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****************************** WarpCast ******************************
Source: D Gartner (dgwhiz@earthling.net)
Moderator: Christopher B. Wright (wrightc@dtcweb.com)
**********************************************************************
 
==================================
      IACT Discovery Project
Final Posting of Action Letter #3!
==================================

DATE: 27th Jan 1999

  TO: IACT members and supporters;
      Users of the Internet and all platforms e.g. Linux,
      OS/2, Mac, DOS/Windows, BeOS, BSD, Solaris, Unix...

 BCC: Gov. officials; 3rd-party clients and partners of
      Compaq/AltaVista; IT journalists; related websites,
      newsgroups, lists 


NEWS FLASH! On the heels of our project, Compaq officially
announced it would form a `spin off` called the "AltaVista
Company" with an executive team borrowed directly from
Compaq. Moreover, Compaq/AltaVista will be *signing new
deals with Microsoft*, involving HotMail, MSN and Internet
e-commerce.

So the time is right for us to take action on behalf of all
computer users who want a free and open Internet-- an
Internet not ruled by the Microsoft monopoly. IACT has
collected nearly 600 signatures to add to the "Action
Letter #3" of our Discovery Project! The final posting of
Action Letter #3 is in our website's Connections section at

      http://pages.cthome.net/iact/iact-tell.html

along with two new "Viewpoints" pages offering commentaries
and more links. Please visit the updated pages, and forward
this note to interested individuals and groups.

Action Letter #3 began when we researched problems with the
Internet-based 'Discovery' service owned by AltaVista and
its parent company, Compaq. Although Discovery is promoted
as a "public" and "free" service to all Internet users, it
actually requires the public to use one, single proprietary
brand of software, and is incompatible with other Operating
Systems and browsers of the consumer's choice.

IACT offers a practical solution to the problem of making
Discovery truly accessible to *all* Internet users: any new
and advanced features that Discovery can give us should be
integrated into the existing AltaVista search engine--
which already is open, free and cross-platform.

Discovery is _not_ free and accessible, except to consumers
who already have purchased Microsoft Windows 9x or NT and
have installed a specified browser! Despite extravagant
claims that Discovery "brings unique search powers to all
types and levels of users" [see press release, linked on
IACT's Action Letter #3 "References" page], the fact is
that consumers with another type of platform and/or browser
are denied all of those benefits.

On Compaq/AltaVista's web pages, consumers are neither
clearly informed that Discovery is incompatible with
international standards, nor explicitly warned that access
is denied them unless they submit to using Microsoft's
proprietary formats. Adding to the confusion, Discovery has
been pushed by mainstream IT journalists who mimic the
company's own advertising claims and fail to give a deeper
objective analysis of the technical facts [see "Viewpoints,
pro & con" supplementary pages to IACT's Action Letter #3].
The remaining issue of whether these promotional claims
might be judged "deceptive advertising" is for consumers
and their lawyers as well as government officials to decide.

IACT urges Compaq/AltaVista to remove the Microsoft
blinders, and work with its software development partners 
e.g. Marimba, Teragram and Inxight, to build Discovery's
features right into the AltaVista search engine. IACT
suggests also that a cross-platform, open standards
approach to Internet services including Discovery actually
would make the companies _more_ profitable over the long
term-- and that such a combination of financial stability +
user accessibility would be in the mutual best interests of
company management, stockholders, and the worldwide
community of Internet users.


   Diane Gartner,
   IACT Co-ordinator
   dgwhiz@earthling.net
   
   The International Alliance for Compatible Technology
   ----------------------------------------------------
              http://pages.cthome.net/iact/
   ----------------------------------------------------
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