1996
Amiga Technologies GmbH announces the availability of an Amiga computer-based Internet surfer, which consists of an Amiga 1200 with a hard drive, a 14.4 fax modem, and an assortment of bundled Internet software.
Apogee Software releases the first-person shooter (FPS) Duke Nukem 3D for personal computers. Visit the game’s official website. BBFC: 18 ESRB: M (Mature) OFLC: MA15+
The Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) announces that it will exit the home computer market and discontinue development of the Starion computer line. Visit the official DEC website.
The Star Trek: Voyager episode “Threshold” first airs. (No. 132) In it, Paris breaks the Warp 10 barrier, only to discover that the test flight comes a high price. Memory Alpha entry
The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit upholds the conviction of Robert and Carleen Thomas of the Amateur Action BBS on obscenity laws. In the summer of 1994, the two were convicted of violating anti-obscenity laws, on the grounds that their California bulletin board system (BBS) was used to transmit image to Tennessee, where they were considered to be obscene material. The case raises issues over the meaning of community standards in regard to the net. Read an article discussing the issue entitled, “BBS Obscenity Case Raises New Legal Issues.”
1997
America Online (AOL) announces a plan to offer online credit to compensate subscribers for not providing the unlimited Internet promised with the introduction of its new flat-fee pricing policy in December. Later in the day, AOL takes a stronger stand in order to appease the attorney generals of thirty-seven states by pledging to invest US$350 million to upgrade the network and to temporarily restrict membership at eight million users.
1998
Best Buy announces plans to stop selling Apple Macintosh computers at its 284 retail stores.
The website of Connectos is hacked by “SisterMoon”, “Sn1per”, and “SpiritWalker”.
The website of Dragon Serve is hacked by “T.H.E.”.
The website of Finance Net is hacked by “KpZ”. View an archived version of the defaced website.
The website of Hack Chat is hacked by “Nation”.
The website of Resopal is hacked by “SisterMoon”, “Sn1per”, and “SpiritWalker”.
2000
The BattleBots event recorded in November is aired on Pay-Per-View. The show is a break-out success, generating an enormous response online, and a new interest for robotic tournaments which has waned with the diminishing ratings of Robot Wars.
Square holds a “Square Millennium” party at the Pacifico Yokohama convention center in Yokohama, Japan. Before an audience of ten thousand guests, Square announces three new Final Fantasy games to be released in Japan: Final Fantasy IX for the PlayStation in the summer, Final Fantasy X for the PlayStation 2 in spring 2001, and Final Fantasy XI for the PlayStation 2“>PlayStation 2 in summer 2001 release. Square also premieres a brief trailer for the Final Fantasy movie. Visit the official Square website.
2001
Apple Computer and Hewlett-Packard (HP) announce a joint project to invest US$41 million in the Ofoto, Inc. start-up, an online photography community.
Compaq introduces the iPaq Pocket PC H3150 handheld computer, featuring a 206MHz Intel StrongArm processor, 16MB RAM, and a grayscale screen. Price: US$349
Infogrames Entertainment announced the completion of its acquisition of Hasbro Interactive, now renamed “Infogrames Interactive” from Hasbro. The acquisition includes Atari video game titles and intellectual properties.
Maxim Integrated Products, Inc. reveals plans to acquire Dallas Semiconductor Corporation for US$2.5 billion in stock.
The Walt Disney Company reveals that it will shut down its Internet portal, Go.com, cutting four hundred jobs. The portal has been steadily loosing money, costing Disney over US$800 million just in second-quarter charges.
2002
Version 4.5 of the FreeBSD operating system is released. Visit the official FreeBSD website.
2003
AOL Time Warner posts a loss of US$98.7 billion dollars for the year 2002, the largest annual loss in US corporate history. The total includes a US$45.5 billion write down off the value of AOL. Visit the official website of AOL Time Warner.
Registration of the top level domain (TLD) for the Netherlands (.nl) opens to the general public.
Yahoo! introduces the LAUNCHcast Plus music subscription service. Visit the official LAUNCHcast Plus website.
2007
Symantec announces plans to acquire Altiris, a developer of service-oriented management software. Visit the official Altiris website.
YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley announces that the company will pay its content contributors a share of their videos’ advertising revenue. The site isn’t the first to take such steps. MetaCafe and Revver both already pay video providers. Visit the official YouTube website.
2010
The series finale of science fiction television series Dollhouse, “Epitaph Two: Return” airs on FOX. (No. 26) It was canceled due to its poor ratings, but the network warned director Joss Whedon early enough in the season that he was able to write a conclusion to the series’ storyline. The series ran for twenty-six episodes over the course of two seasons. Visit the official Dollhouse website. TV.com entry
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