Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Victor Lazlo who wrote (115467)	1/16/2001 9:05:58 PM
From: Mark Fowler	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164684

Wind 33 not bad Victor.

To: Victor Lazlo who wrote (115467)	1/16/2001 9:41:18 PM
From: Glenn D. Rudolph	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164684

This is an excerpt: newsfactor.com EXCLUSIVE: Microsoft, Amazon Appear To Sponsor Terrorist Web Site By Elizabeth Kiggen NewsFactor Network January 16, 2001 A Microsoft spokesman asserts that its bCentral banner ad is being used without the company's permission on terrorist organization Hizballah's Web site. In This Story: Mixed Response Iran-Backed Radicals Government Unaware Related StoriesAmid heightened U.S. concern over global terrorist attacks, two major U.S. companies, Microsoft Corporation (Nasdaq: MSFT) and Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN), appear to be supporting the Web site of terrorist organization Hizballah. The U.S. State Department has officially designated the vehemently anti-West Arab group a terrorist organization. As recently as Monday, the Web site of Iran-backed Hizballah's Lebanon-based television propaganda arm, Al-Manar TV, sported prominent banner ads from the two companies. Microsoft's bCentral banner appears on each page of the English-language section of the site, while Amazon's banner appears atop the Arabic-language pages. The Lebanon-based Web site refers to itself as the "Channel of Resistance and Liberation," and proclaims that it is "the first Arab establishment to stage an effective psychological warfare against the Zionist enemy." The first English-language page of the Hizballah site contains an appeal from its secretary-general for donations "for the Sustenance of the Intifadah" and a request for "support and cooperation for the liberation and uprising of the nation." Mixed Response A U.S. State Department spokesperson who spoke to the NewsFactor Network on condition of anonymity confirmed that Hizballah is on the Department's list of terrorist organizations. She added that Dan Sreebny, the Middle East Public Affairs Officer, would have no comment until after checking with officials at Microsoft and Amazon on Tuesday. Mark Thomas, Microsoft's international public relations manager, told the NewsFactor Network that the ad was "unauthorized." "It looks like someone used our banner ad without our permission," said Thomas. "We're contacting the site and asking them to remove that immediately. This is not something we did. We don't support political activities." However, the ad banner apparently originates from Microsoft bCentral's ClickTrade ad server. Similarly, the Amazon ad banner appears to originate from an Amazon ad server. Calls to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos were not returned at press time. The Seattle, Washington-based company's public relations office was also contacted, but no reply was issued. The U.S. Office of Counterterrorism, headed by Ambassador-at-Large Michael A. Sheehan, which coordinates U.S. counterterrorism efforts with foreign governments, was unavailable for comment. Iran-Backed Radicals The Hizballah site lists a Beirut street address, and gives the address of a Beirut bank and an account number for cash donations. A shopping link also appears on the site, although it is still under construction. Hizballah (Party of God) is a radical Shiite Moslem group dedicated to the creation of an Iranian-style Islamic republic and the removal of all non-Islamic influences from the area. Strongly anti-West and anti-Israel, they are sponsored by and closely allied with and often directed by Iran. According to the State Department, the group is known or suspected to have been involved in numerous anti-U.S. terrorist attacks, including the suicide truck bombing of the U.S. Embassy and U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut in October 1983, and the U.S. Embassy annex in Beirut in September 1984. The State Department also asserts that elements of the group were responsible for the kidnapping and detention of U.S. and other Western hostages in Lebanon. The group also allegedly attacked the Israeli embassy in Argentina in 1992. The State Department believes the group to be several thousand strong. Hizbollah operates in the Bekaa Valley, the southern suburbs of Beirut and southern Lebanon, with terrorist cells in Europe, Africa, South America, North America and elsewhere. They receive substantial amounts of financial, training, weapons, explosives, political, diplomatic and organizational aid from Iran and Syria, according to the State Department. Government Unaware U.S. government officials and spokespersons seemed to be unaware of the Web site and the advertisements when contacted. FBI spokeswoman Angela Beol declined to comment, while White House spokesman Mark Kitchens issued an official "no comment" to NewsFactor. The telephone at CIA headquarters went unanswered. According the State Department's Web site, U.S. counterterrorism policy includes a stance of making no concessions to or deals with terrorists; to bring terrorists to justice for their crimes; to isolate and apply pressure on states that sponsor terrorism to force them to change their behavior; and to bolster the counterterrorism capabilities of countries that work with the U.S. and require assistance.