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To: E. Davies who wrote (14953)	8/27/1999 10:24:00 AM
From: E. Graphs	Respond to of 29970

Missed point: If there were no reason to compete there would be no Burger King! redherring.com >>"If I build a McDonalds, can AOL come in and say we're Burger King and we want to sell hamburgers in your place?" asks an AT&T (NYSE: T) spokesperson rhetorically. Well, no. But that question assumes that consumers can simply drive down the street and pick up a Whopper whenever and wherever they want....<< Wrong! >>"What AOL is trying to do is regulate a business advantage." << Right! >>...Third, and perhaps most disturbing, is the nastiness permeating the cable broadband-ISP unbundling discourse, no to mention the money being spent on perpetuating the fight. Not only is AOL spending millions of dollars in public relations and lobbying efforts to get the FCC to change its mind (something it is unlikely to do anytime soon) but it is doing so with shareholder money that one might imagine would be far better spent on its own further broadband initiatives. As Ma Bell argues, cable is not the only broadband game in town....<< AOL is a slab. >>...Even more troublesome, however, is the fact that GTE (NYSE: GTE) has stepped into the fight, acting the part of the heavy in the legal battle ensuing in Broward County, Florida where officials voted 4-3 against allowing AT&T to serve cable customers if Ma Bell does not open up its cable pipes. According to Mr. McGann, GTE even agreed to pay the legal costs of Broward County if its officials would vote for access unbundling. "GTE is a monopoly company that wants to protect its monopoly," says Mr. McGann..<< >>...The roll-out of broadband over cable -- not to mention DSL -- has been slow enough. This food fight in front of the legal system won't make it any speedier.<< And, this is exactly what AOL was aiming for, imho.

To: E. Davies who wrote (14953)	8/27/1999 2:51:00 PM
From: yihsuen	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 29970

As long as the accounting practice following the legal guideline and the annual report audited and signed by legitimate CPA firm, I don't know what could be a better way to present the amortization of Excite (and iMall) assets to make briefing.com happy. Does Yahoo or CMGI, acquisition hungry, prepare their statements differently? Anybody would put on its best cosmetics on their financial statements in front of financiers. Business needs to survive on positive cash flow. No matter how good your products are or how bright a future you have, without cash, you're dead meat (take a look at the embarrassing situation of Iridium). ATHM's current assets is around $538 millions, not great but OK, debt yes but not heavy. ATHM business model relies lightly on Accounts Receivables, and close to none inventory. Excite and iMall deals were a stock swaps, the biggest concern for shareholders is share dilution. This won't hurt ATHM cash flow unless... YES... THE PERFORMANCE OF EXCITE ASSETS TANKS and bites into the cash reserve. This has been the hottest topic on this thread for the past few weeks. I don't want to get into the discussion on Excite performance, I know nothing more than you do. Excite seems to be doing fine last quarter, and the future? You guys are the experts. A close look at briefing.com's article seems like they built this enthusiasm of following Excite's financial before it acquired by ATHM and just carrying that hobby over after the acquisition. CSCO bought two piece of properties yesterday and paid roughly 70~80 times of their current sales. Chamber expects to cash in big on them in 5 years. If I propose ATHM investors with that kind of patience on its portal investment, they probably will hang me. <g>