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Pastimes : The Justa & Lars Honors Bob Brinker Investment Club -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Investor2 who wrote (10893)	1/8/2000 7:20:00 AM
From: Mr. BSL	Respond to of 15132

< I see a big jump in SPY in afterhours trading, which may not be reflected in the S&P data. > That makes sense. Thanks a lot I2. Dick

To: Investor2 who wrote (10893)	1/8/2000 1:15:00 PM
From: Lars	Respond to of 15132

* Bill Gates Stimulating the Economy * January 7, 2000 Microsoft Suspends Internet Rebate For California and Oregon Consumers Associated Press LOS ANGELES -- Microsoft Corp. abruptly suspended a $400 rebate for consumers in California and Oregon buying three-year Internet access contracts after company officials found thousands were signing up, spending the rebate and canceling the contracts the next day. "This is just a shame, because this simply offered consumers an inexpensive way to get wired to the Internet," said Microsoft spokesman Tom Pilla at Microsoft's Redmond, Wash., headquarters. Mr. Pilla said the program was suspended in California and Oregon, effective Friday, but he stressed it was a temporary measure. The company is reviewing the program now in order to close the loophole and continue its rebates. On Thursday, people waited in line as long as four hours at some Southern California stores to order Microsoft's Internet service and use the $400 rebates to purchase merchandise. Many said they planned to cancel the service the next day. "It doesn't feel immoral," said Jenny Ives, a 20-year-old California Institute of Technology student who used her rebate at a Best Buy Co. store in Pasadena to buy a breadmaker and a combination television-videocassette recorder. Some who discussed the rebate in Internet chat rooms said they were delighted to take advantage of a company run by the world's richest man. "I pondered the moral implications," wrote one. "But perhaps it boils down to Bill Gates paying for my 27-inch Sony TV. And I don't mind letting Billy subsidize me." Microsoft offered the rebate nationwide. In most states, anyone who canceled service in less than three years had to return the rebate, but company officials said loopholes in state laws prevented them from adopting that provision in California and Oregon. California officials said the law was designed to prevent car dealers and mortgage lenders from forcing people to buy credit life insurance from them in order to get financing. However, the law doesn't state that directly, so Microsoft officials feared the rebate program could be considered an illegal loan forced upon people wanting the $21.95 a month Internet connection. "We wanted to do the right thing and stay within the bounds of the law," Mr. Pilla said. "If anything, we were interpreting the law far too conservatively." State officials said Wednesday they would not have used the law to go after Microsoft. Rather than take chances, however, the company has suspended the program and let people who canceled keep their rebates. It is expected that Microsoft will reintroduce its rebate program -- with the loophole closed -- within the next week. Mr. Pilla would not comment on how many people took advantage of the offer, how many people canceled or how much money Microsoft lost. It could have been worse: In late 1992 and early 1993, Hoover Europe offered an ill-conceived rebate plan for its vacuum cleaners. Customers in Britain and Ireland who bought a vacuum received two free international plane tickets. The company eventually lost about $72 million as it flew some 220,00 customers around the world over the next few years.