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An email campaign designed to urge Iraqi military and civilian leaders to distance themselves from Saddam Hussein has begun, U.S. defense officials confirmed this weekend. The plan is part of an elaborate psychological warfare scheme being used by U.S. Special Operations as war with Iraq looks like more and more of a reality. For the past month, U.S. planes have been broadcasting messages over Baghdad air space. The government has employed radio broadcasts and leaflets in the past to communicate with Baghdad's residents. The email campaign, however, is a bit more explicit. The emails have the subject “Important information.” The messages, written in Arabic, encourage recipients to inform United Nations weapons inspectors of any information that would help them perform their duties. It also warns recipients that they must “protect their families.” Not many Iraqis actually have access to email, which is controlled by the government. Only government officials, senior public servants, scientists and some academics receive email at all, and Iraqi authorities are now blocking access to the system to stop the spread of the emails. Although Iraq does have internet capabilities, too, the government restricts many sites and blocks foreign email servers.
AOL official: More layoffs on the way
America Online chief financial officer Wayne H. Pace said Thursday that the ISP will cut more jobs in the next few months and slash its $1 billion marketing budget to help trim costs. AOL, which employs about 18,000, began layoffs at the end of last year after revealing that ad revenues will be off 40 to 50 percent for the coming year. New subscriptions have stagnated at the market’s most dominant internet service provider. Pace, appearing at a West Coast media conference, told his audience that managers have been advised to use “zero-based budgeting,” which he defined as justifying any dollars spent. In order to begin the much-publicized turnaround plan revealed by AOL head Jonathan Miller last month, the company needs to cut costs dramatically. Pace said that computer network costs will also be chopped. He also said that AOL is the only major unit of parent company AOL Time Warner that is underperforming. Last week the company revealed that it will record a non-cash charge of $10 billion, a direct result of AOL’s devaluation.
AOL, Homestore bury hatchet, sign new deal
In other America Online news, the extended conflict between Homestore Inc. and AOL, which began in October 2001, has finally ended. The two reportedly signed a deal late last week for an 18-month marketing pact. In 2001, Homestore overstated advertising revenues in a scandal that also tainted America Online’s books. The latter is currently conducting an internal investigation; the Securities and Exchange Commission has made similar overtures. Several Homestore executives were convicted for the fraud. Homestore will pay AOL $7.5 million to negate the old marketing pact. According to the new agreement, Homestore will have exclusive rights to provide AOL’s real estate listings. In return, AOL will offer more promotion of Homestore offerings in the AOL’s redesigned real estate listing section. The deal's value totals $22.5 million.
Satellite radio company has 360K subscribers
XM Satellite Radio Holdings registered 145,000 mew subscribers during the recent fourth quarter, raising its subscriber total to 360,000. That’s a 72 percent increase over the third quarter total. The company says it expects to reach 1 million subscribers in 2003. It met its 2002 goal of 350,000. While satellite radio has yet to prove itself as a necessity or even a popularly indulged luxury – XM and rival Sirius Satellite Radio have both lost money – XM says 2003 could be a breakout year. General Motors will begin installing satellite radio receivers in its new cars, and portable satellite devices will be introduced.
Who rocker questioned in child porn probe
Pete Townsend, guitarist for world-famous rock band The Who, has been questioned in an internet child pornography probe in London. The songwriter admits that he did pay to view such a web site, but says that he did it for research purposes. He says he is currently involved in a campaign against the sexual abuse of children. He told London reporters, “To fight against pedophilia, you have to know what’s out there.” His response came after the Daily Mail reported Saturday that Scotland Yard is investigating “an internationally famous musician” who allegedly logged on to an American pay-per-view site. British officials recently launched a media blitz against internet pedophilia, and are in the midst of their biggest-ever investigation, code-named Operation Ore. That’s resulted in the arrests of about 1,300, including a judge, several magistrates and a deputy headmaster.
January 13,2003© 2003 Media Life
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