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Danyll Wills

THE war between Microsoft and CompuServe continues but the battlefield has changed. The heroes of hi-tech are now warring on the ancient ground of newspaper space.

   Recently, CompuServe took out advertisements in several large newspapers in the United States. The advertisement shows a large yellow sign that looks suspiciously like those road signs used to notify people that something is under construction. The text says: 'So, this is the Microsoft information superhighway? If you really want to get somewhere today, get CompuServe.'   The latest row concerns the placement, or rather the lack thereof, of this advertisement.

   It has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, USA Today, the Kansas City Star, the Columbus Dispatch, and the San Jose Mercury News. So far, so good. These are certainly some of the most influencial US newspapers.

  The problems began to occur in Microsoft's own sandbox, Seattle.

  Neither The Seattle Times nor the Seattle Post-Intelligencer were willing to run the advertisement. Cries of 'unfair' are now being heard.

  According to news agency reports neither the Seattle Times nor the Seattle Post-Intelligencer run advertising for on-line services.

  This is because the content of the on-line services is similar to the content of a traditional newspaper.

  However similar they may be, the newspapers in question certainly have nothing against running advertisements for Internet providers who also supply some of the things a traditional newspaper does, such as sports news, weather reports, film reviews, etc.

  Does this make the Internet less of a threat to a newspaper than CompuServe or America Online?    I don't think any on-line service is really a threat to a newspaper: a newspaper will always be lighter on the knees in the loo than a laptop.

   There are, of course, other uses one can put a newspaper to in the loo that would be difficult to achieve with a notebook computer.

  Unfortunately, there may be more sinister forces at work here.

  The Seattle Times and Microsoft are on record as having discussed the possibility of the newspaper putting content on the Microsoft Network.

   Their refusal to put the CompuServe advertisement in the paper could look a little suspicious.

  It does not help a lot that most people seem so willing to perceive Microsoft, and particularly its chairman Bill Gates, as an evil force trying to take over the world.

  It certainly does not help the reputation of either Microsoft or Mr Gates when one hears about newspapers all over the US printing a CompuServe advertisement that takes a shot at the creator of Windows 95 but the only two that do not are to befound in Microsoft's back yard.

   The sceptics will only believe the worst of Microsoft and the naive will say there is no proof.

  I suppose it will depend on how cynical an attitude one has to American business practices.

   One tends to forget that self-regulation is also a possible factor here.

  No policeman is more powerful than the policeman inside.

   Many companies who hope to exploit the potential power of Microsoft will be happy to reject an advertisement from a perceived rival of the company.

  Microsoft, and Mr Gates, of course, could be unaware of this.

  This is, for those who may have needed the instruction, a lesson in the use of real power.



Rivals shifting turf war to newspapers