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To: mr.mark who wrote (160)	11/19/2001 4:37:32 AM
From: Vendit™	Respond to of 1003

What affect do you think it would have on Internet message boards if the SEC placed all Portals such as INSP under the same regulations as they have stock Brokers/Dealers? This would include INSP, Yahoo, IHUB ect. SEC Announces Agenda, List of Participants for Portals Roundtable FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 2001-51 Washington, D.C., May 17, 2001 – As previously announced, on May 23, 2001, Acting Chairman Laura S. Unger will host a public roundtable discussion on issues related to relationships between broker-dealers and Internet web sites. With the growing complexity of the securities business and the expanding use of technology, the question of who is a broker is arising with increasing frequency. The goal of the Portals Roundtable is to better inform the Commission on these issues. Live audio of the discussion will be webcast free of charge by StreamOnSite.com. The webcast will be available live and later archived on the Commission's homepage at www.sec.gov................ sec.gov

To: mr.mark who wrote (160)	11/19/2001 4:44:59 AM
From: Vendit™	Respond to of 1003

Statement of John Scheibel Washington Counsel and Director of Government Relations Yahoo! Inc. Portals Roundtable: Relationships Between Broker-Dealers and Internet Web Sites May 23, 2001 Madam Chairman and Members of the Commission, Yahoo! appreciates the opportunity to appear before you today on this most important topic. Yahoo! is fully committed to the protection of Internet consumers and the investment area is no exception. Yahoo! is a pre-eminent Internet communications, commerce and media company, offering a comprehensive branded network of services to more than 192 million individuals worldwide each month. We are an aggregator and disseminator of information and advertising. We neither perform the functions of a broker-dealer nor do we hold ourselves out as a broker-dealer to our users. Those who come to Yahoo! understand this and recognize that if they seek to trade in securities, they must do so through a registered broker-dealer. We therefore respectfully submit, Madam Chairman, that Internet portals, such as Yahoo!, should not be regulated as broker-dealers. As an aggregator of information, Yahoo!'s objective is to facilitate ease of access to the incredible resources available on the Internet. We do this in a broad array of categories and subcategories, from Arts and Humanities, to Business and Economy, from Entertainment to Health, from News and Media to Recreation and Sports. While we have branched out considerably since the time that our founders began their directory in 1994, our commitment to making information available has never wavered. That is what we do. The quick, easy and personally tailored availability of information is good for our users as consumers, as citizens, as patients, as parents, as students and in any other capacity in which there is a need for such material. In addition to our directory, as a broad based Internet portal, we have a wide variety of offerings that number close to 90, including Yahoo! Sports, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Maps, chat rooms and clubs, movies and music, e-mail and instant messaging and dozens more. We also run a large amount of paid advertising, the content of which is the responsibility of our advertisers. Yahoo! Finance represents one of the approximately 90 properties on Yahoo! Yahoo! Finance makes available an extensive amount of information, all provided by third parties. It includes real time stock quotes provided by the markets, in-depth information on individual stocks, news on international financial and economic developments, and news and editorial comments from respected sources such as Business Week, Motley Fool, the Industry Standard, The Street.com, and Forbes. Since we share the Commission's desire to protect investors, it is important to make clear, not only what we do, but also what we don't do. We do not open, maintain, administer, or close investment accounts. We are not involved with the solicitation of trades or the resolution of problems or disputes involving brokerage accounts or related securities transactions. We do not hold ourselves out as a broker, as taking orders for securities, executing trades or as assisting in settling securities transactions, nor do we in fact perform any of these functions. We do not answer questions or engage in negotiations involving brokerage accounts or related securities transactions; we do not make recommendations regarding potential investments nor do we make suitability determinations for any investor. A significant part of Yahoo!'s income derives from advertising that can be found all over the site and that includes Yahoo! Finance. On Yahoo! Finance, as well as other parts of the site, we carry the advertising of broker-dealers. Payment for the advertising of broker-dealers is based on the number of page views, the number of click-throughs, the number of completed applications to open a brokerage account, or some combination thereof. We believe that the extensive financial and economic information available on Yahoo! Finance serves the interests of consumers. It is our sincere desire to continue to provide this quality and quantity of material. As has been widely discussed, the Internet economy is in transition. It is not absolutely clear exactly what course this new economy will take. If you agree that there is significant value to consumers in the information and services that we currently provide, we respectfully urge you to exercise caution in restricting the terms under which we can financially support the provision of such information and services. It is extremely important that we be allowed to avail ourselves of the economic efficiencies that the Internet brings to our relationships with our advertisers. We believe that allowing for flexibility in these relationships is consistent with protecting the interests of consumers. We do not believe that it would be appropriate to regulate Internet portals such as Yahoo! as broker-dealers, nor do we believe that it would serve the best interests of investors. sec.gov

To: mr.mark who wrote (160)	11/19/2001 4:53:07 AM
From: Vendit™	Respond to of 1003

I found a 3 hour SEC audio of this symposium which is aimed at placing 1938 SEC restrictions on all Portals and their members. Statement of Andre E. Owens Partner, Schiff Hardin & Waite Portals Roundtable: Relationships Between Broker-Dealers and Internet Portals May 23, 2001 It is a pleasure to participate in today's roundtable regarding relationships between broker-dealers and financial portals. As use of the Internet by investors continues to grow, we have seen an expansion of online services directed toward these investors, including online education, research, securities quotations, stock screening, portfolio aggregation and other services offered by portals. Given the growing use of portals by investors, the alliances that have developed between many unregistered portals and broker-dealers are a natural occurrence. Chairwoman Unger should be commended for her efforts not only in organizing this roundtable, but also for her earlier report on Online Brokerage, which set the stage for much of what undoubtedly will be discussed today. My perspective in this area stems primarily from the representation of broker-dealers engaging in advertising, co-branding, referral and other arrangements with portals. As in any venture, broker-dealers seek to minimize their potential exposure in connection with portal arrangements. The primary concern voiced by my clients relates to their potential liability in the event that a portal partner is later deemed to have acted as an unregistered broker-dealer. In addressing this issue, we focus on all of the traditional indicia of broker-dealer status – with a heavy emphasis on assessing permissible compensation structures, and determining how to avoid confusion among investors with respect to responsibility for content on the portal web site. A couple of points are worth noting with respect to portal compensation arrangements. First, the range of potential compensation arrangements between portals and broker-dealers depends only on the creativity of the business persons involved in the deal. Viewed as a continuum, compensation arrangements may vary from a fixed fee paid to a portal for an advertisement or referral arrangement (depending on other factors, perhaps the least risky compensation arrangement from a broker-dealer registration perspective) to compensation based on the number and/or size of transactions generated by referred accounts (most problematic under current Staff views). Along the way are a number of other alternatives – payments based on portal site "hits", the number of account opening applications referred from a portal or the number of accounts opened as a result of an advertisement or referral arrangement – any of which may be more or less acceptable from a regulatory or business perspective. In the absence of specific guidance on permissible referral compensation arrangements in the online context (with the exception of the 1996 Schwab Letter and some recent letters not involving portals), broker-dealers and portals have looked to Staff no-action letters involving so-called "finders" in the bricks-and-mortar world. However, as you know, there is a marked difference in the relief from broker-dealer registration that the Staff traditionally has afforded to not-for-profit entities and for-profit finders of customers for broker-dealers in terms of permissible compensation arrangements. (The rationale for this distinction is not always readily apparent to clients or outside counsel) Moreover, the Staff has cautioned financial portals against relying on these prior finder letters. Second, the limitations on the types of compensation permitted by Staff interpretations can create competitive disparity. The regulatory prohibition against paying transaction-based compensation to portals – as well as uncertainty as to just what constitutes "transaction-based," as opposed to "variable," compensation – can have a disproportionate impact on smaller and newly established broker-dealers. Such firms may have less ability to pay fixed fees for advertisements or referrals. Payment of a fixed fee also may be particularly risky when dealing with portals that do not have an established track record in terms of their ability to draw viewers or subscribers. The underlying concern with respect to transaction-based compensation is that it gives a portal a "salesman's stake" in generating a securities transaction. Viewed through a regulatory prism, one could envision disreputable portals modifying their content in an inappropriate or confusing manner to promote securities transactions in order to receive higher referral or advertising revenue. This concern is heightened, perhaps, by the fact that most broker-dealers exercise little, if any, control over the content on portals and, as a result, such content is not subject to NASD advertising rules. Without minimizing concerns over the content of portal web sites, there are a few measures already in place that may help address regulators' concerns in this area. First, both the NASD and the SEC have provided interpretive guidance about when a broker-dealer/issuer will be liable for content on a third-party web site. The NASD in particular has indicated that a broker-dealer may not establish hyperlinks to sites that the broker-dealer knows or should know contain false or misleading information. Moreover, many portals disclose the extent to which they or their broker-dealers partners are responsible for portal web site content. Some broker-dealers also use "landing pages" for persons clicking through to their sites disclaiming responsibility for information on the third-party web portal. Others have suggested disclosures along the lines of those required of investment advisor solicitors for portals referring customers to broker-dealers. Finally, the Commission, as well as private parties, may bring antifraud actions against persons publishing misleading information with respect to securities. These are just a few of the issues surrounding broker-dealer portal arrangements. I look forward to participating in today's discussion. sec.gov

To: mr.mark who wrote (160)	11/19/2001 12:16:00 PM
From: mnoize	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 1003

You don't think that the ihub's interface feels antiquated? Do you like the linear style, or is it that you're so used to that model, you couldn't see yourself switching? Especially in long, on-going conversations, I begins to drive me insane. = Jim = www.marketnoize.com