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To: Jenna who wrote (18779)	11/18/1998 9:38:00 PM
From: Starduster	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 120523

Thanks Jenna, sincerely, Sandie

To: Jenna who wrote (18779)	11/18/1998 11:03:00 PM
From: Starduster	Respond to of 120523

09:42 PM RTR FOCUS-Microsoft to sell stake in RealNetworks 09:35 PM RTR Government consultant calls Microsoft a monopoly 09:19 PM RTR Sun ruling could boost U.S. case against Microsoft 07:37 PM RTR Netscape, AOL shares surge on report of browser talks 07:12 PM RTR Sun ruling may boost U.S. case against Microsoft More News... How Do I... FOCUS-Microsoft to sell stake in RealNetworks November 18, 1998 09:42 PM (Adds RealNetworks CEO comment grafs 8-9; analyst comments, background grafs 12-15) By Duncan Martell SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. MSFT , whose alliance with RealNetworks Inc. RNWK foundered earlier this year, said on Wednesday it would sell its 10 percent stake in the maker of highly popular software for playing audio and video over the Internet. Both Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft and RealNetworks make so-called streaming media software for receiving audio and video over the Internet. RealNetworks software is among the most widely downloaded on the Internet, with some 35 million registered users and another 600,000 copies downloaded weekly. Last year, Seattle-based RealNetworks forged a deal with Microsoft to integrate its technology with Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser, but that alliance collapsed amid bitter recriminations. The companies have since begun to carve out divergent strategies for distributing media via the Internet. "Microsoft owning a stake in its competitor in this area did not quite seem to be the best course, so they decided to sell it," said Ron Rappaport, an analyst at Zona Research. "It comes down to this: Does Coke own a stake in Pepsi?" Based on RealNetworks' closing stock price on Wednesday of $42.875, down $1.625, on Nasdaq, Microsoft's stake of 3.34 million shares is valued at $143.2 million. In after-hours trading, however, RealNetworks stock fell to $35 on Instinet. Microsoft took the RealNetworks stake in July 1997 for $8.99 a share, Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Greg Maffei said in an interview. "The stake just doesn't make sense since we're not working together and cooperating in the partnership in the same way that we once were," Maffei said. RealNetworks agreed. "It (the Microsoft move) makes a fair amount of sense and is no surprise at all," RealNetworks Chairman Rob Glaser said in an interview. "We feel very optimistic about our ability to maintain market leadership share against any competitor." RealNetworks makes its basic players available for free, hoping to drive demand for the lucrative back-end software needed by companies that want to distribute audio and video content over the Internet and internal computer networks. In recent months, RealNetworks has announced a succession of deals with other companies, including Microsoft's archrival Netscape Communications Inc. NSCP . It also has forged alliances with America Online Inc. AOL and International Business Machines Corp.'s Lotus Development. Some 85 percent of the media sent over the Web is done using RealNetwork's technology, said John Powers, an analyst at BancBoston Robertson Stephens, who tracks RealNetworks. RealNetworks stock also plunged in July when Glaser -- a former Microsoft executive -- testified before the U.S. Senate, claiming that Microsoft disabled its product and that it designed software designed intentionally to do so. Microsoft countered that the problem with running RealPlayer on Microsoft's Windows operating system was a bug in RealNetworks' software, not Windows itself. "Anytime Microsoft does something that's perceived as negative to another company, the stock will get decimated," Powers said. "But the partnership with Microsoft was never a substantial part of the success of RealNetworks." Maffei said Microsoft sent a letter June 24 to RealNetworks indicating its preference to sell its stake through a stock offering to the public. While RealNetworks initially expressed interest, Maffei said it later backed away from the offering. How long it takes Microsoft to dispose of the stake will depend on market conditions, as well as the volume of RealNetworks stock that is traded each day to allow for selling of such a large position without the stock falling precipitously and hurting Microsoft's profits on the sale. Microsoft stock fell $2.13 to $109.75 on Nasdaq. The company announced the news after the close of regular trading. ((San Francisco bureau, 415 677-2542 duncan.martell@reuters.com)) REUTERS

To: Jenna who wrote (18779)	11/18/1998 11:12:00 PM
From: Burjis S.	Respond to of 120523

Jenna, Thanks for VNWK bought it at 30.20 and today it moved up 2 13/16 to 32 9/16 on 6 times the daily volume. Is it still worthwhile getting into MALL and NSCP? Your ideas please. Best wishes, Burjis

To: Jenna who wrote (18779)	11/19/1998 8:50:00 AM
From: Joseph Waligore	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 120523

Jenna, based on your recommendation, I have been checking out MMCN. Any reasons to think that it has recovered from its troubles? In particular, any reason to think it will continue to grow considering its downgrade by HQ because MMCN saw slowing future sales? And is CSCO still going to buy from them? Thanks for your recommendation on NMGC. MMCN seems like NMGC but I am not as confident of MMCN's future. Thank you.