Still battling a federal judge's order to break up the company over antitrust violations, Microsoft is now under investigation for possible anti-competitive behavior stemming from its stake in a rival software manufacturer. Microsoft has promised to co-operate with a new US Justice Department antitrust probe over its investment in Canadian software maker Corel. "There was a request for information from the Department of Justice on a transaction with Corel," company spokesman Jim Cullinan said after the Wall Street Journal reported that a new investigation had been opened.
Microsoft has been subpoenaed by officials to obtain documents about the $135 million investment in Corel, which is known for its WordPerfect and CorelDRAW programs that compete with Microsoft products. Federal antitrust investigators are looking into whether Microsoft's investment reduces competition in the market for word processing and spreadsheet applications.
EURO POP MOVEMENT: The European Parliament has approved a new directive setting limits on the downloading of music. Copies from any medium can be made "by a natural person for private use. . . for ends that are neither directly or indirectly commercial," so long as copyright holders "receive fair compensation", it says.
CRAZY MONEY: If there was ever any proof needed that rampant consumerism has met its natural partner on the Internet, it can be found in spending estimates published last week by the US commerce department. Users in the US spent $28 billion on online purchases in 2000. Internet purchases in 1999 more than doubled to $17.3 billion from $7.7 billion in 1998, the report found. By sector, air transport, personal computers and book sales profited most.
PAGEJACKER STOPPED: An man who "hijacked" Web pages and redirected consumers to sexually explicit sites from which they could not escape, has agreed to a court settlement to end the practice. The US Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint in court in 1999 to halt the scheme called "pagejacking," in which the defendants made exact copies of Web pages. They then made one change: inserting a command to "redirect" any surfer coming to the site to another website that contained porn. Those sites also disabled the browser's "back" and "exit" commands.
INTERACTION: Galway-based Internet strategy, branding and website development company, Interact appears to be bucking the trend of dotcom downsizing and job losses with the establishment of a new business partnership with 21st Century, a Mayo-based computer training company. Under the agreement 21st Century Web Design will take over a number of Interact's Irish based clients.
IONA'S CATCH: Irish software firm Iona Technologies has bought Netfish Technologies for $270 million in Iona shares. The Netfish deal is Iona's fourth in the last month and forms part of its new total business integration strategy.
MOBILISING MOBILES: Some 412 million mobile phones were sold worldwide in 2000, a 45.5 per cent increase over the previous year, according to market research group, Dataquest. But the report said sales began to cool toward the end of the year.
KEEP ON MOVING: Monster.ie has released figures suggesting that regular job changing is becoming more commonplace in Ireland. Surveying the amount of time spent in a particular position, the poll revealed that 61 per cent of those surveyed want to leave their job immediately.
IN BRIEF...Codec, the Irish financial analytical solutions provider, has announced a planned £3.2 million expansion into a number of European markets. . . Dell Computer is cutting 1,700 jobs in Texas in response to slowing personal computer sales. . .