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Amazon.com may add music to its wares in an effort to expand its thriving web shop. The e-tailer would not comment on the exact timing or confirm that music may, indeed, be among the new services sold on the site. But Amazon definitely is planning some extensions. The site added office products and apparel to its offerings last year. The push toward profitability will mean even more expansion this year. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos says music download sales have been considered “for years” but wouldn’t confirm after a shareholders meeting this week if the plan will proceed. The e-store currently offers music samples to customers buying CDs and also offers other downloads, such as ebooks, for sale. In other Amazon news, the company will continue to offer free shipping on most purchases of $25 or more.
Earthlink planning rich media ad blocking tool
Earthlink has moved to the next frontier in ad-blocking. The internet service provider will begin offering a program that blocks rich media ads, which make up an increasingly large segment of internet advertising, currently estimated at 25 percent. Rich media ads include those that fly around the page or sort of hover in front of the desired text for about five seconds before disappearing. Earthlink launched a popular pop-up blocker last August that has been downloaded roughly 1.2 million times. The new tool will allow users to specify sites where they would like to see rich media ads.
Controversial new college class: Virus writing 101
A controversial new fall course at the University of Calgary proposes to teach students a skill that could get them expelled, should they ever decide to use it: the art of virus writing. In “Computer Viruses and Malware,” students will learn to make and release their own programs of doom in an effort to better understand how to fight them. But the anti-virus industry objects. Many compare the class to a lesson in hacking or the like, saying that students could use the information to wreak havoc on the internet. They also question whether the class would actually prove educational and worry that viruses created within the “lab” environment accidentally could slip out into the real world. Viruses cost businesses billions of dollars each year by infecting systems and hindering email capabilities.
Guardian signs Baghdad blogger for column
Salam Pax, the mysterious Iraqi who became known as the Baghdad Blogger for his fascinating accounts of pre- and post-war Iraq, has found a much bigger audience. After being tracked down by Guardian reporter Rory McCarthy, the pseudonymous Pax has agreed to write a biweekly column for the U.K. paper. There have been endless rumors about the true identity of Pax, if he was, indeed, even a real person. Many thought he was a tool of either the Iraqi government or some other group trying to influence the opinions of those overseas. In his dispatches, which were discontinued for about six weeks during the war when Baghdad lost electricity and internet access, Pax was neither pro-Saddam nor pro-U.S., instead finding fault with both. His blog became distinctive because of its frankness. He disclosed his sexuality (he’s gay) and wrote about the many “disappearances” under the Saddam Hussein regime.
June 2, 2003© 2003 Media Life
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