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A web site that reportedly is based in Afghanistan claims that it is displaying a message that came directly from Osama bin Laden. The site, Alneda.com, is just a few weeks old and serves as a clearinghouse of information for Afghanistan in the wake of the fall of the Taliban. Early last week, Alneda.com ran a six-page-long message that ostensibly came from bin Laden and three of his lieutenants, expressing sorrow over the demise of Pakistani religious scholar Shaikh Hamza Dani. Alneda.com has not revealed how it got the message or why it might be legitimate. If the message is really from bin Laden, Mullah Mohammad Omar, Mullah Mohammed Hasan, and Egyptian bin Laden follower Dr. Ayman I-Zawahiri, it implies that are they are still alive and at large.
NYC legal big castigates eBay for Sept. 11 items
New York City's chief lawyer struck out at eBay last week, ordering the online auction site to stop offering items disrespectful of the Sept. 11 tragedy. Top attorney Michael Cardozo sent a cease-and-desist letter to the company that reiterated the illegality of selling items that use city trademarks, like the badge of the Fire Department, without permission. He cited in particular a very graphic rescue audiotape containing detailed information not covered in the media, saying that such items represent "outrageous attempts to profit from a recent act of mass murder." EBay spokesman Henry Gomez was taken aback by the remarks, saying that the company carefully monitors the sale of all items, though there is often a lag. Cardozo suggested that eBay ban all items related to Sept. 11, as it did until Dec. 31 of last year. "I do hope to continue to persuade them," he said. "It's obvious much of what is on their web site is morally repugnant."
Angry South Korean emails clog Olympic server
South Koreans expressed their ire over the disqualification of their speed skater, Kim Dong-sung, on the internet. Technically he was the first skater over the finish line, but was disqualified because he obstructed American Apolo Anton Ohno, who took the gold. So many angry messages--16,000 or more--went out to the United States Olympics Committee on Thursday that its server crashed. Some of those emails expressed more than just anger, threatening Ohno’s person. Ohno has received a number of unpleasant emails directly, but says that they have not affected him. South Korean web sites filled up with anti-U.S. and anti-Ohno invective as well, accusing the referees of being biased in favor of the U.S. and inviting South Koreans to hassle the U.S. soccer team when it arrives there this June for the World Cup finals.
Defunct pix site may ask $s to get back old files
The sudden death of photo web site PhotoPoint.com two months ago left its 1.25 million users without any way to access the images they'd stored there. Realizing that consumers were more than a little irate about their losses, the site is trying to figure out how to restore the digital photos to its users. After going dark on its subscribers, PhotoPoint has made a tentative effort to get back in touch by posting a message on its web site letting people know that their photos were not deleted. However, it looks like the images are being held hostage. The message on the web site asks whether users would pony up $24.95 to get a CD with their photos on it. The site is also exploring the alternative of having users pay $5.95 a month to use a resurrected PhotoPoint, or transferring customers' photos and having them patronize another web site. Customers so far aren't happy about the prospect of paying to get their own digital property back.
Dueling sites for same
The Minneapolis CBS affiliate, WCCO-TV, is in the midst of a pitched battle over its web site. But this is no domain-name squabble. Instead, the station has launched its own web site, WCCOTV.com. In doing so, WCCO has alienated Internet Broadcasting Systems Inc., the company that developed and operates the station's previous official web sites, Channel4000.com and WCCO.com. The station was due to renew its contract with IBS, but took the preemptive move of setting up its own web site without consulting its former partner. Although the station initially dismissed this move as a mistake, the new web site is still online and causing confusion among WCCO viewers. The sites are quite similar, although the new site focuses more on local news than the old one. CBS parent company Viacom is moving to bring the WCCO web site in-house, so it looks like WCCOTV.com will win out, and the plug will be pulled on the old sites.
February 25, 2002 © 2002 Media Life
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