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To: Claude who wrote (38395)	8/20/1999 6:01:00 PM
From: SpudFarmer	Respond to of 152472

To: djane who wrote (6673) From: SpudFarmer Thursday, Aug 19 1999 7:10PM ET Reply # of 6713 Thursday August 19, 6:27 pm Eastern Time Iridium holder floats new concept in Internet trade By Emily Kaiser CHICAGO, Aug 19 (Reuters) - What do Barbie dolls, Star Wars memorabilia and shares of Iridium LLC (Nasdaq:IRID - news), the struggling satellite phone company, have in common? You might be able to sell them as collectibles through Internet auction sites. Shareholders of Iridium, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last week, have been unable to buy or sell the stock since Nasdaq halted trading on Friday. But a message posted Thursday in an Internet chat room suggested a novel way investors might be able to exchange the shares -- put the actual stock certificates up for auction through an online service such as eBay Inc. (Nasdaq:EBAY - news). ``You might want to sell them on eBay. They could have market value on an auction, or numismatic value if it tanks completely,' read the message posted on a Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - news) Iridium stock bulletin board. Trading in shares of Iridium was halted on Friday after the company filed for protection from its creditors under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Iridium, the first company to offer telephone service anywhere in the world via a system of 66 satellites, has struggled to sign up subscribers to its pricey service, and has fallen well short of its revenue targets. The stock last traded at 3-1/16, well below the 52-week high of 49-14/16. Several stock analysts and traders said the idea of auctioning stock certificates was intriguing. The question is, would it be legal? A U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission spokesman said that depends on the circumstances. He said a person may sell securities to another person privately, even if the stock has been halted for trading. He declined to comment on whether auctioning stock certificates on the Internet would constitute a private transaction. A spokesman for eBay, the San Jose, Calif.-based online service that allows people to auction Barbie dolls, Star Wars toys or just about anything else, said if a transaction were illegal in the ``real world,' it would not be permitted in eBay's ``virtual world' either. However, he said stock certificates could be sold as collectible items. An Iridium spokeswoman declined to comment. To: SpudFarmer who wrote (6676) From: SpudFarmer Thursday, Aug 19 1999 7:28PM ET Reply # of 6713 One of the best ideas I've heard yet on what to do with irid shares! Both before and after becoming iridq. Why would this be illegal? If the OWNER has physical possesion, they can do anything they want. This holds true of any security. Correct me if I'm wrong. It's just like holding cash or any other thing of value. The only thing I can think of that would be illegal is if there were transactions involving insiders and those required to report their transactions. If they can make a $ auctioning or any other way, more power to them! Their marketing plan sounds a lot better than the irid marketing 'plan'. The only other obstacle I can think of is if the markets and brokers get wind and block this. If everyone began to take physical possession and auctioned their stocks on their own...WOW! It could begin to eliminate their own market share. "E-Bay, The next NASDAQ and NYSE combined!", the ads would read. O.K. Now you all can beat me over the head and say I'm crazy. I just have a vivid and wild imagination. : )

To: Claude who wrote (38395)	8/20/1999 6:09:00 PM
From: SpudFarmer	Respond to of 152472

Claude (rhymes with TOAD): I didn't realize that E-Bay wimped out. Interesting. I guess the posters on the G* site are too serious, or they just didn't see the point in humoring me. Or it just wasn't funny! That's O.K. : ) In hindsight, the only other problem I could see is that the securities must be handled by bonded people, and the shares must be delivered sealed, for which the brokerage houses charge an arm and a leg. The legality could be an interesting debate?!? SpudFarmer (rhymes with DudCharmer)