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NOTE: New List: Y2K Plan

http://www.bestnet.org/~jwalker/ml.htm

Topic: Common sense discussion of the Year 2000 problem and what
steps we can take to minimize the effect on ourselves and
families.

You can also send a message to:

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Hunger HURTS, let's make sure everyone has enough this holiday season!
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Can E-Commerce Escape the Year 2000 Bug?

By Lucie Kim
Staff Writer, E-Commerce Times
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/news/articles/981202-1a.shtml

According to a current Gallup Poll survey, seventy-five percent of
small-business owners have not taken any steps towards Year 2000
compliance, potentially crippling an estimated 700,000 out of 23
million small businesses, as a result of apathy. Likewise, many
large corporations are viewed as being ill-prepared for Y2K
computer-related problems associated with the turn of the century.

In this exclusive report, the E-Commerce Times investigates the
first non-negotiable deadline in the history of mankind, to find out
how online businesses will fare when clocks around the world strike
12:00 a.m. on January 1, 2000.

While alarmists have been predicting a technological doomsday
resulting from the shutdown of infrastructures all over the world,
on the other hand, skeptics shrug off the notion that anything as
trivial as a change in date could bring major cities to a grinding
halt. In fact, the truth about the Y2K impact lies somewhere between
the myths and hype.

The Web Will Survive... For the Most Part

Colin Mahony, an analyst with the Yankee Group research firm in
Boston, says that the Web will survive. "[Y2K] is an issue, and
there will be systems that won't work. Depending on the percentage of
affected areas, there will be a performance lag, but the Web world,
overall, will remain intact."

Although it would seem that the networking nature of the Internet
would be its very downfall, Mahony sees the Web structure as a
stronghold. "The Internet is a network of many computers," he says.
"If one computer is not Y2K compliant, the rest of the network won't
break down."

Jack Staff, Chief Economist for Zona Research, an Internet
consulting and research firm based in Redwood City, CA, sees the
impact as minimal. "The Year 2000 problem probably won't affect all
components of the Internet in the same way," Staff says. "In most of
these applications, business-to-consumer transactions will not likely
be an issue," according to Staff. "But business-to-business
applications are more likely to be an issue, especially where there
are dedicated Web servers that interface with legacy systems."

Better Be Prepared

In a speech to the National Press Club on July 15, 1998, Sen. Robert
Bennett (R-Utah), chairman of the Special Committee on the Year 2000
Technology Problem, said that, "Civilization as we know it will not
end," while recommending that it would be important to "document
sensitive information on paper, and store some essentials in the
basement."

In addition to the breakdown of computing equipment, online
businesses have the additional concern of the "business supply chain"
being interrupted. The Small Business Administration's report on the
Year 2000 problem notes that a business must buy goods and services
from some vendors, and sell goods and services to others, which is
part of a "chain." If trading partners fail due to the Year 2000 bug,
a business' cash flow can suffer critically. Sen. Bennett has
surmised that, "supermarkets could be closed for a few days because
supplies may be disrupted."

Requiring Compliance

What does this mean for Internet entrepreneurs? The Internet will
not be destroyed, or come to a halt, but the oncoming 21st century
will require businesses, both large corporations and smaller stores,
to make efforts toward Y2K compliance in order to survive. This is
especially true for companies that depend on Internet-based revenue.
For example, community site GeoCities is requiring Y2K compliance
from their e-commerce partners.

"The year 2000 issue is something we take very seriously," says
Bruce Zanca, Vice President of Communications at GeoCities. "Because
of the age of our company, most of the applications we've built into
our infrastructure aren't more than 2 to 4 years old, so the
technical aspect of the Y2K issue hasn't been a challenge. But, it
does factor into our operation, so far as the other companies and
business partners we transact with. We have a clause regarding Y2K
compliance written into all our contracts. Nowadays, everyone wants a
safe harbor for Internet activities, and assurances that companies
they associate with have considered this issue in their business
practices."

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Also in this issue:

- Millenium bug panic warning
    Start hoarding now government tells families
    Britons have been warned to stock up with two weeks' emergency food
    rations in anticipation of millennium bug-related shortages.
- Net-porn law may hinder mainstream Web businesses
    (IDG) -- Rick Groman has spent almost four years creating a
    profitable Web site for West Stock, his 22-year-old stock photography
    service. But all of his efforts may come to nothing: A new federal
    antismut law could put his and thousands of other mainstream Web
    businesses out of business. At least, that's the contention.
- Can E-Commerce Escape the Year 2000 Bug?
    According to a current Gallup Poll survey, seventy-five percent of
    small-business owners have not taken any steps towards Year 2000
    compliance, potentially crippling an estimated 700,000 out of 23
    million small businesses, as a result of apathy. Likewise, many
    large corporations are viewed as being ill-prepared for Y2K
    computer-related problems associated with the turn of the century.
- Think tank warns of cyberterrorist plots
    Research suggests that America needs to prepare for Net warfare.
    (IDG) -- Cyberterrorists are plotting all manner of heinous attacks
    that if successful could "destabilize and eventually destroy
    targeted states and societies," according to a gloomy new report from
    the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
- One wireless way to the Net
    It's little wonder that services linking hand-held computers to the
    Internet wirelessly have so far failed as mass-market products.
    Consider the downsides of today's services:
- Flick of the clicker makes Internet a little less remote
    LOS ANGELES - Wink. WebTV. They are companies whose names carry a
    suggestion of enticement, even entrapment.
- New, unusual virus found
    Some companies that make virus protection software -- and thus have
    a commercial interest in telling us these things -- report they have
    seen a new, though rare, strain of virus notable because it can be
    embedded in hypertext markup language, or HTML pages, the documents
    that make up Web pages.
- The Gulf War moves to the Web
    Saddam Hussein does not have a personal Web page. In fact, there are
    fewer than 10 commercial Web sites in all of Iraq, which has been
    under United Nations imposed sanctions for eight years, and which
    places tight controls on its citizens' access to the Internet.
- Is the Internet the new town hall?
    Not yet, but it has increased political participation, experts say.
- Least Connected Nation Status
    As the bombs fall, Iraqis are not heading for the Net to connect
    with loved ones or pass on information to relatives abroad. Though
    email is increasingly used as a grassroots communications link in
    times of conflict, Iraq has no Internet systems or services
    whatsoever. Not only are computers prohibited by United Nations
    sanctions, but phone lines damaged in the 1991 Gulf War have never
    been replaced.
- New Lists and Journals
    * NEW: PDF-Basics - a '101'-level list for newcomers to Adobe
           Acrobat software & pdf files
    * NEW: Attention Deficit Disorder - The  ADDvocate [TM]
    * NEW: Cyberculture Email List



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