"This has never been about shutting down Napster, but stopping the infringement" -- Hilary Rosen, President, Recording Industry Assn., to USA Today
A Raider Cries Poverty
The government racked up a string of successes bringing Michael Milken, Ivan Boesky and other rogue financiers to justice for their misdeeds during the 1980s takeover boom. Then there's Paul A. Bilzerian, best known for his 1988 takeover of Singer, who allegedly has used a deft succession of legal maneuvers for nearly a decade to avoid paying a penny of the $83 million he now owes the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Now Bilzerian may be facing the music: He's in a Miami federal detention center while courts attempt to freeze his assets. The SEC says the raider owes the money from a fraud scheme to reap profits from his attempted takeover targets. But even though the SEC alleges he owns a 36,000-sq.-foot, $3.4 million Tampa mansion, he claims in court that he can't pay because he's bankrupt--just $15,805, including a Casio watch, golf clubs, and some used books to his name. He also claims he has $139.7 million in liabilities.
But SEC lawyers say Bilzerian is hiding at least $15 million through a Byzantine web of offshore trusts and family-owned companies. "In terms of abuse of the legal process, it's one of the worst cases I've ever seen," says SEC attorney Judith R. Starr.
A Tampa court recently dismissed Bilzerian's bankruptcy claim. On Jan. 30, Bilzerian went to jail for contempt of court until he produces better documentation of his assets. Then on Mar. 1, a court in Washington, D.C., temporarily froze five accounts allegedly linked to Bilzerian at Wells Fargo banks. A Bilzerian spokeswoman says he does not wish to comment. By Aixa M. Pascual
Power, Prestige--but No Palm
Colin Powell may have lots of perks in his new job as Secretary of State, but a Palm Pilot isn't one of them. The State Dept. confirms that for security reasons it has forbidden Powell from linking his Palm with any computers he uses for classified work. That's no surprise to those writing Palm software. They've spotted several gaping holes in the operating system over the past few months.
Witness a Mar. 1 advisory from security firm @stake warning that there's no way to completely safeguard the Palm password system. In fact, hackers can override security using standard Palm OS tools used by programmers to debug the system. Palm says it will plug the hole in the next OS version due out in the next six months. But that might not be soon enough for the thousands of companies, particularly health-care and finance, using them for mission-sensitive applications. Says Pam Deziel, a marketing director at Palm: "We're trying to make these devices as secure as possible, but we wouldn't want nuclear codes to be carried around." By Alex Salkever
Casual Dress: Dot-Com Casualty?
A backlash is brewing and its target is casual dress. Dot-coms inspired the trend toward all-casual, all-the-time attire. But with tech fortunes tumbling and little need to impress the twentysomething Net crowd, some companies are rethinking the dress code --and reverting to more professional attire.
They say business casual has detracted from the professionalism of the workplace and can project a less-serious image than a job may require. Japanese trading firm Itochu International, for one, has swapped five days of casual dress for Casual Fridays in U.S. offices. And recruiter Korn/Ferry International reverted to full-time business attire nationwide in January, exempting only its 100 Silicon Valley staff. "The fact that a lot of dot-coms have done poorly may make casual attire guilty by association," says Korn/Ferry's Mark Nevins.
Another reason: Sloppy dressers are crossing the line, say 34% of 3,500 execs polled by Management Recruiters International. They cite tank tops, sweatshirts, and open-toed shoes in the workplace. "They started as `business casual,' and it's turned into `weekend casual,"' says MRI's Chief Executive Allen Salikof. Welcome back, Brooks Brothers. By Joan Oleck
Net Nomenclature Announcing...new arrivals to rival ".com" and ".net"
California startup New.net has introduced 20 new Internet domain names sure to raise the hackles of companies scrambling to keep up with cybersquatters. The new domains, which redirect Web pages to the designations below from the .net suffix, would allow such new names as Cisco.tech and GoldmanSachs.inc. But New.net says its domains, which sell for $25 a year, will allow for simpler company names, such as "www.borneo.travel" and "www.pie.shop."
* foreign-language sites: "hola" is Spanish; "gmbh" and "soc" indicate "company" in German and French, respectively
Data: www.new.net
18 Wheels, 18 at the Wheel
The U.S. will need 80,000 new truck drivers annually through 2005, according to Gallup Organization estimates. And if the Transportation Dept. reduces the hours a driver may stay at the wheel from 10 to 8, the Truckload Carriers Assn. expects a shortfall of an additional 49,000 drivers a year. "This problem isn't going to go away by itself," says Virginia DeRoze, TCA's head of driver issues.
True, the economic slowdown has lowered short-term demand for haulers. But the DOT is considering a more permanent solution: Lower the commercial trucking age from 21 to 18 for interstate hauls. Safety groups fume that young drivers are a road hazard. But advocates say that's not so, since they must have a clean driving record and pass training. As it is, 48 states allow 18-year-olds to make trips within state borders. California isn't waiting: It's now training ex-cons to drive rigs. By Nicole St. Pierre
Make a Few Calls, Then Toss the Phone
The next item at your local 7-11 store, next to the disposable cameras? Disposable cell phones. New Jersey inventor Randi Altschul says she has perfected a palm-size Phone-Card Phone that has 60 minutes of prepaid airtime. Her $9.95 model makes outgoing calls only; a $12.99 model accepts incoming calls as well. The phone is set to debut this fall.
Already, Altschul says she has millions of orders from U.S. and foreign vendors. She came up with the idea after feeling so frustrated with her cellular service that she wanted to throw her cell phone out the window. "This gives you the excuse to do that," says Altschul, 40.
The phone, based on 22 patents, is made of computer chips implanted in coated paper, and can work on both U.S. and European standards. Altschul doesn't yet have a carrier for the calls. But she predicts a big market for merchandisers looking to offer calls to clients, as well as technophobes who avoid cell phones but want one on hand for emergencies. By Joan Oleck
A Star Eatery Has Lost Its Spice
Sad but true: uber-chef Wolfgang Puck is closing the original Spago restaurant in West Hollywood on Mar. 31. The 19-year-old bistro not only made Puck a household name but also put California cuisine on the world map and introduced culinary combinations such as duck pizza. A spokesman confirms that Puck's lease is up, and he doesn't want to spend the estimated $2 million it would take to modernize the space. Not to worry, though. Puck's newer, tonier Spago in Beverly Hills continues to pack 'em in.
So are droves of nostalgic foodies paying homage to the legendary spot in its last hours? Not quite. Spago was less than half full on a recent Wednesday night. By 10 p.m. --still prime time in L.A. dining circles--the manager and even the waiters had begun to split. Bon Jovi's 1986 hit Livin' on a Prayer echoed through the dining room. The kitchen staff, nearly finished for the evening, had their meal on a darkened patio that used to be the hippest place on earth on Academy Awards night.
Just a reminder, in case anyone forgot: In Hollywood, it's what's young and new that matters. Like Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard, the original Spago clearly has seen better days. By Christopher Palmeri
Footnotes
Online corporate travel bookings as a percentage of all corporate bookings: in 2000, 6%; in 2005 (est.), 31%
Copyright 2001 , by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.
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