How the papers see IT on Friday...

Friday 5 November: Round-up of the IT news from the national and international press.

Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen has said the antitrust crusade against Microsoft is likely to continue, reports The Guardian. With the judge preparing his preliminary findings, Andreessen has predicted further legal action against Microsoft's position in the computing industry.

The dispute over rights for the Amazon name has been settled, writes USA Today. Feminist bookstore Amazon had filed a lawsuit against the Internet giant Amazon.com over the use of the name in April. The case has now been settled and dismissed allowing both companies to continue to use the name.

The Financial Times reports that insurer Royal & Sun Alliance has said it is less worried than previously about having to make Year 2000 problem related insurance payouts. The company yesterday reported a six per cent fall in profit, but expects its share price to rise once fears about Y2K have subsided.

Disney has reported a drop in fourth quarter profit, from $296 million this time last year to $85 million, writes The Washington Post. The earnings include Disney's acquisition of Internet search engine Infoseek.

France Telecom is to buy Polish operator Telekomunikacja Polska, reports the Financial Times. US operator SBC Communications pulled out of the bidding race yesterday leaving France Telecom as first choice. BT had signalled that it was interested in acquiring the Polish firm but said yesterday that it was not discussing a bid.

Nasdaq, the US electronic stock market, plans to launch a pan-European exchange based in London, writes The San Jose Mercury. The new stock market, Nasdaq Europe, is scheduled to open for business in the fourth quarter of 2000. The London Stock Exchange launched its technology index Techmark last week.

Internet auctioneer Ebay has said it has taken technical steps to block Auctionwatch.com from its site after the companies failed to reach a licensing agreement, writes the Wall Street Journal. Ebay objected to Auctionwatch.com's strategy of taking information from Ebay's database and displaying it next to items from rival auction services.