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To: umbro who wrote (25266)	11/9/1998 10:07:00 PM
From: Glenn D. Rudolph	Respond to of 164684

AT&T Develops Community Site By Elizabeth Clampet [November 9, 1998] AT&T Monday launched the WorldNet Community Port, a collection of sites created by WorldNet members. Community Port is a free site designed specifically for WorldNet subscribers. The site features 45 channels, called "ports of interest," as well as Web site building tools, a member showcase and chat areas. "AT&T has been making it easy for people to connect for over 100 years," said Dan Schulman, president of AT&T WorldNet Service. "It's a natural evolution to carry our expertise to the Web through the Community Port." While AT&T plans to target only its subscribers with the new service, the Community Port will compete with offerings from several other companies, including GeoCities and Tripod.

To: umbro who wrote (25266)	11/9/1998 11:26:00 PM
From: Glenn D. Rudolph	Respond to of 164684

Judge Clears Pact to Settle Suit Alleging Price Fixing by Brokers An INTERACTIVE JOURNAL News Roundup A federal judge approved a $1.03 billion class-action settlement between 37 brokerage firms and investors who alleged they were cheated by the firms in a price-fixing conspiracy involving Nasdaq-listed stocks. At the same time, the judge sliced the fees that were awarded to attorneys who represented investors to $143.8 million from the $174.8 million that lawyers had requested. The approved fee comprises about 14% of the settlement, down from the roughly 17% that was requested. The class-action settlement, which was brokered last December, is the largest civil antitrust settlement in history. The companies include the biggest names in the securities world, such as Merrill Lynch & Co., Goldman, Sachs & Co., and Citigroup's Salomon Smith Barney Inc. All of the firms denied any wrong doing in agreeing to the pact. The settlement follows government action to discipline the big trading firms for keeping stock prices artificially high -- a practice that investigators said increased company profits and raised costs for investors. As part of a civil antitrust settlement with the Justice Department, 24 of the 37 brokerages also have agreed to improve their compliance procedures and tape-record some phone calls made and received by traders. The deal approved by U.S. District Judge Robert Sweet adds to the pressure on securities dealers to comply with civil agreements aimed at leveling the playing field in the Nasdaq stock market for big and small investors. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission had censured the National Association of Securities Dealers, saying it broke federal securities laws and its own rules in failing to enforce the rules on the Nasdaq, the nation's second-largest stock market. The NASD agreed to spend $100 million over five years to improve market surveillance. The SEC had accused major Nasdaq dealers of refusing to trade with others who tried to offer investors a better price for a stock. By doing so, the powerful dealers colluded and tried to engage in price fixing, regulators said. Judge Sweet said that while a fee of 6% to 10% is more typical in cases that result in very large settlements like the price-fixing pact, the plaintiffs' attorneys in the case were entitled to "a substantial and noteworthy percentage in the upper range of fees awarded in such cases" because the recovery for investors was "exemplary." Arthur M. Kaplan, one of the lead attorneys representing investors in the case, said he hadn't yet seen the judge's ruling, but "it sounds as though it's probably a balanced opinion ... I'm sure the judge's opinion recognizes the settlement is a very considerable achievement." R. Bruce Holcomb, one of the defense attorneys who acted as a liaison for the firms in the case, declined to comment on the judge's ruling. In court papers, the plaintiffs' attorneys had argued that the 17% fee they sought was modest by the standards of class-action cases. And they said that without their willingness to take on the risks and complexities of pursuing the lawsuit, with no guarantee they'd win any money at all, the record-setting settlements would never have happened.