Last updated: Tuesday, August 26, 1997, 8:30 a.m.
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Server deal: NEC and Microsoft will jointly develop hardware and software for network servers, the companies said today.

Encryption ban loses: A federal judge in San Francisco ruled again yesterday that the federal encryption export ban is unconstitutional; since the case is headed for appeal, however, she would not issue an injunction forbidding enforcement of the law.

Gateway 2000, which had planned to start assembling PCs this fall in a temporary facility in Salt Lake City, will now wait for its new factory to open in spring.

Telecommunications companies that had hoped to get a foot in the door in China were disappointed yesterday when the Chinese government decided not to lift a ban on foreign investment.

Voting by modem: Astronaut David Wolf will pioneer more than just his work on Mir; he'll vote by e-mail, a first in Texas, and maybe the world.

Just don't ask for contributions by e-mail: Some big-time political contributions are starting to come from the high-tech industry, a study by the Center for Responsive Politics finds. The computer industry spent $7.3 million in the 1995-96 election cycle, it says.

Netscape sales: As part of its effort to distribute 100 million copies of its software, Netscape will sell three versions of its software via retail outlets. Or you can just download it from the Net for a free 90-day trial.

Backbone available: PSINet, playing Luke Skywalker to UUNet's Darth Vader, will let small ISPs connect for free to its backbone.

Hot market: You know that a lot of really good engineers come from India. You know that Bangalore has built its own Silicon Valley. But did you know that IBM and Compuserve have just announced ventures that will expand their presence in the Indian market?

Here's a fight to avoid: A leading spammer may sue crackers who broke into his files and messed up the web site as well as internal files. CyberPromotions chief Sanford Wallace says the hackers "left a big trail evidence."

It's not over til the fat lady sings: Microsoft is poised, but not certain to become the dominant player on the Net, a study by Jupiter Communications says.

META warning: Web site developers have known for years how to hide keywords in their code in order to get more attention from search engines. Now, some so-called experts are advising that you hide brand names in your code but there's a problem -- it may get you sued.

Prodigy has sold its network to a Texas company for $5 million, Interactive Week reports.

Write once, run at once: Sun, Netscape and IBM are reportedly agreeing upon a single Java run-time, which could help Java achieve a bit more uniformity within those companies' products and sites.

No worries, man: Scare stories on Net security are almost as common as spam, so listen up to what the National Computer Security Association found in a couple of surveys: there are nagging problems, but little evidence of impending doom. (We might point out that only half of the network managers who were interviewed had installed firewalls on their systems, so they may be unaware of lurking hazards.)

Back to the future: In a few months, Internet2, the ultra-high speed network for universities and government, launches. At the same time, the U.S. government plugs in its own Next Generation Internet. The commercial Net is keeping a watchful eye on developments, hoping to incorporate its lessons in the mainstream Net.

Passenger pigeons versus wireless modems: Sometimes the best technology is no technology.

Intel chips look forward to Win98



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