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To: Dealer who wrote (53636)7/10/2002 12:28:25 AM
From: Dealer  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 65232
 
Internet Access at Airports Takes Off with Cisco Mobile Office
Cisco Wireless Technology Will Help Business Travellers to Access the Internet From Their Personal Computers and PDAs Wherever and Whenever They Choose at Airports Throughout Europe, Middle East and Africa
LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 9, 2002-- Cisco Systems today announced that it is working with Internet access providers across Europe to equip international airports with broadband technologies and enable high-speed, secure Internet access for business travellers on the move. In total, 19 EMEA airports are using the Cisco Mobile Office, providing an ever-increasing number of business travellers with the benefits of wireless, high-speed Internet connectivity.

Cisco Mobile Office is a mobility solution that enables business professionals to have reliable and highly-secure broadband access to the Internet -- on the move, at home, or at work. It combines a range of Cisco wired and wireless products and technologies, including Aironet Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Long-Reach Ethernet (LRE), Building Broadband Service Manager (BBSM) software, and Cisco's Virtual Private Network (VPN) technology, which supports secure remote-access from numerous devices, such as a laptop or personal digital assistant (PDA).

Airport authorities looking to improve their facilities for business travellers, increase revenue and embrace modern technology are turning to the Cisco Mobile Office to offer wireless connectivity from any computer device. Today's sophisticated business travellers are now able to securely access the Internet and their corporate networks, enabling them to be more productive while travelling from one location to another.

As the second busiest German airport, Munich airport handles up to 96,000 passengers a day and is a key hub for the travelling business community in Germany. To enable business travellers to use their time constructively while at the airport, Munich offers wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) access in terminal 1.

"The terminal has become a point of international communication, not just for passing through," said Michael Zaddach, Vice President Information Systems at Munich International Airport. "With Cisco's equipment we can help ensure that business travellers are able to conduct business while waiting for their flights. Waiting time has been made active time."

Ataturk Airport at Istanbul, Turkey incorporated the Cisco Mobile Office into the construction planning of the airport in 1999. The solution incorporates a customised service for travellers providing broadband wireless Internet access including flight and duty free shopping information. Cisco Mobile Office is also one of the highest quality mobile communication tools for airport workers on the ground giving Ataturk the leading edge in airport management and facilities.

"Ataturk airport was planned to be the principal international hub in Turkey and we wanted to offer business travellers the best facilities while on the move," commented Engin Arikan, General Manager of Mobynet, a leading wireless network service provider. "With all airport lounges, restaurants and bars equipped with wireless technology, customers can choose where to log on and work. Being able to access their corporate networks helps ensure they can be as productive as if they were at their office desk. Thanks to Cisco we are providing an indispensable service to our business customers."

Copenhagen Airport has installed three Cisco access points, which provide wireless connectivity across all international areas of the airport. "We designed the service to be as easy to use as possible with no specific software or laptop set-up requirements," said, Henrik Bjorner Soe, Director of Business Development at Copenhagen Airports. "When the service was first available we offered it to travellers free of charge. From February 2002 a charge is payable, but as all major credit cards are accepted the service continues to be very user friendly."

Market research firm IDC predicts that by 2006 there could be approximately 18,000 venues offering wireless and fixed connectivity in Western Europe. "Offering WLAN access to visitors will help location owners, like airport authorities, retain and gain visitor satisfaction. In addition, mobile operators are interested in providing WLAN access to complement their GPRS and UMTS offerings," said Jan Hein Bakkers, Research Analyst, IDC Networking Expertise Centre.

Gilles Nembe, Cisco Mobile Office Product Development Manager, EMEA at Cisco Systems, said: "With the proliferation of business travel and demand for business flexibility and remote working, Cisco Systems is looking forward to working with more international airports to provide the technology for a seamless, productive work experience for those on the move."



To: Dealer who wrote (53636)7/10/2002 1:21:47 PM
From: stockman_scott  Respond to of 65232
 
The Corporate Scandals: Coming Clean

The New York Times
Editorial
July 10, 2002

When George W. Bush speaks about corporate misbehavior and self-dealing by business insiders, he perches on a platform much weaker than the one from which he launched the war on terrorism. Instead of the sense of resolve and determination he showed after Sept. 11, the president is still struggling to prove that his past business dealings have not made him a product of the very system he now denounces. The president dismisses criticism of his record as political. But if he expects to restore confidence in corporate America, he needs to get his own house in order first.

On Monday the president attempted to explain why the methods he employed as an oil company executive years ago are different from the insider trading and creative accounting now undermining the credibility of corporate America. He made the disastrous mistake of arguing that in his case, accounting rules were "not always black and white." For a president whose foreign policy, and entire political outlook, is based on the idea that the world can indeed be divided into good and bad, black and white, nothing could have sounded worse.

The president needs to speak much more frankly about the money he made in selling his faltering oil company to Harken Energy of Texas — and later selling Harken shares shortly before the company's stock price collapsed. Harken also engaged in questionable bookkeeping practices while Mr. Bush served on its board. While the S.E.C. has found no illegalities, he would be a more persuasive advocate of reform if he found a way to acknowledge that this deal, the foundation of his personal fortune, is not a shining example of the stern code of responsibility he now demands that executives follow.

The most sensitive spot in Mr. Bush's résumé has always been the strong suspicion that his success as a businessman was due in the main to his family connections. That becomes relevant if it means that the president places too much emphasis on personal loyalty and team spirit. It is not enough for Mr. Bush to declare that someone in his administration is a good man. He needs to show that he understands that good men sometimes do bad things when they are entrusted with power, and that it is the government's job to keep them accountable.

Mr. Bush has repeatedly failed to make tough personnel decisions about people he regards as part of the team. It is inexcusable that Tom White, a former Enron executive, is still holding his job as Army secretary. And any clear-sighted administration would realize that Harvey Pitt, a former lawyer for the accounting industry, is not the right advocate as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission for tough new accounting standards long opposed by the industry.

The administration was overly permissive when it came to demanding that cabinet members follow the rules for divesting themselves of their personal stock holdings. And Mr. Bush sees nothing wrong with the fact that Vice President Dick Cheney's energy task force still refuses to release the names of the businessmen who advised the administration on its energy policy. Now Mr. Cheney's former company, Halliburton, is being investigated by the S.E.C. for practices carried out while he was in charge. The public needs some frank explanations, but Mr. Cheney has declined to comment.

It's far too late for Mr. Bush to go back and demonstrate that he could have been a successful businessman even if his name were George Walker. What we need is a president who sets an example of the standards he wants corporate America to adopt. If he can't do that, his critics will have grounds to poke at that tender spot in his personal history again and again.

nytimes.com



To: Dealer who wrote (53636)7/10/2002 9:56:06 PM
From: stockman_scott  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 65232
 
Just send scoundrels to jail

By Lawrence J. McQuillan
USA Today
7/10/2002
usatoday.com

With each new corporate accounting confession, the response from politicians has been predictable: Blame the other political party for creating a ''climate of abuse'' and advance regulations to ''fix the problem.''

Democrats want to create a new government agency, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, to regulate auditors of publicly traded companies. President Bush and the Republicans want to strengthen the Securities and Exchange Commission by hiring 100 new enforcement officers and expanding its budget by $120 million. Creating more layers of bureaucracy and pages of regulations, however, will only give corporate scoundrels more places to hide and more opportunities to change the rules in their favor. What's needed is prosecution, and lots of it, not more regulation.

The government has three functions in the marketplace: enforce contracts, secure private property rights and prevent fraud. Recent accounting scandals have essentially been schemes by corporate officers, directors and their auditors to transfer wealth from one group of investors to another -- especially themselves -- by fraudulently misrepresenting the financial condition of their firms in order to deceive investors. Quite simply, this is criminal fraud and it's the government's responsibility to jail those responsible. Thousands of companies are participating in this culture of deceit because crooked businessmen have little to fear.

Before Enron there was Sunbeam, Waste Management, Bankers Trust, Citigroup and others. Each case involved financial crimes. Fines were paid, shareholders took their hit, the government took its cut, but not one executive spent one day in the hoosegow.

In 2000, federal prosecutors charged 8,766 people with white-collar crimes, but only 226 involved securities or commodities fraud. From 1992 to 2001, SEC attorneys referred 609 cases to the Justice Department for possible criminal charges. Only 87 execs went to jail. The government has failed to protect investors and workers from corporate fraud, corruption and obstruction of justice by not putting the country-club boys behind bars to serve real jail time.

Markets did their job in response to accounting improprieties by quickly re-valuing America's 17,000 publicly traded companies. Now the government must do its job by punishing those who cooked the books.

A sound financial system requires clear accounting principles and strict enforcement by the Justice Department of existing fraud and corruption laws. Doubling jail time for corporate fraud, as President Bush proposed Tuesday, without enforcement, will have little effect. Americans deserve a government that treats Wall Street crime as seriously as Main Street theft. American investors deserve financial statements that reflect fact, not fantasy. Politicians should stop building bureaucratic fiefdoms and start jailing corporate criminals.

Lawrence J. McQuillan is director of the Center for Entrepreneurship at the California-based Pacific Research Institute.

Tougher enforcement, not more rules, will send proper message.