1993
A joint Senate Judiciary and Government Affairs Committee hearing is held to investiage video game violence. In particular, the committee examines both Mortal Kombat and Night Trap, a game containing a highly controversial full-motion scene in which a young girl in a nightgown is murdered. As a result of this and subsequent hearings, Night Trap is pulled from the shelves of F.A.O. Schwarz and Toys ‘R’ Us, and eventually, the game industry is forced by Congress to adopt a rating system before one was imposed upon it by legislation.
1995
Blizzard Entertainment releases the real-time strategy (RTS) game Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness for personal computers in the US. Visit the game’s official website. ESRB: T (Teen)
1996
Microsoft releases the final version of Internet Explorer 3.0 web browser for Windows 3.1. It’s the first major browser to feature support for Cascading Styles Sheets (CSS). It’s also the first version of the Internet Explorer to be developed completely independent of Spyglass source code, as well as the first version to introduce support for ActiveX controls, Java applets, inline multimedia, and the Platform for Internet Content Selection (PICS) system. Because of these features, version 3.0 will become the first version of the browser to gain widespread popularity, and it will become a major competitor of the popular Netscape Navigator.
Version 1.3 of the Unicos/mk operating system is released.
1997
Microsoft releases BackOffice Server 4.0. The package includes Windows NT Server 4.0, SQL Server 6.5, SNA Server 4.0, SMS 1.2, IIS 4.0, Exchange Server 5.5, Proxy Server 2.0, Index Server 2.0, Transaction Server 2.0, FrontPage 98, and Visual InterDev 1.0.
The website of Dragonserve Ltd is hacked by ” cArPaRtS nInJa TaSk FOrc3″. View an archived version of the defaced website.
The website of Plumas Sierra Local Net is hacked by “404″. View an archived version of the defaced website.
The website of the First Michigan Bank is hacked by “HYpeROn”. View an archived version of the defaced website.
1998
The CBS Corporation raises US$2.9 billion by selling a seventeen percent stake in Infinity Broadcasting Corp., its radio and outdoor advertising business. The initial public offering of stock is largest in the history of the media industry.
1999
The Quebec provincial government threatens Nintendo and Sony Corporation with a lawsuit if it doesn’t release French language versions of its popular video game products in Canada by year’s end.
2000
Bandai releases the WonderSwan Color video game system in Japan. The system features: a 3.072MHz 16-bit NEC V30MZ Clone CPU, 512KB RAM, and a 2.1 inch LCD reflective TFT screen. The device is available in five different color cases: Crystal Glass Black, Crystal Glass Blue, Crystal Glass Orange, Pearl Blue, and Pearl Pink. Price: ¥6,800 (US$65)
A digital cinema with six screens opened by T-Joy in Hiroshima, Japan becomes the first cinema in the world to rely solely on digital technology, though it does maintain a system of conventional film projection systems as a back-up.
2002
The trial of Jon Lech Johansen, better known as “DVD Jon,” begins with Johansen entering a plea of not guilty. Johansen is prosecuted by the Økokrim, a Norwegian crime unit responsible for investigating and prosecuting economic crime, pursuant to a complaint files by the United States DVD Copy Control Association (DVD-CCA) and the Motion Picture Association (MPA).
2005
The discovery of a security flaw in Firefox 1.5 is announced by the Mozilla Corporation. The flaw allows a hacker to freeze the browser.
Walden Media releases The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, directed by Andrew Adamson, to US theaters. The movie is based on the 1950 C. S. Lewis novel The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Produced on a budget of US$180 million, it will gross US$65,556,312 domestically in its opening weekend. IMDB listing (MPAA Rating: PG) Running Time: 2 hr 12 mins
Yahoo! acquires the del.icio.us social bookmarking website in a deal estimated to be worth between fifteen and thirty million dollars. Visit the official del.icio.us website.
2006
Mozilla Corporation releases its first alpha release of Firefox 3.0. Visit the official Firefox website. Code-name: Gran Paradiso
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