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Strategies & Market Trends : Gorilla and King Portfolio Candidates -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: mishedlo who wrote (21670)	3/29/2000 8:20:00 PM
From: the dodger	Respond to of 54805

Mike, WorldGate holds a patent (#US05961603) involving Channel HyperLinking. Application (#US1997000934985) was filed on 9/22/97 and issued on 10/5/99. Lead Inventor:Kunkel I noticed in SEC original registration papers that the word "patent" was referred to about 20 times...but usually in conjunction with them being sued for infringement. Someone other than me would have to offer an opinion as to the validity and strength of their filing -- I'm too busy licking my wounds. It seems a couple of gorillas fell off the roof today and landed square on top of me. (g) I hate when that happens. "the dodger" good luck

To: mishedlo who wrote (21670)	3/29/2000 10:06:00 PM
From: John Stichnoth	Respond to of 54805

WGAT--You asked about possible competitors. One is ACTV (symbol: IATV), which was introduced here wrt Gemstar. IATV is also likely the source of patent suits, at least for the Channel Hyperlinking product. IATV had a demonstration last fall, in conjunction with Turner's broadcast of "21 Days of Bond", in which the ACTV-owned logo popped up periodically on the screen. People who had downloaded the software, or had it on their set-tops, or something (I forget the specifics), could get enhanced TV. At the time IATV was burning through lots of money as they got closer to commercialization. Their stock went from low 20's into the 40's, and has since settled back somewhat. I haven't looked at their fundamentals recently. IATV's claim to Gorillahood was rejected around here as too early, since they had no real revenues. If their patent claims are valid (if they are the ones suing), that might provide a real impediment to WGAT's standing in the pongid-erium, I'd think. Best, John

To: mishedlo who wrote (21670)	3/30/2000 11:34:00 AM
From: Martin Rasch	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 54805

Hi Mike, thanks for your presentation of WGAT. IMHO, the "net2TV" sector is a no-brainer. There is no chasm looming and the herd will adopt it quickly if it does not have to alter its viewing habits. Classic situation: discontinuous at the supplier side continuos at the users. It should be appropriate to scrutinize this market and its main players here even if some of them are shiny pebbles. This situation is very likely to be significantly different quickly. In the case of WGAT I have still some problems to understand their business model chiefly the source of their revenue stream. Is it the subscriber?, the cable company? Advertising ?.......(I assume it is a mixture of all of it) As the number of subscribers (and even more important, the pace they are growing) seems to me the most accurate number to validate the success of WGAT it would be helpful to gain some more detailed data on this one. As well as some information about the pricing. Since the company claims to already have established a considerable subscriber base, information about it shouldnt be too hard to obtain. Not needing a telephone line looks like a major advantage to me to attract users. Though, I assume this causes higher investments on the head end. Who covers these costs? If the cable companies do, I see it as a ?switching cost" element. Do you have some further details spared for us? :-) Martin