Textbites

"We see ourselves as the only country on Earth which has absolutely no borders, no boundaries, and no trade or currency restrictions…

"We see ourselves as the only country on Earth which has absolutely no borders, no boundaries, and no trade or currency restrictions whatsoever. Iridium is the first `virtual country'." - The German director of Iridium - Motorola's global telephone system of 66 satellites has just been assigned its own country code by the International Telecommunication Union - +8816.

"It was like a visit by Don Corleone. I expected to find a bloody computer monitor in my bed the next day." - Marc Andreessen of Netscape on the company's alleged meeting with Microsoft in May 1995.

"I think Marc should change his title from chief technology officer to chief mythology officer." - Microsoft official Mark Murray, talking to the IDG News Service.

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