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Technology Stocks : IDT *(idtc) following this new issue?* -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Secret_Agent_Man who wrote (1878)	2/8/1999 12:57:00 PM
From: Tom Nealon	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 30916

The WSJ mentioned IDT (because they are a member of the International Council of Registrars) as a possible competitor to Network Solutions in the domain registration space today (also mentioned Deutsche Telecom and France Telecom) as the business gets opened up to competition. page B9 of the print edition.

To: Secret_Agent_Man who wrote (1878)	2/8/1999 1:37:00 PM
From: Secret_Agent_Man	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 30916

WSJ article:February 8, 1999 Guidelines Are Due on Competition In Web-Domain Name Registration By JOHN SIMONS Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL WASHINGTON -- Taking its first step toward breaking Network Solutions Inc.'s hold on registering Internet-domain names, a government-appointed panel is expected Monday to release a draft set of guidelines for potential competitors. The panel is expected to address whether to open the market to smaller, relatively inexperienced firms or limit it to larger, well-established entities such as telecommunications and Internet-service concerns. The report is expected after financial markets close Monday. The panel is holding the guidelines closely, partly because Network Solutions expects to make a secondary stock offering this week. After a public-comment period, the draft guidelines will be completed at the next board meeting of the nonprofit Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, in Singapore on March 4. Since 1992, Network Solutions has had an exclusive federal contract to handle distribution of Internet addresses ending in ".com," ".net," ".org," and ".edu." It charges $70 for the first two years of registration and $35 annually thereafter. In 1998, the company registered approximately 1.9 million new Internet addresses, nearly double the 960,000 in 1997. Last fall, the federal government began the process of opening up the domain-naming market, granting ICANN the authority to hammer out a plan. The domain-naming system is critical to a Web browser's ability to find a site on the vast Web or an e-mail message's ability to find its way around the world. Any foul-up could cause major Internet bottlenecks. ICANN by the end of March will pick five companies to test reliability of a competitive system. Among potential competitors, the 89 companies constituting the Internet Council of Registrars are looking for ways to augment other businesses. The council includes Deutsche Telekom AG, New Jersey's IDT Corp. and France Telecom Internet-service unit Transpac. Chairman Ken Stubbs noted that many companies realize domain registration may not be as lucrative in the future. "As more and more people get into this market and more domain names are introduced, this will become a commodity market," Mr. Stubbs said. Later this year, ICANN also will decide how to expand the domain-name market, adding so-called top-level domains -- for example, ".firm," ".shop" or ".web" -- to the pool that includes ".com," ".net" and the like.

To: Secret_Agent_Man who wrote (1878)	2/8/1999 5:41:00 PM
From: Marty Rubin	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 30916

(Just a CBS Update on Story) IDT's Net2Phone dials RealNetworks Web phone firm strikes co-marketing deal By Steve Gelsi, CBS MarketWatch Last Update: 4:31 PM ET Feb 8, 1999 Silicon Stocks Tech Report HACKENSACK, N.J. (CBS.MW) -- IDT's Net2Phone said Monday it reached a co-marketing deal with RealNetworks to offer its phone service over the personal computer to more than 50 million RealNetworks customers. Seattle-based RealNetworks (RNWK) will market IDT's Net2Phone (IDTC) as a brand that enables users to make phone calls from their PCs to any telephone in the world at reduced rates, in the RealStore and on RealNetworks international web pages. Shares of IDT rose 3/16 to 16 5/16 on Monday. RealNetworks dropped 3 3/4 to 65 1/4. Net2Phone enables voice data transmission over the Internet's packet switched network until it reaches traditional telephone lines. There, the signal is converted to the circuit switched network used by telephones, enabling the signal reception by any phone in the world. "RealNetworks is an ideal partner for Net2Phone, especially since all of their customers have multimedia PCs and are very Internet savvy," David Greenblatt, chief operating officer of Net2Phone, said in a statement. Selling points for RealNetworks customers include two-way audio streaming, and low-cost phone calling of 4.9 cents per minute on domestic calls. IDT's Net2Phone will get space for its brand on RealNetworks' home page and e-commerce area. In return, IDT will share revenue from its phone service with RealNetworks, an IDT spokes person said. The deal with RealNetworks follows Net2Phone relationships with Yahoo!, Excite, IBM Global Services, Creative Labs and broadcast.com. IDT has made news on Wall Street lately on talk that the provider of telephone and Internet access may take its Net2Phone public. IDT doubles as an Internet service provider, along with its role as a Web phone service company.