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Technology Stocks : America On-Line (AOL) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Aljorma who wrote (27003)	7/26/1999 10:23:00 PM
From: HECTOR RUBERT	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 41369

Hate to bring this up but sold half of my position at $111... Took money off the table 'cause the world is against AOL. First Fidelity Magellan and all the other Fund Herds, then AT&T leaching court hearings over broadband, then UK Free ISP service, now we have an Instant Messaging Battle Against Microsoft and Yahoo. To top things off...Greenspan is killing the bulls. BTW: Mr. Braverman/from MLynch(I think) you know the analyst who Upgraded AOL to Strong BUY when AOL was $160 with a 12 month target of $200 just came out today when AOL hit below $100 to inform investors that he doesn't see better times ahead until September. The man gets paid a million dollars a year for investment advice. Well lets see, Mr. Braverman told me to STRONGLY BUY AOL at $160 and the stock has since fallen to today's low of $99.63. Can you do the math? Mr. Braverman has cost investors who followed his advice 38% CAPITAL LOSS within 2 months. Now for the overkill he says all stocks could go even lower. If he gets paid a million a year shouldn't he have known back when AOL was 140, 130, 120, that something was wrong? He better not visit Orlando Florida unless he wants me to do to him what he did to all AOL investors. And I hope CNBC doesn't show his NERDPUKE FACE again. I bet he hyped AOL and others to increase his SHORT position. What a bastard. Sorry everyone, I'm just completely frustrated with the whole thing. Night, Hector

To: Aljorma who wrote (27003)	7/26/1999 10:25:00 PM
From: Robert Rose	Respond to of 41369

I don't think this has been posted yet: Monday July 26, 9:05 pm Eastern Time AOL message policy seen hurting its stand on cable By Aaron Pressman WASHINGTON, July 26 (Reuters) - America Online (NYSE:AOL - news) might back off efforts to block rival ''instant messaging'' services because the actions threaten to undermine its lobbying push to get access to high-speed cable Internet lines, public policy analysts said on Monday. Over the past few days, engineers at the No. 1 online service worked diligently to thwart efforts by Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT - news) and Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - news) to allow consumers using their messaging products to connect with AOL customers and accounts. So-called instant messaging programs are used by tens of millions of Internet surfers to send and receive quick text messages that pop up immediately on the computer screens of their online pals. AOL is by far the market leader, with more than 80 million users of its two instant messaging products. AOL officials offered a variety of explanations for their efforts to block competitors access, including that Microsoft had put the security and privacy of their customers at risk -- a charge Microsoft vehemently denied. But analysts said that even if AOL was factually correct in some of its arguments, the moves would hurt the company's credibility on the cable open access issue where it is pushing to have exclusive deals banned. Cable companies have required customers buying high-speed net access over cable lines to also buy Internet services like e-mail and Web page hosting from them. The exclusive deals are unfair to other Internet service providers, AOL argues. ''Open is open,'' said Legg Mason Precursor Group analyst Scott Cleland, who has long predicted that AOL will ultimately prevail and gain access to cable high speed Internet services. ''When you're denying consumers a choice of something, it looks bad in any case.'' Online analyst Gary Arlen, president of Arlen Communications, predicted AOL's position on cable access would ultimately trump its decision to close up its instant messaging product. Cable companies like AT&T Corp. (NYSE:T - news) ''will use AOL's instant messaging position as a defense,'' Arlen said. ''Cable open access is truly the much bigger, longer-term issue. I don't know how the IM deal is going to work but I think that one will get settled.'' In fact, AT&T general counsel Jim Cicconi did just as Arlen predicted, issuing a statement calling AOL's moves ''hypocritical and antithetical to the very ethos of the Internet.'' Some of AOL's supporters on the cable issue noted that cable was a regulated monopoly running on public property, as opposed to AOL's development of a software product for the unregulated Internet. But few seemed eager to enter the instant messaging fray on the record. Until recently, each of the various instant messaging products was a separate and incompatible communications tool, allowing contact only with others using the same product. Microsoft last week introduced a product called MSN Messenger that promised communications with people using AOL's instant messenger as well. To make the feat possible, Microsoft's messenger software asked users for their AOL user name and password. The information was not sent to Microsoft but allowed the Microsoft software to log users into AOL's network. AOL then changed the way its network was set up so Microsoft users were blocked out. Microsoft responded with a quick fix and, after several rounds, Microsoft said late Monday its newest version was communicating with AOL users. ''There's a right way and a wrong way,'' said AOL spokeswoman Ann Brackbill, defending her company's right to block MSN. ''But without the right coordination and standards, the privacy and security of consumers is going to be at risk.'' AOL will support the development of a universal Internet standard for connecting all instant messaging software, Brackbill added. ''The only issue here is how the industry will work together to overcome the technical obstacles to interconnecting the various IM systems,'' she said. Microsoft product manager Deanna Sanford said AOL had in the past declined to support such an industry-wide effort underway at the Internet Engineering Task Force, a consensus-based standards writing body. ''Ultimately, it would be great if we could all support some standards,'' Sanford said. ''It would be great if AOL would.''