroiled in litigation.
The Solution
When examined closely, the history and effects of naked short selling on the OTCBB paint an unfortunate picture of a market where transparency and disclosure have been rendered an illusion and investors are unable to determine whether the company they are intending to invest in has 20 million shares outstanding or the functional equivalent of a number of shares far in excess of that amount. We believe that this situation has created a crisis in the micro cap markets that requires not only prompt implementation of the reforms set forth in Regulation SHO but also implementation of other reforms to begin to restore some level of integrity to the micro caps markets.
To do this, it is not sufficient for the Commission to implement Regulation SHO, or some variation of it, since this will only address matters going forward and leave completely unaddressed the fundamental problems and inequities that years of unchecked naked short selling abuses have brought to the micro cap markets. Accordingly, we strongly believe that the following actions, related and unrelated to Regulation SHO, must be implemented immediately to effectively deal with this problem:
All broker-dealers with positions in OTCBB issues should be required to immediately report their short positions and fails in those issues. This information should then be made publicly available and updated daily on an ongoing basis.
All broker dealers and market makers with naked short positions that are open for more than 2 days past settlement date should be required to buy-in those short positions immediately and settle such outstanding trades (even if they are for the accounts of customers). We do not see any legitimate reason why a short seller cannot deliver securities by at least T+5. Further, mandatory buy-ins are the only effective remedy for dealing with naked short selling abuses, not to mention the fairest and most efficient way to correct the problem. Through forced buy-ins the market imbalances created by naked short sellers are corrected once and for all and the clean-up costs are imposed equitably on the parties who created the mess. If they are guilty of creating a large naked short position, the cost of correction will be high, and rightfully so. If the naked short position they created is less substantial, the market insures that the cost will be commensurately less. When the various market scandals arose in 2003, the Commission and legislature acted swiftly and decisively in imposing the regulatory burden to correct such wrong doing on the parties who were in the best position to prevent such events from occurring again, the issuers themselves. The naked short selling crisis is no different in that respect and therefore the regulatory burden should lie squarely at the feet of the short sellers, broker-dealers and market makers who are responsible for the problem. Further, if short sellers fail to buy-in their naked short positions as required, broker-dealers should be obligated to effect the buy-in on behalf of their customer and then seek recovery from the customer. This serious remedy would cause broker-dealers to initiate meaningful internal safeguards that would significantly curtail naked short selling abuses from arising in the first place As long as issuers and investors are required to pay the price for the actions of naked short sellers and the inaction of their broker-dealers, the problem will never be solved effectively.
In light of the current state of the OTCBB market, it is nearly impossible to envision that "easy to borrow" or "hard to borrow" lists can be compiled with any accuracy for OTCBB issues. Accordingly, we believe that the test of "reasonable grounds to believe that the security could be borrowed" of the proposed "locate" requirement should apply to each short transaction and not be susceptible to satisfaction from any blanket assurance lists.
We agree that market makers involved in bona fide market making activities should be exempt from the "locate" requirement. If, as the Commission assumes, most market makers seek a net "flat" position at the end of each trading day, and in fact do so, then the exemption should not be problematic. However, if a market maker elects to make a consistent market on the "sell" side without any meaningful activity on the "buy" side, as is frequently the case in OTCBB issues, they should in all instances be required to deliver securities sold short in T+5. The role of a market maker is to maintain liquidity and an orderly market, which is strictly a function of daily market conditions. Accordingly, there is no reason for bona fide market making activities to result in naked short positions for any extended period of time.
While a step in the right direction, the proposed consequences set forth in Regulation SHO for failing to deliver securities fall short of what is necessary to insure that naked short positions do not languish for extended periods of time. Take for example a short seller who creates a naked short position of 1,000,000 shares in an OTCBB issue over a two week period. The only regulatory consequences that the short seller and broker-dealer face in this situation are that the broker-dealer is now barred from taking short sale orders from that short seller for that security for a period of 90 days and may, in addition, face a fine or some other administrative action from NASD. Since the short sellers have made their money and the broker-dealers have made their commissions, this consequence amounts to little more than a transaction tax to parties who are making millions of dollars from such naked short selling. In addition, although short sellers will be barred from shorting that security through the broker-dealer they just used for their naked short sale, it appears that nothing prevents them from shorting that same OTCBB issue through another broker-dealer, thus allowing them to circumvent the intent of the rule. Short sellers who don't deliver securities within T+5 should be barred from shorting any securities through any broker-dealer until those securities are delivered.
Some commenters have indicated that naked short selling should be permissible since it serves as a counterbalance to overzealous OTCBB stock promoters and assists the regulatory bodies in keeping such promoters in check. Some even go on to suggest that naked short sellers serve an even higher purpose by weeding out companies who, due to faulty business plans, don't deserve investor dollars. The absurdity of this position is mind boggling. First, naked short sellers, broker-dealers and market makers should not function as a deputized lynch mob for any regulatory body. The notion of any regulatory body tacitly appointing these parties, who are the cause of the naked short selling problem, to insure any type of market stability would be the equivalent of the commission appointing Enron to oversee corporate governance reforms when that scandal came to light. The success or failure of any public company should be determined by its shareholders in a free market with a level playing field.
Although it cannot be directly addressed by Regulation SHO, the Commission should also give consideration to the effect that Canadian broker-dealers have on the naked short issue in the United States. It is our understanding that naked short positions can be lawfully maintained by Canadian broker-dealers and that as a result a flood of naked sales have been initiated in US markets through Canada. A close examination of potential regulatory reforms in this area should be undertaken by the Commission, including an examination of the role of The Canadian Depository for Securities in this matter.
The naked short selling issue is a very complex and thorny issue for the Commission to address. However, despite its complexity, the problem screams out for a simple solution. With respect to the problem that has been created to date, the applicable parties who created the problem should be required to buy-in their naked short positions and restore some integrity and balance to the micro cap market. As to the regulatory burden going forward, that should also be imposed squarely on the responsible parties, who in this instance are also the parties that are in the best position to carry out the regulatory reforms and bear the cost of such regulatory burden.
Very truly yours,
JAG MEDIA HOLDINGS, INC.
By: _______________________
Thomas J. Mazzarisi
Executive Vice President
& General Counsel
I think WWW has been public domain too long for him to win
poop ...
Gateway ad in
Chicago Tribune - 10 stores Chicago Metro area ...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
owd3, you seem concerned about what was put in writing ...
not to worry ... it's only hearsay ... ask cassie, she set
me straight about not believing what you read in a post -
I have a hard time with the things you put in writing also.
the truth will be coming soon. enjoy
From sunpoop
PostID 305647 On Saturday, January 10, 2004 (EST) at 10:55:58 PM
Another confirmation direct from the 'hearsay' mouth of FF. WE asked about the IFE, when exclusivety ends and if any other airlines are on board....He confirmed what we were told last week. Alaska air's exclusivity ends Jan 31st. There are 3 airlines set to come aboard when that occurs. As we were told, one smaller than Alaska Air and two much larger than Alaska Air....I was one foot away, breathing on him when he told us this.....
HEARSAY, ????
Can we have Cassandra's opinion on sunpoop's observations
PLEASE !
"If you want to build your products in India or China, sell it there!"
or don't buy it here!
Friday, January 09, 2004
Intel Moves Into Consumer Electronics
http://www.bizreport.com/article.php?art_id=5931
by Ben Berkowitz and Daniel Sorid
Intel Corp. , the world's largest microchip maker, on Thursday said it plans an aggressive push beyond the PC into consumer electronics with new chips for big-screen high-definition televisions and an all-in-one home entertainment PC.
The new vision was unveiled in a speech by Intel President Paul Otellini at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, a forum being used by the computer industry this year to showcase bold moves into consumer devices like TVs and media centers.
"The lines between these two industries are blurring, but they are blurring at an increasing rate," Otellini said.
The world's largest microchip maker said it intends to give consumer electronics the same level of attention it gave last year to wireless technology, which was highlighted in a $300 million marketing campaign for its laptop computer chips.
Earlier this week, Intel said it would invest $200 million in companies that are building "digital home" technologies intended to allow media to freely flow between devices around the home.
While Intel dominates the market for PC microprocessors, its latest initiatives target a new set of competitors: consumer electronics leaders such as the Netherlands' Philips Electronics
, which are unlikely to accept the chip giant's entry without a fight.
Some details of the speech had leaked out beforehand, and anticipation was so high that some CES attendees skipped a keynote by the president of Panasonic to line up an hour ahead of time for the presentation.
Otellini's new era is one the company envisions being powered by its chips. Liquid Crystal on Silicon, or LCoS, chips promise to make 50-inch high-definition TVs cost less than $1,800 by next year, he said, while powerful 3 gigahertz processors will run the PC centers.
EVERYTHING BUT THE KITCHEN SINK
So-called Entertainment PCs, Otellini said, will come on the market later this year, priced around $799 or less. They are intended as a complete replacement for home entertainment centers, offering live TV tuning, video recording, DVD and music playback, photo display and even video gaming.
"It's not created for the creation of content, it's created for the consumption of content," he said.
The PCs, which also offer surround sound and built-in wireless access points, will use what the executive called "10-foot interfaces" that let consumers sit back when watching PC media as opposed to leaning in close.
Otellini told reporters after his speech that the company has been able to win over skittish Hollywood partners to the idea of networked digital home media.
"We showed them that we're not out to drive rampant piracy and that we can develop a standard that will allow consumers the flexibility they expect and allow them the protection they require," he said.
TVs LATER THIS YEAR
Intel's television chips use a novel technology that combines liquid crystals, a mirror-like surface and a silicon chip. Display manufacturers in China, Taiwan and the United States are now working with Intel prototypes, the company said.
The advantage of LCoS, Otellini said, is high resolution from small spaces between the pixels that compose a picture, as well as the lack of "burn-in" problems that face some plasma televisions.
Texas Instruments Inc. already supplies a chip using a rival technology, called digital light processing, which uses more than a million microscopic mirrors to reflect a high-definition image onto a big-screen television. Big-screen sets based on DLP are produced by Korea's Samsung Electronics <005930.K>, France's Thomson , and others.
© 2004 Reuters
CES: Music stars join Fiorina in stand against piracy
Breaking news
http://www.nwfusion.com/news/2004/0109cesmus.html
Today's top news.
By James Niccolai
IDG News Service, 01/09/04
Sheryl Crow, Dr. Dre and Alicia Keys were a few of the big-name artists who joined Carly Fiorina on stage at the Consumer Electronics Show Thursday, where the HP chairman and chief executive took perhaps the toughest stand yet by a technology industry executive against digital music piracy.
At a conference where products for recording and sharing digital content are in abundance, Fiorina said HP is determined to help stamp out the illegal copying of music and video by including tough protection technologies in virtually all of the consumer products it sells.
“We are very proud to stand on this stage and take a tough stand on digital piracy,” Fiorina said. "Too much digital content is still being taken illegally, undermining business models and artistic integrity.”
"Starting this year, HP will strive to build every one of our products to protect digital rights," she said.
In a photo opportunity that most CEOs only dream of, Fiorina was joined on stage at the Hilton Theater by a string of music industry heavyweights that also included U2 guitarist The Edge, Eminem manager Paul Rosenberg, and Jimmy Iovine, chairman of Universal Music Group's Interscope label, which produces U2, Limp Bizkit and others.
Iovine offered an impassioned, sometimes rambling speech about the harm that he said file-swapping services like Kazaa can do, to the music industry, to recording artists, and to our moral values.
"On behalf of Universal Music Group, we're going to support HP to the point where they're going to beg us to stop," he said. "For a company that is willing to be this brave and forward thinking, we will show what our industry can do" to help HP in return, he said.
HP will build, license or acquire the best content protection technologies it can find to prevent its customers from illegally downloading and sharing copyright material, Fiorina said.
Its Digital Movie Writer product, used to record video tapes onto DVDs, already includes protection technology that prevents consumers from illegally copying VHS tapes, she said. "Soon that technology will be in every one of our products."
HP will also implement the broadcast flag into some of its products this year, she said. The technology has been endorsed by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission as a way of preventing consumers from recording digital television content and distributing it illegally over the Internet.
"And we’ll introduce new technology this year that will encrypt some recorded content," Fiorina said.
For the music industry, HP is supporting Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunes online music store, where consumers can purchase songs for download for 99 cents. Earlier Thursday, HP said it has partnered with Apple to offer its own branded version of Apple's iPod music player.
Fiorina showed HP's device for the first time here and said it will go on sale in June. In light blue and silver, it looked from a distance very much like Apple's own iPod player. The company will also include Apple's iTunes software with all of its consumer PCs, and provide a desktop link that makes it easier for consumers to visit the iTunes music store.
"HP is going to bring this award-winning product and service to market on a massive scale," Fiorina said.
The moves are part of a broader effort by HP to turn itself into a significant provider of digital consumer products. Fiorina also announced several new consumer products including LCD and plasma displays that the company will release later this year.
But most of the speech was given over to the issue of music piracy. Instead of the computer industry's Moore's Law, Fiorina coined a new term: Kazaa's Law, after the popular file-sharing software.
"Kazaa's Law states that our sense of right and wrong does not evolve as fast as our technology. Just because we can do wrong doesn’t mean we should. Just because we can steal music doesn’t mean we should," she said.
She claimed that HP has cancelled products in recent years because it was unhappy with the level of copyright protection they offered.
How customers will respond to HP's promise to sell products that prevent illegal content sharing remains to be seen. Services and products such as Napster and Kazaa attracted millions of users apparently unconcerned about the rights and wrongs of downloading copyright material for free.
Alicia Keys, who performed two songs at the piano here, delivered a message after her performance that seemed at odds with the general message of zero tolerance.
"This is what I tell kids: You can download, but if you like what you hear, go out and buy it, go out and support the artist," she said.
fred why not insiders ? Do you think insiders come
from within the company only? Give me a break.
sorry, you gotta be tuff to slap an all knowing face.
sorry fred, you don't know that for a fact do you?
I believe the uptrend will continue for reasons
most here wouldn't believe including yourself - but
time will tell won't it ?
Got Guts?-
I think it matters what FF thinks ... and
what do investors think? Are you speaking
for yourself ? " not much " isn't that
putting words in other peoples mouths?
Got Guts?
So maybe we could have and EDIG board just to discuss the sec filings?
Maybe EDIG should have just closed the doors ...
got guts?
I hope it's better than they did last year.
cheesh.
Please give the reason that I/we should "remember"
the past - your reiterations fail miserably to
give that reason - ? Please don't say it's only
to warn the unaware.
Consumer Electronics Field Getting Crowded
By MAY WONG AP Technology Writer
The Associated Press - 01/08/2004
LAS VEGAS
http://www.in-forum.com/ap/index.cfm?page=view&id=D7VUDHQ80
Just as digital entertainment starts to hit its stride, consumer electronics giants like Sony, Panasonic, Sharp and Toshiba are facing an intensifying challenge - and not just from each other.
Microsoft, Intel, Dell and Hewlett-Packard, the stalwarts of computing, have all stepped out of the office and are trying to get comfortable in the living room.
Their Johnny-come-lately status makes them, for now, underdogs in the $95 billion industry highlighted at the International Consumer Electronics Show. But their efforts - from Dell and HP's entry into the flat-screen TV market to Microsoft's foray into portable media players - are far from mere toe-dipping, analysts say.
The greater intelligence and Internet connectivity being added to such gadgets as watches, digital cameras and DVD players favors the PC titans, whose arsenal has been evolving to meet precisely these challenges.
This year's CES show is the largest ever with a record 2,300 exhibitors occupying 1.35 million square feet of floor space, and more than 110,000 attendees expected.
Exactly the audience Microsoft craves for the latest from its Windows Media Center platform, which takes aim squarely at the family entertainment room.
The Microsoft platform, which allows users to link the digital photos, music and video stored on their PCs to living room entertainment systems, was a highlight of the software behemoth's presence at the four-day show, which begins Thursday.
It is the basis, for one, of a paperback book-sized portable media center that can play digital video and audio content.
The devices will feature hard drives and 4-inch color screens, allowing users to transfer music, video, photos, and even recorded television from their PCs to the portable device for playback anywhere.
"It's the next-generation media players," said John O'Rourke, Microsoft's senior director of consumer strategy.
Similar products already are available from companies like Archos, but the Microsoft-based devices are designed to work easily with Windows software.
On Wednesday, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates was to announce more manufacturers joining Creative Labs to make portable media players based on Microsoft's technology formerly known as Media2Go - all of which are expected to hit store shelves in time for the holidays.
Intel, meanwhile, announced plans Wednesday to invest $200 million in companies making digital consumer products. The idea is to encourage development of products that get digital content anywhere at any time, hopefully with some Intel technology inside.
Dell and HP, the world's two largest PC makers, were both touting their widening selection of consumer gadgets, including music players, handheld computers and televisions.
Gateway was among the first PC makers to make headway into consumer electronics, with its late 2002 debut of a relatively low-priced $3,000 42-inch plasma television. By mid-2003, Gateway had already clinched the No. 2 spot in the United States of unit sales of plasma televisions, showing that consumers are willing to accept a new brand name in their living rooms, according to analyst Bob O'Donnell of market research firm IDC.
But it's not just the PC giants seeking the fatter profit margins in the fast-growing market of flat-panel televisions and other pricey consumer gadgets. Companies whose brands are known for other niches are also out in force in Las Vegas.
Newcomer Westinghouse Digital Electronics, which licensed the Westinghouse name and logo from media giant Viacom, will show off new liquid crystal display TVs. Motorola lends its brand to a line of plasma and LCD TVs to be unveiled by Moxell Technologies, a subsidiary of computer-monitor maker Proview International Holdings Ltd.
Planar Systems, which specializes in industrial and medical displays, will be showing off its new plasma TV in booth space shared with Dell.
JBL, maker of speakers, will debut its first ever audio and video home theater systems, complete with a DVD changer and high-definition 50-inch plasma display.
Epson, a leading printer manufacturer, also is expanding into home theaters while Gibson Guitar's newly formed consumer electronics division will showcase a digital music jukebox that can store up to 1,000 CDs worth of music, access its Gibson-branded online music service and download songs - all without the need for a computer.
All are trying to stake a claim in an industry that grew 2.3 percent in factory revenues from $94.2 billion in 2002 to about $96.4 billion in 2003 - despite a 5 percent deflation of wholesale prices across the industry.
With a greater variety of consumer gadgets expected to hit the market, the Consumer Electronics Association forecasts that industry revenues could grow by 4 percent this year to exceed $100 billion.
The industry fervor and unstoppable convergence of PC technology with slick gadgets has helped make the CES show the marquis consumer electronics event at the expense of other once-hot technology trade shows such as Comdex and TechXNY.
Convergence cuts both ways, of course, and the traditional consumer electronics companies are borrowing ideas from the PC makers as well.
And so Sharp will debut LCD TVs with PC-card slots that enable the addition of digital video recording functionality or a wireless connection to a home computer network.
In the end, it's all about linking together devices that previously didn't talk to one another.
The Taiwanese-based chipset maker VIA Technologies, along with Apex Digital, was introducing a gaming console for the living room that will be able to link to a user's home computer network to play PC-based games as well as videos, photos and music.
"Everyone is trying to make this magic box that will unlock digital media for the living room," said Richard Brown, VIA Technologies' associate vice president.
Computer Hardware & Software
Gates: We Still Aim To Be Everywhere, Dammit!
Victoria Murphy, 01.07.04, 10:00 PM ET
http://www.forbes.com/home_europe/2004/01/07/cz_vm_0107gates.html
SILICON VALLEY - Microsoft wants to dominate your living room. Still. That's the message that Bill Gates is delivering (again) at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this year. Never mind that the task has proved harder than expected. Gates takes a long-term view.
At his CES keynote speech a year ago, Gates spoke of "smart living in the Digital Decade." This year's twist: "We're laying out a roadmap for the Digital Decade," says Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ) consumer strategy director John O'Rourke, giving a preview of the agenda. This includes familiar-sounding mantras like seamless computing experiences, connected systems and information-driven software.
Techno-babble aside, Gates will tout a new pocket-size device with a high-resolution color screen that can store full-length movies and photo albums. The so-called Portable Media Center will be manufactured with partners Samsung Electronics, Sanyo, Creative Labs (nasdaq: CREAF - news - people ), and iRiver International.
Microsoft's device won't be the first movies-on-the-go gadget to hit the market. Already a French company, Archos SA, is selling media players that circumvent some copy protection schemes on DVDs--controversial for content providers but popular with consumers. Archos has reportedly sold 100,000 units in the last six months.
Microsoft has not always fared well when it ventures beyond the PC. So far the company's single stand-out success outside of familiar turf has been with xBox, which has an estimated installed base of 8.5 million (still considerably less than Sony Playstation's 24 million). Microsoft's smartphone software last year sold on an estimated 230,000 mobile phones, compared to 8 million running rival Symbian's technology.
Gates' plug last year for more intelligent everyday devices, like alarm clocks that know personal schedules and magnets showing traffic jams, has yet to bear fruit. The company's SPOT-enabled Fossil (nasdaq: FOSL - news - people ) and Suunto label watches were promised to hit stores just in time for the past holiday season, but now are slotted for delivery at Macy's and Amazon.com's shopping website (nasdaq: AMZN - news - people ) later this year. (SPOT stands for Smart Personal Objects Technology.) The Internet-connected watches, ranging in price from $129 to $299, should detail weather and sports scores for an annual subscription fee of $59.
Undaunted, Gates at CES is promising technologies for the 2004 holiday shopping season that will connect a Windows Media Center PC with other devices such as a standard television or xBox so that music and photos can be shared. Hardware partners include Dell (Nasdaq: DELL - news - people ), Gateway (nyse: GTW - news - people ), and Hewlett-Packard (nyse: HPQ - news - people ).
A new and improved version of Microsoft's $9.95 a month online service, MSN Premium, also debuts at CES. On stage Gates will get a little help from NBC talk show host Jay Leno whose Tonight Show will be archived on the MSN site and searchable using text-based queries. Other video content will come from the Discovery Channel, Showtime, and the National Hockey League. New anti-virus and firewall protection will come from security vendor Symantec (Nasdaq: SYMC - news - people ). So far, out of MSN's 8 million subscribers, 25,000 are paying up for the premium offering.
Consumers seem more eager than ever to digitalize homelife. In November NPD Group reported a 124% year-over-year rise in sales of wireless networking gear to consumers; storage media was up 90%. "What's changing isn't Microsoft's message, but the willingness among consumers to bring computer-based electronics into their living rooms," says Bob Austrian, former software analyst for Banc of America, who is currently on sabbatical.
Microsoft unveils Windows Media Center Extender for PC and Xbox
http://www.gamespot.com/pc/news/news_6086199.html
By Staff, GameSpot [POSTED: 01/07/04 07:39 PM]
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates announces the company's new integrated media software for the PC and Xbox at CES.
At the CES convention in Las Vegas, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates revealed the company's new integrated digital media software and hardware plans. The new technology essentially lets users share media, such as image files, movie files, and sound files from any computer with Windows XP Media Center Edition, in any room of the house, regardless of whether someone else is currently using that computer, and regardless of the computer's location within the house. The new technology allows digital media to be shared on either a television set (which can be fitted with a set-top box to receive the signal, or with TV sets that are integrated with this technology), or using an Xbox console.
The Xbox Media Center Extender Kit will consist of an Xbox DVD disc and a dedicated remote control, and will also allow users to view digital media from any room in the house. The Media Center Edition 2004 software development kit was actually released last September, and since then, over 8,500 developers have downloaded the software in order to use it to build media applications. These applications include the media-player application on the Web site of the popular sports broadcasting network, ESPN; that site's "ESPN Motion" application lets users view sports clips on either their computer or on a TV screen.
Gates went on to explain that the Media Center format is also being supported by numerous partners. Microsoft announced 16 new films in Windows Media High-Definition Video (WMVHD) format from such studios as Artisan Entertainment, IMAX Corp., and National Geographic. The company has also partnered with hardware manufacturers such as Gateway, Creative Labs, Samsung, and SANYO to product portable media center-compatible devices that will let users view digital media from a handheld device, which will support the Windows Media Video and Audio 9 series of media player software. Microsoft also announced that digital entertainment companies CinemaNow and Napster LLC will now support the portable media center platform.
NAW "they asked EDIG to redesign the HD1213" to give
owd3 the opportunity to educate us on what actual
time frames should be for designing a miodcre product ... LOL
nobody knows - that would include yourself ...
understood - I cannot dispute the past hh, try to look ahead
and hopefully edig will not break it's stride - you cannot
deny that they are moving forward .
E Digital (EDIG)
Bid 0.61 Ask 0.62 Last 0.61
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Quote as of: Wed Jan 07 2004 11:48:52 AM EST